Developing Leaders for Catholic Schools

Alice I. Hession

Director of Sponsorship

Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools

Would you tell me, please, which way I ought to go from here?‘, said Alice.`That depends a good deal on where you want to get to,' said the Cat. `I don't much care where--' said Alice. `Then it doesn't matter which way you go,' said the Cat. `--so long as I get somewhere,' Alice added as an explanation. `Oh, you're sure to do that,' said the Cat, `if you only walk long enough.'

What is it that makes each of these people stand out?

Attributes of effective leaders

• Professional competence• Conceptual skills• Results-oriented• Emotional Intelligence• An ability to identify talent• Judgment• Character

( The Leadership Advantage, Warren Bennis )

“People rise to leadership in our society by a tendency toward extroversion, which means a tendency to ignore what is going on inside themselves….We must have education for leadership that is not simply about the skills to manipulate the external world, but is also about the personal and corporate disciplines of the inner world.”

- Parker Palmer “Leading from Within”

Catholic Schools

• Spiritual Leadership– Personal spirituality– Ability to model spirituality for others– Spiritual awareness– Ability to live in and instill hope

Catholic schools must be seen as "meeting places for those who wish to express Christian values in education". The Catholic school, far more than any other, must be a community whose aim is the transmission of values for living. Its work is seen as promoting a faith-relationship with Christ in Whom all values find fulfillment. But faith is principally assimilated through contact with people whose daily life bears witness to it. Christian faith, in fact, is born and grows inside a community.

“ The Catholic School”Paragraph 53

The Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, 1977

– Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing

“Everyone has a spirituality, either a life-giving one or a destructive one… Spirituality is about being integrated or falling apart, about being within community or being lonely, about being in harmony with Mother Earth or being alienated from her. Irrespective of whether or not we let ourselves be consciously shaped by any explicit religious idea, we act in ways that leave us either healthy or unhealthy, loving or bitter. What shapes our actions is our spirituality.” …”It is about what we do with our spirits, our souls.”

– Ronald Rolheiser, The Holy Longing

…“A healthy soul must do two things. It must put some fire in our veins; keep us energized, vibrant, full of hope… Second, a healthy soul has to keep us fixed together. It has to give us a sense of who we are, where we came from, where we are going, and what sense there is in all of this.”

– Frederick Buechner

The key to spirituality is to find the “…place where your deep gladness and the world’s deep hunger meet.”

Context for Leadership

The exercise of leadership must be related to the mission and seek to advance that mission.

If the mission of Catholic schools is to serve the church in its work of evangelization, especially through education, we must see this as the context for leadership.

Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium

U. S. Catholic Bishops, 1995

Call to Holiness

- Personal Spirituality and Growth

- Theological Reflection

Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium

U. S. Catholic Bishops, 1995

Call to Christian Maturity

- Respect for Differences

- Participation in shaping the future

- Ability to live with mystery

Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium

U. S. Catholic Bishops, 1995

Call to Community

- Collaboration

- Personal Gifts

- Shared Mission

Called and Gifted for the Third Millennium

U. S. Catholic Bishops, 1995

Call to Mission and Ministry- Charism“We stand on the shoulders of giants”

- StewardshipService

Fidelity

Study of eleven public companies which had a 15 year cumulative stock returns at least three times the market independent of its industry. These were compared to similar companies in the same industry with like opportunities and resources.

Concepts developed by making empirical deductions directly from the data; did not begin with a theory but sought to build a theory from the ground up derived directly from the evidence.

Level 5 Executive

Effective leader

Competent manager

Contributing team member

Highly capable individual

Level 5 Leadership

Blends extreme personal HUMILITY with intense professional will.

• Study of Non-Profits

Importance of Level 5 Leadership

• More important in the Non-profit world

• Commitment to Mission/Cause

• Acts with quiet, calm determination; relies principally on inspired standards, not inspiring charisma, to motivate.  

• Demonstrates a compelling modesty, shunning public adulation; never boastful. 

• Channels ambition into the company, not the self; sets up successors for even greater success in the next generation.  

• Looks out the window, not in the mirror, to apportion credit for the success of the company—to other people, external factors, and good luck.

Personal Humility

• Creates superb results, a clear catalyst in the transition from good to great. 

• Demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do whatever must be done to produce the best long-term results, no matter how difficult.  

• Sets the standard of building an enduring great company; will settle for nothing less.

• Looks in the mirror, not out the window, to apportion responsibility for poor results, never blaming other people, external factors, or bad luck.

Professional Will

Primal Leadership

The first or most important

(thus primal) element of leadership is EMOTIONAL

RESONANCE

The ability of the leader to drive emotions positively, bringing out the best in others.

