This article presents an interview with Fr. William Byron, a Jesuit priest in the Catholic Church. In the interview, he discusses servant leadership and how this relates to the hierarchy of the Catholic Church. Byron notes that Greenleaf’s thesis of servant leadership, which points out the problems of “top-down” power structures in leadership, may seem antithetical to the Catholic hierarchy. Indeed, he points out that various popes and bishops do try to rule those under them, instead of leaving them. This is not true of all Catholic leaders, however, as there are those like St. Ignatius of Loyola who have advocated for a more servant form of leadership. Indeed, Ignatius stated that a superior general of a religious community ought to have an admonitor with him, one who had no authority but would remind the general of his responsibility to his flock.
It seems that Byron does well to recognize the potential for autocracy within the Church’s hierarchy. Indeed, he notes that a pope or bishop will only adopt a servant model of leadership if he so desires. The reality is, as he points out, that organizations like the Church are made up of human beings, so there will always be a potential for abuse of power. Given this, I must admit that I am at a loss as to what regulations could be put in place that could ensure a servant model of leadership. It seems that someone will only be a servant if he or she has that mindset.
Call it :) And, I will respond. Promise.
ReplyDelete"I accept that structure, of course, but recognize that it is staffed by human beings and they are subject to the weaknesses, foibles and failings that Greenleaf observed in his study of organizations" (Gallagher).
ReplyDeleteDave, I agree with you, Greenleaf and Gallagher that an organization full of people will also be full of the fallacy and sin of people. As far as accepting the structure of leadership, there is a part of me that grates against this. I used to grate against this when I was younger as a result of idealism and a distaste for authority. Having lost a bit of both, I now grate against this as a result of utter disgust with complacency within broken systems. Are we to accept broken systems because they contain broken people? Are we to reform systems so that they are organized in such a way that keeps as much of the inevitable brokenness at bay as possible? If we are to choose the "reform" answer, how do we set those standards? How do we know when a system has been appropriately examined and altered? I speak here, not just of the hierarchical system of the Catholic Church, but of the broken systems within all of Christendom.