Michael Hall, a personal friend and Catholic Christian Outreach missionary, just published his first book entitled, Intentional Accompaniment. I had the honour of providing an endorsement.
It is an excellent read, but don’t take my word for it. There is a plethora of Catholic evangelization thought leaders giving kudos to Michael. Here are a few names: Kevin Cotter, Executive Director of Amazing Parish; Bishop Scott McCaig; Eric Chow from the Proclaim Movement; Michael Dopp from Mission of the Redeemer Ministries; Marcel LeJeune from Catholic Missionary Disciples, Matt Nelson from Word on Fire Institute. Fr James Mallon had this to say, “CCO Missionaries have been intentionally accompanying others on the journey to faith for decades. In this book, their insights are presented in a compelling way, hugely relevant to this most crucial season of the life of the Church.”
You can purchase the book here. I’m not an affiliate!
In honour of the gift CCO has been to the evangelizing mission of the Catholic Church for over 30 years, now is a fitting time to share with you four valuable leadership lessons I learned as a CCO missionary.
Leadership Means Self-Gift
There is no such thing as servant leadership. Either you are a servant or you are no leader at all. Leadership is wanting what is best for the people you lead, even when what is best for them is not best for you.
St. John the Baptist models the way when he says, “He must increase and I must decrease.” Raising the next generation of leaders is in the DNA of CCO as an organization.
CCO founder, Andre Regnier, was often asked by the Holy Spirit, “Will you allow a younger leader to rise above you? Time and again, Andre responded with a heartfelt, “Yes!” Few leaders and fewer founders would agree so enthusiastically.
As this has continued within CCO, many young leaders have been well-formed to take on more leadership responsibility inside CCO and beyond. Andre’s influence has not diminished but continues to grow as a thought leader in the New Evangelization.
Leaders Have a Teachable Point of View
Noel Tichy is an associate professor in the MBA program at the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business. He has authored several books, including, The Leadership Engine. One of his main points in this incredible book, is that great leaders are radically committed to forming a teachable point of view.
An average leader can become an exceptional leader by developing her ideas, insights and models into a teachable point of view. If a leader understands a topic profoundly, he can teach it simply. CCO is the best organization I have ever seen in terms of forming and transmitting a teachable point of view. CCO calls this “transferable concepts.” Passion becomes contagious when it is transferable to others. CCO has mastered the art of developing transferable concepts.
A leader knows he has a powerful teachable point of view when his students begin to teach others better than the leader could. II Timothy 2:2 says this, “What you have seen and heard in me, in the presence of many witnesses, transmit to others who are reliable and qualified to teach others.” Andre and Angele Regnier passed on the teachable point of view to Michael and now he is passing it on to many others. The fact that the book, Intentional Accompaniment, was written by Michael Hall, not Andre or Angele Regnier (CCO Founders), proves the point.
If a leader understands something profoundly, she can explain it simply. A leaders passion becomes contagious when it is transferable to others. Share on XLeadership is a Walk in the Dark
Andy Stanley says, “Leaders go to places where their people have never been, but the best leaders also go to places they’ve never been!” Leadership is a walk in the dark, it is building a bridge as one travels across it.
In 18 years of service with CCO, I had 11 different job titles. With each new position, came a new load of leadership. If change was not necessary, leadership would not be necessary because management would do just fine. When I started with CCO, there were 6 people were preset on staff, when I left we had 87 full-time missionaries. I’m sure CCO has well over 100 on staff now.
Those increasing numbers represent a ton of change. Some changes were harder than others. Organizational change is never easy, even with highly like-minded people. It is not the change itself that is hard, but the emotional transition people go through, learning to embrace the changes necessary to move the organization forward.
In my time with CCO, I had 11 different job titles. Time and time again, I learned that if change were not necessary, leadership would not be necessary because management would do just fine. Share on XCCO is a leadership-intensive organization. Because they are continually improving and innovating, CCO requires leadership at every level. Throughout my 18 years, I was continually thrust into environments that I was not equipped to handle. But the stretch was never so great that it tore me. Rather, the stretching inspired me to be more passionate about learning, growing, praying and embracing humility by asking lots of questions.
The best organizations challenge emerging leaders with more leadership responsibility than comfortable. I am grateful for the environment and hope that every Catholic organization would embrace the same methods for growing young leaders.
The best organizations continually challenge emerging leaders with just a little more leadership responsibility than they are ready to handle. Share on XGod’s Curriculum for Growing a Leader
Leaders are learners. If you stop learning, you will stop leading. Period.
I have a Masters degree in organizational leadership. I have made every effort to study the subject for the better part of 25 years. My shelves are full of books that I have earnestly tried to assimilate into my own practice. And my phone has hours of leadership podcasts waiting to be played … again.
But when it comes to growing a leader, God’s ways are not our ways. Books are great, podcasts too. HBR, Inc. Forbes, Success are all wonderful publications sure to add value to any leader. But God’s curriculum is the school of adversity. I call it the diamond life.
When it comes to growing a leader, God's ways are not our ways. Books are great, podcasts too. HBR is a wonderful publication, but God's curriculum is the school of adversity. Share on XAll of us are on a journey of maturity, fathered by God, becoming the leaders He created us to be. God forges leaders through hardship, difficulty and struggle – the diamond life.
Leaders are like diamonds. Diamonds are forged deep within the earth’s crust, formed in places of intense heat, pressure and darkness. Diamonds are fashioned through adversity, difficulty and overwhelming circumstances. But once the diamonds are harvested and polished, diamonds are resilient and, because of their beauty, diamonds are often given as gifts for others. The best definition of leadership is this, “Leadership means self-gift.”
In my time of service with CCO, I learned that the process of maturity is God fathering us through intensely difficult situations. But there is an end in mind. There is a goal. It is exciting, noble and certainly worth desiring. But the goal is also to be feared (meaning respected) in the sense of being pursued not as something to be grasped but something to be received with reverence and honour. The goal is to rule but to rule in His name and for His glory.
Christian author Dallas Willard said it like this: “The primary work of God is finding leaders to whom He can entrust His power.”
The reason for so much of the suffering around the world, is that we have lost our kings and queens. Yes, we find men and women in power with titles and positions, but they are not true kings and queens. These leaders don’t operate as sons and daughters animated by the heart of the Father. These leaders are propped up kings and queens, leaning on a title and position to influence others, wielding power over people, but few have power with people.
Good kings and queens are children of the Father, matured through adversity. They make their kingdoms like the Kingdom of Heaven for the sake of the people under their rule.
Good kings and queens are children of the Father, matured through adversity. They use all they have to make their kingdoms like the kingdom of heaven for the sake of the people under their rule. Share on XThe entirety of your journey as a leader, being fathered by God through the diamond life, is intended to prepare you to handle His power. Jesus said, “Do not fear, your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. And I confer on you a kingdom just as my Father conferred on me” (Luke 12:32 and 22:29).
Conclusion
I am grateful for the many years I was privileged to serve alongside some fantastic leaders in CCO. I deeply appreciate the opportunity to grow and learn from some of the best and for the gift of life-long friendships. Cheers!