Leadership Model for a New Millenium -- Part 3
It may well be asked why do we need leadership models at all? Why a model based on the four cardinal virtues? The most complete answer to this question was formulated by John Locke: “God, by having an inseparable connection, joined virtue and public happiness together… and made the practice thereof necessary to the preservation of society, and visibly beneficial to all with whom the virtuous man has to do, it is no wonder that everyone should not only allow, but recommend and magnify those rules to others, from whose observance of them he is sure to reap advantage to himself.”
If we do not educate future leaders through an education that advances the values that we hold dear, one possible result may downfall of our democracy and the institutions that we value. “If the people are incapable of achieving the education that responsible democratic citizenship demands, then democracy is doomed…” and the mass of humanity is condemned to natural slavery. While this may appear alarmist and extreme, the historical fact remains that empires and societies have declined and withered as a result of ignorance and apathy on part of its citizens. The insidiousness of its onset and the ultimate corrosive effect that such ignorance and apathy has on society is not felt in an immediate sense but manifests itself over a period of time, one which may seem interminable to the society in question but one which is not very long in the continuum of the history of humanity. A republican democracy such as ours is particularly susceptive to the effects of apathy and ignorance.
Another requirement for the model is that it must be able to guide; it must teach and train future leaders. As Aquinas points out: “A man has a natural aptitude for virtue; but perfection itself of virtue must be acquired by man by means of some kind of training.” A leadership model based on shared values will be far easier for a person to assimilate and internalize its precepts rather than precepts that are foreign or which lie outside our everyday experiences. As Mortimer Adler observed in 'How to Read a Book': “There is clearly no difficulty of an intellectual sort about gaining new information in the course of reading if the new facts are of the same sort as those you already know.” Thus the desirable outcome of an effective leadership model is that the values society seeks to promote and translated into characteristics that are of practical use and guidance for a leader or would-be leader that seeks to integrate them into his or her professional life in order to increase his or her effectiveness as a leader. One of the reasons that Jesus was able immediately impact Jewish society is that “Jesus’ announcement of the kingdom was what the Jewish people had been anticipating for hundreds of years…This was the best possible news they could hear.”
Thus we arrive at the central theme of this inquiry: Why Jesus? The answer to this is simply that Jesus’ life and actions best reflects the values that our society seeks to promote in its public and private leaders: prudence (or practical wisdom), courage, temperance and justice. As such, it provides the most effective leadership model, one that incorporates the four virtues and translates these into maxims for action. These maxims may be learned and applied by people who wish to become better and more effective leaders. “Jesus of Nazareth is an immensely forceful and influential personality in the historic life of mankind and especially in that of Western man. He is the reason why members of Western civilization are so conscious of the Judeo-Christian heritage.” (Ronda Chervin and Eugene Kevane, Love of Wisdom: An Introduction to Christian Philosophy (Ignatius Press, 1988) at 57).
If we do not educate future leaders through an education that advances the values that we hold dear, one possible result may downfall of our democracy and the institutions that we value. “If the people are incapable of achieving the education that responsible democratic citizenship demands, then democracy is doomed…” and the mass of humanity is condemned to natural slavery. While this may appear alarmist and extreme, the historical fact remains that empires and societies have declined and withered as a result of ignorance and apathy on part of its citizens. The insidiousness of its onset and the ultimate corrosive effect that such ignorance and apathy has on society is not felt in an immediate sense but manifests itself over a period of time, one which may seem interminable to the society in question but one which is not very long in the continuum of the history of humanity. A republican democracy such as ours is particularly susceptive to the effects of apathy and ignorance.
Another requirement for the model is that it must be able to guide; it must teach and train future leaders. As Aquinas points out: “A man has a natural aptitude for virtue; but perfection itself of virtue must be acquired by man by means of some kind of training.” A leadership model based on shared values will be far easier for a person to assimilate and internalize its precepts rather than precepts that are foreign or which lie outside our everyday experiences. As Mortimer Adler observed in 'How to Read a Book': “There is clearly no difficulty of an intellectual sort about gaining new information in the course of reading if the new facts are of the same sort as those you already know.” Thus the desirable outcome of an effective leadership model is that the values society seeks to promote and translated into characteristics that are of practical use and guidance for a leader or would-be leader that seeks to integrate them into his or her professional life in order to increase his or her effectiveness as a leader. One of the reasons that Jesus was able immediately impact Jewish society is that “Jesus’ announcement of the kingdom was what the Jewish people had been anticipating for hundreds of years…This was the best possible news they could hear.”
Thus we arrive at the central theme of this inquiry: Why Jesus? The answer to this is simply that Jesus’ life and actions best reflects the values that our society seeks to promote in its public and private leaders: prudence (or practical wisdom), courage, temperance and justice. As such, it provides the most effective leadership model, one that incorporates the four virtues and translates these into maxims for action. These maxims may be learned and applied by people who wish to become better and more effective leaders. “Jesus of Nazareth is an immensely forceful and influential personality in the historic life of mankind and especially in that of Western man. He is the reason why members of Western civilization are so conscious of the Judeo-Christian heritage.” (Ronda Chervin and Eugene Kevane, Love of Wisdom: An Introduction to Christian Philosophy (Ignatius Press, 1988) at 57).
posted by Ignacio | 2:20 AM
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