It’s an amazing fact that we spend nearly half of our waking life at work. The relationships we form there are real, intense, and impact our overall vision of life. For the Christian this represents a real challenge. How can I live the relationships I have at work or in my social setting in a way that glorifies God and helps others to know him bett…

Whatever format it’s found in, teamwork has always played an essential role in getting anything done. It’s so important in fact that much of contemporary literature around leadership focuses on a leader’s ability to generate and maintain healthy teams. But isn’t the notion of a team something that is essential to the Christian religion? And if so s…

Most Christians charged with positions of leadership tend to separate what they have to do every day in a practical sphere from there growth as Christians. Spirituality and practicality are often looked at as opposites. When this happens though, two things occur: firstly, the world of practicality is left bereft of spiritual guidance and, simultane…

The theme of putting your people first is popular today in leadership theory. Many studies are done and cited that conclusively show that focusing on company culture affects the bottom line in a positive way. But focusing on people and developing people has not always been the hallmark of western capitalism. In fact many of the advances towards mor…

When it comes to leadership what we do on the outside flows from what we have on the inside. Our thoughts and our motivations drive the actions which determine our success. Here Christians have a distinct advantage. Ever since Christ rose from the dead Christians know the truth about our final victory over evil and therefore our daily victory over …

The Catholic church has always taught that work was genuinely a human activity. Meaning that it was something that we did that made our lives better. But with the increase of technology, social media, and the changing demographics of the work force, work itself seems to be a different kind of experience. Nevertheless, the truth about work hasn’t ch…

In trying to understand the advantage that the Christian faith gives to us in our leadership, there’s no more powerful place to look than our perspective on heaven. Afterall, eternal life is the backdrop behind everything a Christian does, the ultimate goal of all our motivations. But what practical difference does this make in the perspective that…

In some ways all leadership is the same. Individuals have to move groups of people to accomplish things in unity. What then is the Christian difference and what does a religion of love have to do with leadership? In this fourth part of our series on The Christian Leaders Advantage, we explore the difference that love makes in leadership. Not only d…

How does the approach a Catholic takes towards leadership differ from the approach anyone else takes? Does our faith in Christ make us better leaders? In this third part on our series “The Christian Leader’s Advantage”, I examine the fact that Christians believe in eternal life, and I examine the practical ramifications that this belief has on our …

When it comes to leading others, Christians out to have a distinct advantage. After all Christians who lead believe that they are leading in the hand of God and following his lead. But what does this advantage actually look like? One spot where we can see it particularly is in our belief that our sins can be forgiven. How does our claim about the f…

Christians have long professed that we are at the same time like everyone else and different. We’re the same because we are human just like anyone else but we’re different because we have received the grace of Christ. Well if this is true then our leadership will also be the same and different. Our leadership will have to follow the same laws as ev…

So far in this series on the four anchors we’ve looked at how God is the secret to human success. How this is expressed firstly by the family being anchored by God and how it’s extended by our work being anchored in our family. In this next conference I take a look at how our culture stands to benefit by being firmly anchored in our work and the ke…

Whether we like it or not all of us have to work every day. So what’s the secret to working with satisfaction and fulfillment? In this third segment in our series on the Four Anchors I explore what work could look like when it is anchored soundly in our identity as who we are. And in particular I take a look at how that identity of who we are is gi…

Faith and family values just seem to go together but why is this so and what happens to our family values if we separate them from faith? Many young families today are doing just that trying to see if we can maintain a family without necessarily linking it back to God. On the other hand the Catholic church consistently teaches us that God is the ke…

As we try to navigate our way as Catholics in a modern world many of us wonder what the recipe is for true success. Everyone wants a happy world and a healthy country but many people aren’t very clear about what role the Church or God has to play in giving us those. In fact, however, there is a very clear recipe. And I like to call it the four anch…

Most people want to see some positive change in our culture. But many people struggle to know exactly what this should look like. Are we struggling just for struggle’s sake or is there an end goal that we are supposed to be striving towards? In this last part in my series on cultural leadership I wanted to give you the big picture. Looking at Matth…

All of us want to make a difference for Christ in our culture today. But most of us don’t know where to begin. A wide variety of issues competes for our attention. One thing the Catholic church has consistently argued is that the family is the root of society. As the family goes so the world will go. Maybe this is why for the Catholic church so muc…

