Leadership Transitions – From Buenos Aires to Papacy !

Leadership Transitions

Pope Francis is close to completing his first 45 days as the leader of the worldwide Catholic Church, already half way thru the 90 day ordeal his mettle is passing thru the litmus test of transition. Clearly active on the scribe’s desks with his many “Firsts” – he has sure raised the inquisitiveness of many a minds, including mine.

Corroborating Michael Watkins work on transitions, My curiosity is taking the liberty to opinionate on Pope Francis progression and effectiveness of his actions [read transition strategy].

Assessing the health of world faith and in particular his role as the head of the Papacy – clearly it classified for a “Realignment” [Ref: STaRS]. Realignment which meant reenergizing a previously successful oraganisation that now faces problem. And surely 2 grave I would think of –
1. Being relevant – Weakening of Catholicism in the U.S. and Europe , Inclusiveness for diversity.
2. Governance – existing dysfunctional curial government and its many tainted scandal.

Clearly the immediate challenge he had to deal with is to convince his curia that change is necessary – and indeed getting them to take the first steps of making change happen. Second, build on the significant pockets of strengths while carefully restructuring the top team while refocusing the organisation.

Some actions he has taken in the last 30 days like appointing an international council of eight cardinals to advise him in reforming the Catholic Church, shunning the luxurious associated with the papacy even deciding to continue staying in a suite in the Vatican hotel instead of moving into the papal apartment and even the recent – bonus withdrawal for the Vatican staff.

Even some of his actions on inclusions are clearly sending an important message for realignment . Like, On the first Holy Thursday following his election Francis washed and kissed the feet of 12 juvenile offenders, ages 14–21, at Rome’s Casal del Marmo detention facility, telling them the ritual of foot washing is a sign that he is at their service. According to church experts, this was the first time that a pope has included women in this ritual (there were 2 women and 10 men).

On April 3, 2013, during the weekly general audience in St. Peter’s Basilica, Francis spoke out about the “fundamental importance” of women in the Roman Catholic Church, stressing that they have a special role in terms of spreading the faith, and that they were the “first witnesses” of the resurrection. According to a report from Vatican Radio, this is the third time in one week that the pope has included the subject of women in the church in his addresses.

The message is loud and clear – be prepared to move away from tradition if you want to continue to be relevant. Personally I think that Francis has got his transition strategy right, Making Slower but more deliberate moves. Making Few but important changes , Shifting the organisation mindset from denial to awareness.

Signing off with popular Latin saying
“di immortales virtutem approbare, non adhibere debent”
We may expect the gods to approve virtue, but not to endow us with it

Good Job Francis

Is it in the nature of leaders to breed followers

For Argument sakes –  “Leader only breed followers, they don’t allow of other leaders to emerge, they like it this way “.

Think about it , reflect back at some of the leaders you have worked with , how many of them were indeed more interested in establishing themselves as a leader in the process encouraging and breeding followers.

• Do leaders get into the act of self preservation ?
• Do they rub off their own insecurities to others ?
• Do they not allow for creating of leaders under them?

Let’s examine this ,Leaders like to stay in front of the pack, direct, guide, support remove hindrances. From the leader’s point of view it is clear sailing because the pack is behind him/her and in front is only the challenge of the project. A good leader knows the pack will support him/her when the going gets rough.

It’s a bigger problem, a larger problem of the society. Society breeds followers not leaders. Social rules are a test for a person to be a leader. It’s the unspoken rules which determines his/her aptitude and ultimately points him/her in a suitable and accepted direction. Out of the masses only few true leaders emerge. A person with charisma, strength and determination who is willing to grasp the challenge at hand and wrestle it into submission. [Is trait theory indeed the first act of filtration?].

So how does it become counterintuitive  ?

Let’s face it, a leader cannot expand his/her experience without some risk. Each forward step includes the possibility of one step back so, striving for success also contains the possibility of failure. This is not a bad thing, it is only in the experience one may achieve at all. Success or failure each contains wisdom in their discovery. The incentive to try lies in the reward of the result.

Many people will not try anything new like change jobs or move to a new location or even make a decision on their own. They are followers and they like the comfort in letting someone else make the choices for them. The world needs followers to do the tedious functions that would bore leaders. Creative people can’t follow they have to step out ahead of the pack and take control. They strive for the challenge and excitement of the project. They are the movers and shakers that are innovative in nature and unsettled in demeanor. They strive for change and are at home with challenge.

And it is from them that a new leader emerges.

The Solution

You see, the real problem with  a leader doing all the work is that you preclude the development of others. So, the solution to this problem is to select multiple people to take on the detailed technical tasks that you previously completed. Then, using all of your proper delegation skills: teach the skill, assign the task, and follow-up with the task completion, providing corrections as necessary.

What’s happening is that 1) you aren’t performing the task, 2) you are still involved in the work activity, 3) someone is growing and developing, and 4) you are leading.

What should be then a leader’s measure of success: – Rather than being evaluated on what you personally accomplish, as a leader you should be evaluated on the number of future leaders you develop. This will have a positive impact on the amount your team accomplishes and the way people feel about working with you as a leader will exponentially improve.

So are you a leader who breeds followers or do you breed leaders ??