Drawing on years of study, research, and experience, Fr. Daniel Brandenburg, LC, has written a new book which presents a captivating exploration of leadership through the lens of Jesus Christ – Leader Like No Other: What Secular Leadership Models Reveal about Jesus offers a fascinating look at ten of the top leadership paradigms, and how Jesus Christ stacks up against them. Through a three-part expedition – understanding leadership, evaluating Jesus Christ through common leadership paradigms, and applying Christ’s leadership approach to today’s world – the book reveals why Jesus stands apart as history’s most remarkable leader.
In the first part of the book, Fr. Daniel presents his distinctive take on leaders and defines leadership and how it interacts with authority, power, influence, and followership. He goes on to explore ten common leadership paradigms – like adaptive leadership, servant leadership, and identity leadership – and demonstrates how Christ himself not only exemplifies each of these models, but surpasses them. Finally, the book concludes that while Christ embodies the best leadership traits, behaviors, and practices, he also offers something unique – leadership rooted in divine mission, sacrifice, and eternal transformation, and centered on love and truth.
In an insightful interview, Fr. Daniel delves into the key themes of his book and shares his perspectives on leadership and its application in today’s world.
Leadership is a popular topic these days, and there has been plenty said and written about the subject. In what ways do you think leadership has been sometimes misunderstood or misapplied in the world today, and even within Regnum Christ itself?
To put in focus what is right, you sometimes have to grasp what isn’t. In my book, I share seven common myths about leadership. They range from the notion that leaders are born to the fallacy that “I don’t have what it takes to be a leader.”
Within the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi, I think there are two particularly pernicious myths. The first is that authority is leadership. Our movement was born in an authoritarian era and much of our original organizational structure post World War II adopted the military and business top-down paradigms prevalent at the time. This has colored our understanding of leadership and conflated it with “being in charge.” But in reality, authority and leadership are not the same thing; they often correlate, but not always. For example, a whistle-blower in a company has no authority, but they exercise a form of leadership in challenging the status quo and shedding light on shady practices to bring about needed change. In the book, I give further examples and clarifications to excise this myth of “authority = leadership.”
The second myth I find in our circles is conflating leaders with wealth. Perhaps this stems from greater class stratification in Latin America where we have our institutional roots, or perhaps it simply comes from overly simplistic association of rich people with calling the shots. Whatever the case, this myth creates serious ideological problems. On one side, it can lead to elitism in practice; on the other, it can lead to envy and class distinctions. Both extremes inhibit our mission to spread Christ’s love. He worked with all classes of people and forged all his followers as better leaders, regardless of their wealth, poverty, or background. In my personal experience, I’ve worked with wealthy people who were not leaders, and with community leaders living in thatched huts with dirt floors. Leaders get others to accomplish the good we want. You don’t necessarily have to be wealthy to be a leader.
So what then would you consider to be the most important aspect of leadership?
Leadership is not one dimensional. Anyone who tells you “learn this one skill and you’ll be a leader” is selling you ice cubes in Antarctica. Leadership is multi-faceted and cannot easily be distilled into any single element.
That being said, when you boil it all down, leadership is about character and art. In his best-selling work The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, Steven Covey elucidates the importance of leaders being good, before they ever attempt to hone techniques and skills which could facilitate their influence over others. Character entails integrity, prudence, perseverance, fairness, self-mastery, excellence, and magnanimity. Incidentally, these are several of the virtues we seek to inculcate in our Lumen members. Sound character engenders trust, without which there can be no leadership. Secondly, leadership is art, in the sense of expertise and skills employed in the crafting of something beautiful and lasting. As such, you don’t become a great maestro overnight. It implies knowledge, hard work, patience, practice, dedication, openness to feedback, and gradual acquisition of mastery. Art – and leadership – is not merely a capacity or ability, but a process put into action and producing something good and beautiful.
Over the past decades I’ve encountered hundreds of definitions of leadership, some cumbersome and others flawed. I offer one which I think incorporates these two foundational aspects of leadership, character and art. I define leadership as “the art of aligning people to accomplish the good we want.” I unpack that more fully in the book, so you’ll have to pick up your copy soon at regnumchrististore.com.