Most Christians today recognize the importance of engaging our culture with the Gospel. Changes are afoot that would radically alter the way that we raise our families and understand our fundamental freedoms. This sense of urgency has led many to find the most effective ways to impact the culture. How do we transform a culture before it transforms …

By now any Christian who follows events in the world knows how important it is for us to act. The news headlines are filled with reports of things that are happening and calls for us to get involved. On the other hand Christians are equally convinced that we need to pray. Prayer is a part of our spiritual tradition and something our Savior commande…

So much of what makes a leader successful comes from their ability to take people where they need to go. If we don’t have vision then we really are the blind leading the blind. But oddly enough when it comes to shaping our culture it seems that many people don’t know what we should be aiming at. The world will indicate many different values as its’…

Today it’s fashionable to separate the Church from society. We claim that the legitimate separation of Church from state means that the state should proceed without any influence from the Church. The Church, however, has a different opinion. How are we to evaluate of the Catholic Church’s contribution to our society? What impact can the world reall…

There are many people who speak about the need for cultural leadership. The issues and values of our society today are constantly under discussion. But most of this discussion seems to be from the outside. A competition of competing visions and views that clash and sometimes divide. Is there another way to have this discussion? How would Jesus Chri…

We’ve journeyed together through the thought of St. Thomas Aquinas about making decisions. We’ve learned about discernment, about counsel, about timing and about so much else. And now is the time to act. In this final segment on our series on making winning decisions with St. Thomas Aquinas, I want to look with you on the theology of the imperium o…

Anyone who wants to be successful in leadership needs to be really good at working with people. The more a leader understands human behavior the more effectively they’ll deal with it and reach the goals of their organization and their mission. This is where St. Thomas Aquinas gives us a distinct advantage. He represents a wealth of knowledge coming…

Some do it more from a personal charisma than from a studied approach, but all leaders have to bring people with them towards the vision that they’re casting. And so that begs the question: “How can we who have to make decisions everyday make them in a way that other people will find attractive?” Well, reaching back into our Catholic theology we fi…

All great leaders are capable of casting a vision. But casting a vision is not easy to do. To have a vision towards a goal means you want to have that goal. And sometimes are hearts are just afraid to stretch out into the unknown and into the unforeseen. The grace of God can help us to heal and to have the daring we need to want the things we don’t…

For many people, making decisions is one of the hardest things about leadership. And yet it is something that every leader has to do all the time. Loving and serving our God doesn’t take away our responsibility to make good choices and to engage them with all the energy that we have. But if it’s so important then why do we have such a hard time doi…

Amongst the great minds of western civilization, St. Thomas Aquinas holds a very special place. As a Catholic priest he united the depths of our faith with the real practical situations that people face every day. He does this in an amazing way when it comes to making decisions. And for all of us in the working world, we know how important this ski…

We all know that leadership is about vision and passion but sometimes we forget that if no one is following us we’re not leading anyone. In truth the test of a good leader includes their ability to engender their spirit in their followers. And few people were better at this than St. Paul. In many of his writings, especially his letters to Titus and…

By all accounts St. Paul checks all the boxes when it comes to being an effective leader. But of all of his many wonderful qualities, the strength that dominates his personality without a doubt is his perseverance in the face of adversity. St. Paul is someone who finishes what he starts. But many of us struggle to do the same. Burn out is a real th…

If anyone were to survey the general American public, two things would stand out. First we would all be convinced that things need to be done, actions need to take place, decisions need to be enacted. And secondly, most of us would agree that it is really hard to do what we know we need to do. Even if we know what needs to be done it can be a very …

Sometimes we imagine saints to be people who have life all figured out. They seem to know and execute on God’s plan perfectly and therefore it can be hard for us to try and imitate them. The life of St. Paul, however, shows us something very different. Many times he did not know what to do and yet he still made decisions. How did a saint as great a…

Have you ever felt like you were in a box? Like no matter what you chose in life there were already predetermined outcomes and there’s nothing you could do that could change it? Few things will kill the heart and ability of a leader more quickly than fatalism. An attitude that says it’s not even worth trying because you won’t make any difference. F…

Anyone who takes the time to study the life of St. Paul can’t help but admire than man’s endurance, energy, and determination in the service of Jesus Christ. Indeed his life seems so spectacular and his exploits so amazing that many people feel they can never imitate him. But a closer reading of his writings reveals his secret: God’s strength was r…