People are “on the same wavelength” and there is less static in their interactions.

Emotional Intelligence

Personal Competence

• Self Awareness

• Self Management

Social Competence

• Social Awareness

• Relationship Management

Resonant leaders can read and express the emotions of the group so people feel understood and cared for.

Having formed an emotional bond, team members are more focused and their work is more meaningful.

Unique Challenges of Leadership in Catholic schools

• Head Follower

• Articulator of Stories

• Creator of Community of Hope

Unique Challenges of Leadership in Catholic Schools

Thomas Sergiovanni - Lifeworld of Leadership

“Head Follower”“There can be no leadership if there is nothing important to follow. For many, followership is a pejorative term that embodies hierarchy and implies subordination… But when followership is linked to ideas it takes on intellectual and spiritual qualities.”

This concept of a leader is the one who engenders shared followership for Mission.

“The Catholic School”

Goals and Values

Unique Challenges of Leadership in

Catholic Schools

Unique Challenges of Leadership in Catholic Schools

Articulator of stories

- Point to values and ideas we follow

- Role Models

- Traditions

- “The Deep Story”

Unique Challenges of Leadership in Catholic Schools

Creator of Community of Hope

- Challenge to live the mission of Catholic education in new ways

- Stewards for the future

“We stand on the shoulders of giants”

Leadership Development ProgramXaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools

• To broaden the view of the participant to the unique mission and style of Xaverian education and leadership in Catholic schools.

• To assist the participant in clarifying and developing his/her style of leadership.

• To call the participant to reflect on his/her call to leadership and stewardship of the mission of Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schools.

• To provide options and opportunities for the participant to practice leadership skills.

Assumptions of the program

• Designed for potential leaders invited to participate

• Skilled Mentor/Partner• Emphasis on all levels of school

leadership• Includes a Project/Practicum • Required Readings• Focus on Networking

Stage One – 3 days - Summer– Call to Leadership – Reflective – Xaverian spirituality– Leadership Qualities, Styles and Strengths– Leadership in a Catholic school and in an

XBSS School– Elements of Team Building and Collaboration– Leadership for Mission

Stage Two Practicum/ReflectionYear long effort with a mentor

• Leadership of a School Project• Reading/Reflection/Discussion

– Leadership on the Line, The Holy Longing, Good to Great, The Lifeworld of Leadership

• Visit to another XBSS School

• Stage Three 2 days Summer– Personal Spirituality and Leadership– Sharing on personal experience of

leadership– The Change Process in the School –

Creating Culture

Comments by participants

“I believe this program was created to ensure that XBSS will remain faithful to its original mission. As the Xaverian Brothers continue to decline in numbers, the XBSS will rely on the lay population to effectively lead the schools. The major themes of this program were XBSS mission, leadership qualities, leadership style, and the change process. I began this program as an eager, dedicated guidance counselor who wanted to make a positive contribution to the school that has already given me so much. I’m leaving this program as an experienced leader with a clearer vision, more confident attitude, and a passion for servant leadership.”

Comments by participants

“I found it to be a good blend of experiences: we explored leadership as 1) a spiritual journey and transforming experience, whereby we are called to serve others, and 2) a set of skills and personal qualities that have been extensively researched & analyzed, and can consciously be developed and improved upon. I found myself reflecting a great deal about my current and future roles as a leader in a Xaverian school, I learned much that I had never been formally taught, though often had some intuition about, and I found myself enriched by the experience of working with others, dedicated individuals from our XBSS schools.”

Comments by participants

“I really learned what it means to be a leader in a Catholic High School regardless of the position I hold in the school, the importance of creating a culture that allows growth for everyone in the school (teachers, students, staff, parents), the importance of not settling for being a good school but it takes real leaders to make it a great school, and that to be a real leader in a Catholic school is to be a spiritual leader as well.”

“To commit oneself to working in accordance with the aims of a Catholic School is to make a great act of faith in the necessity and influence of this apostolate. Only one who has this conviction and accepts Christ's message, who has a love for and understands today's young people, who appreciates what people's real problems and difficulties are, will be led to contribute with courage and even audacity to the progress of this apostolate in building up a Catholic school.” 

- “The Catholic School”

Sacred Congregation for Catholic Education, 1977

• What do you resonate with from the presentation? What makes sense to you? How can this be applied in your situation?

• What qualities of leadership are especially applicable to leaders in Catholic schools?

• What are the unique challenges to being a leader in a Catholic school?

Developing Leaders for Catholic Schools

Alice I. HessionDirector of Sponsorship

Xaverian Brothers Sponsored Schoolsahession@xaverianbrothers.org

www.xbss.org - Resources and Links