leadership secrets of mother teresa
2007 October 24
Henri Nouwen’s book ‘In the Name of Jesus’ had a large impact on my thinking about leadership, and now the book about another Roman Catholic, Mother Teresa, is reminding me how different leadership is in the kingdom of God. I’m only about half way through Come be My Light, but a number of things have stood out to me.
- Help people love Jesus. Mother Teresa’s calling to India was grounded in the Great Commission, and her driving passion was to ’satisfy the thirst of Christ from the cross’ by helping the poor love Jesus. Her mission was truly spiritual. Lesson for leaders: remember that the only results that count are the ones that last for eternity.
- Slow obedience. Mother Teresa at times was impatient. The vision for the Missionaries of Charity came after 19 years of being a Loreto Nun, and she did not want to wait any longer to be obedient to Christ. Yet when her spiritual father and others told her to wait, she obediently took this from the hand of God. She was not going to do anything in the flesh. Lesson for leaders: don’t be in a rush. Submit to others as a spiritual discipline.
- Don’t procrastinate. Early in her career Mother Teresa became convicted that when the Holy Spirit revealed something small to do, she should do it immediately. If something needed washing, wash it. If something needed fixing, fix it. If a letter needed writing, write it. Lesson for leaders: take care of the small responsibilities in life and God will reward you with bigger responsibilities.
- Contextualize. Mother Teresa wanted the Missionaries of Charity to wear Indian clothes, eat Indian food, and live on a similar income of the Indian poor. This was not a methodology, but a spiritual discipline. Lesson for leaders: Minimize the cultural and social distance from those you minister to. Share life with them.
- Poverty and humility: Mother Teresa wanted nothing so that Christ could be everything. Lesson for leaders: True ministry flows from character and faith – not resources.
I never resist reading any article on leadership. Leadership is crucial …actually, it’s critical. It is the deciding difference in a world that yearns for people who will make a mark. Thanks for sharing these secrets!
Thanks for stopping by, Herman. Leadership is crucial. What facinates me about Mother Teresa is how unconventional and upside down her leadership was – yet she accomplished so much. She challenges me to really think hard about how leadership in the kingdom of God is so different than in the world. I think what she did was lead in a way that gives God the room to work. That’s what is missing in so much of the leadership books that I read – Christian or otherwise. Spiritual leadership is about faith, hope, and love – in down to earth ways. It’s bottom up rather than top down. It’s about seeking the success of others rather than seeking our own success. It’s about the glory of God and not the glory of the leader.
I don’t often edit posts, but since I wrote this one so quickly I have made some minor changes.
Read this morning in her book that she regularly prayed to be made ‘nothing for Jesus.’ In the upside down world of the Kingdom of God, that is a crucial leadership principle.