Many Christians today feel intimidated. The culture around us is shifting and ideas and notions foreign to the Bible are gaining a cultural foothold. Many today feel a sense of loss or hopelessness in front of the situations. But is today’s situation for a Christian that much different than the one that was confronted by the Apostles? Was the world…

Most people today have an appreciation for leadership, but many people still have the question as to what the difference is between a wordly leader and a Christian leader. Of course there is no better place to find an answer to this question than by asking Jesus Himself. In his parables Jesus reveals many keen insights into how He view leadership. …

The life of Christians is governed by the truth contained in scripture. And this is especially true for leadership which is why it is so important for us to study the parables of Jesus. In the parables we hear that leadership comes from God and also receive valuable lessons about what to avoid in order to not allow our leadership to become too worl…

The Gospel gives us many ways that Jesus addresses his Word to the people. Amongst the most popular are parables. These little stories or comparisons help us to understand the deeper messages Jesus is trying to convey. But do they have anything to say to us who are trying to lead? In this first of a three part series, we begin to unpack some of Jes…

What difference is there between a Christian leader and a non-Christian leader? Does being a Christian impact leadership? Understanding the ways that it does is vital for us who are called by Christ to lead in our world today. One place we can look to see what it means to lead as a Christian is the life of the Virgin Mary. In this final segment of …

All of us need models for leadership. Amongst the many candidates the Virgin Mary certainly merits our special attention. Even though she held no office, did not run a company, and did not have a rank in the military, the mother of Jesus is believed by Christians to be the Queen of Heaven and Earth. But what makes her leadership so special? In this…

Our culture today is at a turning point in many ways. In general, we are deciding whether or not to allow our Christian faith to continue to inform and direct our cultural decisions. It seems very tempting to go the route of secularism. A neutrality with respect to faith, at least in public, in order to let religion be a purely private affair. But …

Let’s face it, leading other people is never an easy proposition. There are some really dark moments. If we are honest with ourselves there are times when we would rather quit – stop leading, stop trying to influence others. Bad things can happen in our lives and moments when it makes us think if it is really worth it. This is where our Christian f…

Christian leaders follow Christ – even though it seems contradictory to say leaders follow – this is what makes our leadership special. It’s not about us. It’s about Him and the influence He gives to the world through us. The Virgin Mary demonstrates this admirable in her own life. She is Christ’s perfect servant by doing everything that she can to…

Sometimes even the best leaders can forget that in the end leadership isn’t about them. If we are leading our people, it’s to lead them to something bigger than ourselves and sometimes we have to die to ourselves in order to bring people to something that will really be good for them. At Cana in Galilee the Virgin Mary triggers a series of events t…

Leading others is not easy. Sometimes our road is marked by sorrow and hardship. The same was true in the life of the Virgin Mary. Her role as mother of the Son of God was marked with sorrow. In particular when she was forced to flee into Egypt, taking her son with her Mary had to carry the sorrow of the persecution and death of the Holy Innocents,…

Anyone moved by the love of God wants to Dare Great Things For Christ! But ironically most of our time is spent by doing little things. When we look at the life of the Virgin Mary, the Queen of Heaven and Earth, we see that much of her life was spent doing little things. Does this mean she wasn’t a leader? Or in fact is leadership not best expresse…

One of the reasons many Christians don’t feel comfortable assuming the role of leadership is that we think it makes us egotistical. Following, obeying, complying, and supporting seem much more consonant with Christianity. But why do so many of us equate those terms with a lack of leadership? By looking at the Virgin Mary as a model for leadership, …

Many gifted people struggle with the temptation to draw all the attention to themselves. The allure of leadership is that it puts us in positions of power and therefore esteem in the eyes of others. A leader who is Christian needs to resist this of course and dedicate themselves to really enhancing the lives of others around them as a servant. In t…

Something special about every act of leadership is that it makes us alone. The famous phrase, “it is lonely at the top” applies well to leader in every state. But is this just an accident? Or is it in fact a blessing? When Mary was chosen by God to be the Mother of God, she had to fill the task no one else could fill. But she embraced it as being c…

If we look to sacred scripture for examples of great leadership many names come to mind: St. Paul, St. Timothy, St. John, but what about the Virgin Mary? Doesn’t her life have anything to teach us about leadership? Independently of the various faith traditions out there what can we learn about leadership by looking at the life the bible presents us…