Heart of a Spiritual Leader
Contents:
The attitudes and beliefs of the school leader help shape all the interactions that take place in the school. Spiritual leadership is one of the most important and influential roles of any Catholic school principal. Catholic Christian beliefs and practices are the foundation of education in a Catholic school.
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They provide the basis upon which the culture of the school is built. Yet how many Catholic school principals and administrators feel adequately prepared to undertake this important role of spiritual leader? Emerging studies into this question have uncovered that lay principals, in particular, often feel underprepared to assume the spiritual leadership of the students, teachers, and families they serve.
For many years, Catholic schools relied on the generous service of religious men and women who were spiritually formed in religious communities. The intentional spiritual formation of these vowed religious took place as they lived, prayed, and learned in the context of a community. In fact, compared with lay principals, principals formed in religious communities report higher levels of satisfaction and commitment and feel they are more effective in their roles as spiritual leaders. Additionally, they report higher levels of religiosity or practice of their faith.
The attitudes of people who have left their religious orders correlate closely with the vowed religious — which means that it is their formation experience, not their current situation, that is important. Since the numbers of vowed religious have dwindled, how can lay leaders become better prepared to be spiritual leaders in their schools? First of all, principals must be knowledgeable about the basic teachings, beliefs, and practices of the Catholic Church. There are many avenues for gaining this knowledge, including diocesan-led programs, university classes, and additional online options.
This strong knowledge base of the Catholic faith, once provided by religious communities, has now become the individual responsibility of those who lead our schools. In this way, principals can most effectively put into place processes and practices that support building a strong culture of Catholic identity in the school. Regular prayer for both students and teachers, sacramental opportunities, and displaying religious artifacts are but a few examples of ways in which the principal can encourage Catholic identity.
Finally, and critical to the role of spiritual leader, is personal formation. In order to be an effective leader of others, one must become what he or she is asking others to be.
You can get people to do what you want, but if they don't change in their heart, you have not led them spiritually. You have not taken them to. The heart of a leader is the foundation of her life. It is what drives her My spirit- filling was not coming from God; it was coming from the enemy.
The personal practice of prayer, reflection, and Christian meditation are keys to personal spiritual growth. Informed by the practices of religious communities, Catholic school leaders can form lay communities through which they can work together to create a trusting environment where they can practice prayer and good works in a safe and supportive setting. The question is, how can we obtain great spiritual leadership? Many leaders read powerful books to improve their leadership, attend some great conferences and seminars to develop better leadership, also have developed great leadership skills and principle, and sharpened their leadership abilities to develop leadership.
Jesus: The Role Model for Christian Leadership
However, we need to understand that spiritual leadership is not generated from outside sources. It comes from an inner life shaped by the Holy spirit. When we are deep rooted in Christ, when we have a good, healthy relationship with God; at that moment a leader influences others spiritually because we cannot generate spiritual influence by our own. The personality of a spiritual leader influences others because it is penetrated, saturated, and empowered by the Holy Spirit.
There is no such thing as a self-made spiritual leader. A true leader influences others spiritually only because the Spirit works in and through him to a greater degree than in those he leads. Oswald Sanders clearly said spiritual leadership cannot be created on our own but it comes from God. Our foundation of spiritual leadership is from God.
- Till Justice is Done.
- At the Heart: Spiritual Leadership - Today's Catholic Teacher.
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- Jesus: The Role Model for Christian Leadership - One Another Ministries.
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That is why all spiritual leaders must have a deep intimacy with God, we cannot lead without spiritually superior power and followers will not follow us if we lack this power. We can find lots of leadership value but here is what I believe from my own perspective are the values of spiritual leadership.
Leader need to follow him! We are called to follow Him Matt 4: Spiritual leadership begins with following Jesus Christ. When we become a great follower of Jesus, it actually leads us to become a great spiritual leader. Humility is the attitude that puts others ahead of the leader, that considers followers and team members are more important than me.
Humility is one of the most important aspects in spiritual leadership. Humility is one of the most important virtues for the spiritual leader.
Paul emphasized many times in his letter to believers that we are called to serve others. He introduced himself as a servant of Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ came to serve others. Trustworthiness is one of the important aspects in leadership and a trustworthy person is reliable and responsible.
Also a leader needs to have integrity and transparency.
But what if we could find even deeper meaning in our God-given vocations by viewing ourselves as the spiritual head or the spiritual heart of our family? The primary concern of the servant leader is service to their followers. Leaders should have open communication with followers. As an antidote, this fine book normalizes holiness for each family member and shows how within reach it is. As a priest who has been involved with marriage prep for a quarter of a century, I intend to give this book as a wedding gift to the couples I prepare for their sacrament and vocation. Logically, biblically, and practically, character is vital to vibrant spiritual leadership.
Leaders must have integrity to earn the trust from followers. Leaders must have patience and wait for the right time.
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Leaders should not try to react with hurriedness and quick judgment. The Lord will solve the problem in His time. Leaders must eliminate hurriedness. Patience is a virtue of spiritual leadership.
The Heart of a Servant Leader
Leaders will consistently face many different circumstances in their leadership but positive attitude helps to produce positive things. Positive attitude is only generated by trusting God. The longer I live the more convinced I become that life is 10 percent what happens to us and 90 percent how we respond to it. Leaders continue to work to great communicators.
God called us to lead others to Christ through our preaching ministry. Leaders continually need to develop their communication skills for the pulpit. Leaders should have open communication with followers. Leaders must be good listeners and also able to persuade followers. It will generate a disconnection between followers if leaders are not open to communicating with followers. A leader who cannot communicate will not lead well or long.
Most leaders spend vast amounts of time and energy developing other skills, such as long-term planning, time management and public speaking.