Pope Francis who is the present Pope of the Catholic Church, and he is the 266th Pope since the first one, he was the Bishop of Rome and sovereign of the Vatican City. He was born in December 1936 while his real full name is Jorge Mario Bergoglio. The Pope nationality is Argentina. Pope Francis chooses this name in honor of Saint Francis of Assisi. The Pope is a well-educated man, since he attended the Milltown Institute of Theology and Philosophy. Being a public figure and a leader of many people the Pope employs the principles of a servant leader to lead and motivate other people in the world.
The Pope is a good listener, and this makes him to be valued by many people for his communication and decision making skills that are exemplarily perfect. He always listens keenly to others and committed himself to serve others (McGee-Cooper & Looper, 2011). Pope Francis will ever get in touch with one’s inner voice and try to understand what is communicated to provide help. He also shows empathy towards all the people. As a servant leader the Pope empathizes with others since he understands that every individual need to be accepted the way he or she is.
Also, the pope depicts the principle of stewardship. He is responsible for preparing individuals to choose their destiny wisely for the betterment of themselves and the whole community. The Pope is said to be a steward because he has desires to prepare every individual to contribute to the greater good of the community (McGee-Cooper & Looper, 2011). To prove that Pope Francis is a real servant leader he takes advice seriously. For example, the Pope showed his willingness to listen to advice from the people who surround him. When he first stepped into the office as the newly elected Pope, the first thing he did is to create a council of cardinal advisers which comprised of eight members from around the globe. The team has advised him on every action he takes.
The Pope uniquely inspires followership. He provides inspirations by making people feel completely connected to their actions which lead them to accomplishing the goals they wanted. He also listens to the people by allowing the thoughts of the people to help build a vision or a plan since he understands that individuals need to see that their views are incorporated.
Personally, I would seek to emulate the Pope way of listening to others. He cannot make any decision without listening advice from his counsel and make proper decisions. He also looks to the problems of individual people and tries his best to help them solve the problems. If this principle is applied in our organization as a leader and the other leader, it will turn over things and the way of working will remarkably be enjoyable since there is good cooperation.
- Greenleaf, R. K. (1977). Servant leadership: Greenleaf Center. Paulist Press.
- McGee-Cooper, A., & Looper, G. (2011). The essentials of servant-leadership: Principles in practice. Dallas: Pegasus Communications.