How have you been inspired by a Christ-centered concept of leadership in your own life and work?
From the time I entered the novitiate of the Legionaries of Christ in 1993, two things have consistently moved me toward a Christ-centered approach to leadership. First was the life-giving habit of prayer, and especially of meditation on the life and example of Christ in the Gospels. When you have that daily contact with the Lord, he shapes your values, outlook, and reactions, molding you into a better leader. As we state in our Constitution #52: “Legionaries are to make the Eucharist the spiritual center of the community and offer him devout and earnest worship. They should seek to spend a prolonged time in daily adoration and frequently visit Christ in the Eucharist who, full of grace and truth, instills good morals, forges character, nourishes the virtues, consoles the sorrowful, strengthens the weak, summons to imitation and sanctifies those who draw near to him.” I’ve certainly experienced this molding power of the Lord.
The second source of inspiration was the example of phenomenal men that I had as seminary formators, superiors, and companions. Their daily example showed me what it was to be a transformational leader, to sacrifice self for others, to inspire others with words and life. As it says in the book of Proverbs, “Iron sharpens iron.” These men sharpened me because they, too, were praying daily and being shaped by the Lord. Of course they were not always perfect (I got enough bruises on the basketball court to know that), but their striving for holiness in Christ constantly called me to follow the Lord more faithfully. One specific example was Fr. Anthony Bannon, a priest who reflected the virility and dedication of Jesus Christ both when I knew him as territorial director, and when he was no longer in that position of authority. He was a Christ-like transformational leader regardless of his position, and even when others unraveled his life work, and when his health declined.
When I undertook four years of doctoral studies in leadership through Creighton University, these two forces came into greater focus. I grew to appreciate more deeply the superb leadership formation I received in the Legion, which until then I had perhaps taken for granted. The insights from my doctoral work spurred subsequent research into the leadership of Jesus Christ which resulted in Leader Like No Other: What Secular Leadership Models Reveal about Jesus. Without a doubt, the hours spent researching Christ’s leadership have been fascinating and given me a much deeper appreciation for my Lord. I hope to emulate him every day.
In your book, you mention the importance of following Christ’s example in leadership and how this aligns with the mission of Regnum Christi. Could you elaborate on how Regnum Christi members might benefit from the book, particularly within team life?
We say in Regnum Christi that our mission is “to form apostles, Christian leaders” (cf. Statutes #8, Constitution #4). Unfortunately, sometimes our notions of leadership are muddled or superficial… or at times one of those pernicious myths might undermine confidence in our mission. Perhaps that is why the first General Convention of Regnum Christi asked us three times to delve more deeply into leadership following Christ’s example. Providentially, I had just finished writing the first draft of this book when the General Convention’s communique came out, and I hope the text will be a helpful tool for us to take our mission more seriously.
The book can be fruitful for personal use, though I think it can be even more powerful in study circle format with a group of friends. The questions at the end of each chapter provide fodder for fruitful discussion, and I even included some optional exercises to enhance your leadership following the example of our Lord.
What other initiatives do you currently have in the works?
I’m working with a team to develop a leadership course at Divine Mercy University. I’m also collaborating on a project with the Catholic Leadership Institute to put my doctoral research at the service of bishops across the country, to enhance their pastoral leadership. As well, a friend and I are working to launch a weekly radio program on The Quest in Atlanta which offers a Catholic take on mainstream news. I have several ideas for future books, though the one I think I’ll tackle next is an RC Essay clarifying what constitutes healthy discernment and accompaniment.
With all these projects, man proposes and God disposes. Given my medical history, I know that I may have five months or fifty years to live, and so I simply try to offer my best each day and follow the Lord’s lead. The future is in his Providence, and I am excited about the amazing things he is doing through the Legion of Christ and Regnum Christi. It is great to a part of his plan!
Fr. Daniel’s book is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding the profound and unique aspects of Christ’s leadership in today’s world – you can purchase a copy for yourself, your family, or coworkers at regnumchrististore.com.
