Of Heroes and Leaders
Tourist in Macao takes a picture with the statue of Ricci
Most leadership books that flood bookstores are focused on one of two organizations: successful businesses or successful sports teams. The book Heroic Leadership by Chris Lowney invites the reader to develop leadership skills from an unlikely source: The 450-year-old monastic order known as the Jesuits.
The book outlines the history of The Society of Jesus, beginning with their founder, Ignatius Loyola, in 1534. Several examples were given of remarkable men who lived heroically. As I read through the book, I was excited to see two names that have been heroes of mine for many years: Francis Xavier and Mateo Ricci. These men are rock stars to missiologists. If Hudson Taylor, Adoniram Judson, and David Livingstone are “The Beatles” of missionary history, Xavier and Ricci were “Little Richard” and “Elvis.”
Not only does Xavier have a rock star name, his boldness is the stuff of legend. When one Jesuit dropped out who was selected for a dangerous assignment (possibly a suicide mission) to take the gospel to India, Xavier was asked to be the replacement. Francis Xavier replied “’Splendid. I’m your man,‘ as later Jesuit generations often rendered it. Within forty-eight hours he had patched up his extra pair of pants, visited the pope for a blessing, packed up his life, and departed.” (Kindle Loc 1227)
Xavier reached an unfathomable goal, to begin a healthy Christian work in India. He could have rested on his success. Instead, he set his sights on all of Asia. Xavier died on the way to China after a less than fruitful mission to Japan. His legendary vision can inspire us all when we are tempted to think small.
Matteo Ricci has been one of my heroes for decades. To this day, evangelical missionaries and atheist Chinese scholars hold this Jesuit pioneer in high esteem. I have personally seen the statue of Ricci that stands next to the ruins of St. Paul’s Cathedral in Macau. Tourists from mainland China line up to get their picture taken with this 17th century priest.
Matteo Ricci built upon the foundation that Xavier laid. He lived in the Portuguese settlement of Macau where he became proficient in the Chinese language. Making it all the way to the capital of Beijing, Ricci pioneered the “radical strategy of ‘inculturation,’ a term coined by later Jesuits to describe their strategy of assimilating themselves to their host cultures.” (Kindle Loc 724). By adopting the dress of a Confucian scholar, he presented himself in a way that the Chinese could understand. By sharing new Western technologies with the Chinese elite, he gained favor in their eyes. Not only did he translate some of the Bible into Chinese, Ricci was also a scholar of Confusion thought. To this day, many missionaries who examine ways to contextualize the gospel without losing its essence, look to Ricci as an example.
More than a history book, Heroic Leadership gives us a collection of guidelines from the Jesuits that can inspire us all as we seek to become better leaders.
I was amazed at the number of axioms that stood out to me. It would take more space than I am allowed to be able to delve into them, but I will list some of my favorites:
“Work as if success depended on your own efforts-but trust as if all depended on God.” – Ignatius Loyola (Kindle Loc 56)
“…the leader figures out where we need to go, points us in the right direction, gets us to agree that we need to get there, and rallies us through the inevitable obstacles that separate us from the promised land.” (Kindle Loc 110)
“We’re all leaders, and we’re leading all the time, well or poorly. Leadership springs from within. It’s about who I am as much as what I do. Leadership is not an act. It is my life, a way of living. I never complete the task of becoming a leader. It’s an ongoing process. (Kindle Loc 125)
“The job of Jesuit managers was not to persuade recruits what to do but to equip them with the skills to discern on their own what needed to be done.” (Kindle Loc 128)
“Those labeled followers will inevitably act like followers, sapped of the energy and drive to seize their own leadership chances.” (Kindle Loc 159)
“Our defining “moment” is a pattern slowly etched through a lifetime studded with ordinary opportunities to make subtle differences.” (Kindle Loc 881)
“Everyone leads, and everyone can lead all the time. On rare occasions those leadership moments are dramatic and obvious; more often they are subtle, easily overlooked opportunities that, taken together, can form a lifetime of positive leadership influence.” (Kindle Loc 889)
“The paradox is that the energizing power lies precisely in the combination of nonnegotiable core beliefs and a willing embrace of change.” (Kindle Loc 2424)
“If you want your team to perform heroically, be a hero yourself. If you want your employees to support one another, support them with the encouragement, loyalty, and honest coaching that helps each ‘run at full speed towards perfection.’” (Kindle Loc 2786)
These axioms, combined with the many true stories of bravery, paint a picture of a style of leadership that is needed today. Instead of using people to gain results, we are challenged to develop people who will, in turn, do quality work. The classic hypocrite-leader who presents a “do as I say but not as I do” mantra has no place in this leadership model. In Heroic Leadership, our value is not placed on our results or the results of our team. Our value is intrinsic. Our success is not based on a scoreboard, but on the character of the individual.
This is brilliantly illustrated in the account of Bento De Goes, the Jesuit pioneer who attempted the impossible: to travel by land across the Himalayas from India to China. De Goes died along the way. Some would account him as a failure, yet the book lifts De Goes up as a success. This is the essence of Lowney’s view of Heroic Leadership. Leadership measured by the character, the vision, and the actions of an individual, not the results.
About the Author
Stu Cocanougher
6 responses to “Of Heroes and Leaders”
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Hi Stu,
I enjoyed how you connected Ricci to the Jesuits. I do not remember him but you have intrigued my curiosity to want to know who he was.
I agree with you that leadership should be measured by the person character, vision, and how they interact with individuals. But you do need some numerical measurement to also relate success to the goals established. But the numerical measurement should not be the only measurement of a leader.
I really enjoyed your favorite quotes, especially the one about, if you want a heroic team, be a hero yourself. Easier said than done! What would it look like to be a hero to you in your leadership? It was special hearing about your admiration of the heroes of the faith. I can tell they are real inspirations to you.
Yes, Stu, you brought the stories of Xavier and Ricci to life with your own personal reflections and connections to them. We all have heroes of the faith, I guess, and it is worth taking time to reflect what it is about our heroes that moves and motivates us – and how we can emulate them and be heroes in our own day and leadership!
A great compilation of quotes throughout the book. The constant theme of living out our leadership daily in every area of our lives is a key takeaway. “Our defining “moment” is a pattern slowly etched through a lifetime studded with ordinary opportunities to make subtle differences.” (Kindle Loc 881). Living out our leadership daily allows for us to be in position to seize those ordinary opportunities and be free to live life and know that in doing so we will make an impact. 🙂
Great stories, Stu. Those guys have always been some of my heroes too. I really appreciate the strategy of inculturation. The Jesuits did it without compromising their core principle – taking the Gospel to the lost. They were able to achieve ingenuity by cultivating the attitude called “indifference”. Jesus is important; what clothes I am wearing or my hairstyle is not. They didn’t let unimportant things control them and they were therefore able to assimilate into the culture they were called to serve in.
You probably have a lot of practice yourself in your own ministry!! Thanks for the inspiring post.
My missionary hero was always Anne Hasseltine Judson; what would Adoniram have been without her??
The challenge for me has been to learn how to be a faithful leader in my own context, rather than in the romanticized “Somewhere Else” that we (or at least, I) seem so inspired by in stories.