Pope Francis: Individual Leadership Essay

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Nowadays, news and media spend much time representing various leaders and their activities to the general public. For instance, a lot of attention was paid to the announcement of the new spiritual leader of Catholics three years ago. However, Pope Francis managed to remain one of the most discussed individuals in the world due to his ability to appeal to people and gather numerous non-Catholic admirers. He is believed to have set a new direction, as he ‘ruins traditions.’ Pope Francis refused to occupy provided apartments, treat gay individuals with loyalty, ask cardinals for advice, etc. Nevertheless, his revolutionary actions do not have any negative outcomes. On the contrary, the amount of charitable giving has increased (Fortune Editors). Thus, the leadership style of Pope Francis is worth discussing.

This leader resorts to congruent verbal and non-verbal communication. Those messages he conveys are consistent and aligned with his actions, attitudes, and behaviors. As one of the outstanding leaders who have an enormous number of followers, he tends to control his words and facial expression so that they reveal appropriate emotions. However, it does not always work as expected. Even though some of his smiles and speeches may not coincide with his role as a Catholic leader, his warm tone of voice and informal formulations provide positive perceptions.

Pope Francis is a charismatic leader, which can be considered a kind of gift that provides him with an opportunity to appeal to people. He looks very natural in his way of acting because he does not try to become formal artificially. His leadership style should be mainly discussed in the framework of behavioral theories because his actions reveal the way he interacts with his followers. His non-verbal communication shows that he is rather close to the general public. He smiles at people, looks them right into the eyes, wears simple clothes that are not usual for priests, and uses a car. He also waves to millions of people as if they are neighbors, which makes them willing to listen to him (Constantini).

As an effective leader, Pope Francis keeps a healthy schedule that allows him to manage his energy and remain in a positive mood. One of the Vatican spokesmen claimed that he always has some time to rest and reflect, which allows him to be in good shape in front of others. This discipline ensures that he can organize himself and his followers, managing energy in the right way. What is more, he has even critiqued some Catholic leaders for failing to organize their days so that they do not have enough time to rest and allocate tasks properly. Pope Francis distributes those things he needs to do throughout the day so that he does not need to deal with too many functions at the same time, which improves the quality of his work. He also has regular naps during the daytime, which allows him to find balance and be able to reload.

Tough conversations and difficult tasks do not make Pope Francis postpone them until the last moment. This characteristic is vital for him as an effective leader because it ensures that he does not avoid taking responsibility and does not procrastinate. Moreover, he likes controversies, which can be proved by his reforming initiatives connected with Vatican bureaucracy. Unlike many other Catholic leaders, he follows current tendencies and is willing to make the Vatican more global. Pope Francis believes that it can become the world’s model of financial administration in the nearest future. All in all, he educates others to create the right moment for tough decisions themselves so that continued progress can be achieved. He is always ready to take risks and is not afraid to be responsible for the observed outcomes. Pope Francis often breaks security protocols because he is willing to communicate with the representatives of the general public closer than he is expected to. What is more, he is ready to get in touch with deprived populations. He focuses on the common good but not an individual one, as he does his best for others to flourish.

Pope Francis makes Catholic leaders share his values as a true leader who implements innovative changes. He encourages them to reveal humility and simplicity in everyday life and especially when performing their duties. He emphasizes the necessity to embody his values but not only to perceive and accept them. Pope Francis leads by his own example, so his ideas become more clear and understandable for others, which is vital in the framework of behavioral leadership theories. For example, when he was in the USA, he found a gap in his schedule and spent it with the homeless and prisoners (Gutiérrez-Rodríguez). With these actions, he revealed that he loves the whole world and that it is the right thing to do for all people. His actions are understood even by the representatives of the deprived populations, which proves that he leads effectively. In this way, Pope Francis affected the values of a non-Catholic individual, so his power reaches not only his direct followers but also those populations that are ‘non-customers.’ Focusing on them, he manages to learn more about the whole world.

Thus, it can be concluded that Pope Francis is an effective leader who is worth discussing in media and news. He became famous for his leadership style and extraordinary views. He seeks counsel and is always ready to take risks. Pope Francis pays enormous attention to time and energy management, which gives him an opportunity to organize his day and the people around him. He models his values, showing others by his own example how and why to embody them.

Works Cited

Constantini, Silvia. “The Leadership Style of Pope Francis.” Aleteia, Web.

Fortune Editors. “The World’s 50 Greatest Leaders (2014).” Fortune, Web.

Gutiérrez-Rodríguez, Juan. “Three Lessons of Good Leadership from Pope Francis.” OxfordCharacter, Web.

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