Great
leadership is a skill rooted in authenticity and there are as many ways to be a
great leader as there are people in the world. But before you can lead others,
you must first be able to know, embrace and embody your true self.
According
to leadership expert and scholar Peter Drucker, the most common characteristic
among great leaders is integrity. Integrity is the natural result of being
authentic and fully yourself. Meaning, the best way to become an effective
leader is to find congruence between what you think, say and do. That said, in
order to become an effective leader, you have to know who, you are: your
values, your strengths, what you stand for, why you stand for it, and what your
ethics are. Then act on them.[1]
Why all
this talk about leadership on the Feast day of Saints Philip and James? Because, although the Church considers itself
as built on the foundation of apostolic witness, the apostles as individuals play
relatively minor roles in the Gospel stories of Jesus’ ministry.
What we do
know of these chosen apostles is that James is the son of Alphaeus, and is
known as James the Lesser to avoid confusing him with James the son of Zebedee.
We know that Philip came from the same town as Peter and Andrew, Bethsaida in
Galilee.
Like the
other apostles, Philip took a long time coming to realize who Jesus was. Twice Philip takes center stage in John’s
Gospel. In John 6, the story of the
multiplication of loaves, Jesus tests Philip by asking, “where can we buy enough food
for them to eat?” (Jn 6:5) and today’s Gospel where
Philip asks plainly, “show us the Father, and that will be enough for us.” (Jn14:8) But is it enough? Father
David writes, “It is easy to forget what Jesus promises us—and act as if we
were nothing but human beings.”
John’s
stories are not a put-down of Philip or the other apostles. It’s simply necessary for these men, who were
to be the foundation stones of the Church, to see the clear distinction between
humanity’s total helplessness apart from God and the human ability to be a
bearer of divine power by God’s gift.
[1] The Ability to Lead Others
Starts With The Ability to Know Yourself by Jennifer Racioppi, Chart
Your Success
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