From the back cover of Pope Francis: Why He Leads the Way He Leads:
Pope Francis has captured the world’s attention with his seemingly counterintuitive approach to leadership. In Pope Francis: Why He Leads the Way He Leads, best-selling author and former Jesuit seminarian Chris Lowney offers an in-depth look at how Pope Francis’s Jesuit training has directly impacted his various leadership roles and what it suggests about how he might lead in the future. Readers will gain essential lessons to help them with their own leadership challenges.
I wasn’t sure what to expect with this book. Would it be a business book? Or a spiritual book written by a business guy? Or a biography with business tips? Or…something altogether different?
Turns out, the answer is yes.
This is a book of lessons, yes, but it’s also a book of insight. So much has been said about Pope Francis. The man can’t say a sentence without people jumping in to interpret and explain.
Lowney takes a different approach. He’s not explaining. He’s not interpreting. He has Jesuit training and shares some important background with Pope Francis, so he uses that as the lens through which he considers what we can all learn from Pope Francis.
It’s not overwritten or stretched out: this is a book that’s tightly written and well-researched. It reads like a book off the NYT bestseller list, minus the snark and cynicism.
I found myself appreciating Jesuit spirituality more, because Lowney explains it. In learning more about it, I suddenly have a view into Papa.
This book is partly journey, partly lesson, partly fun reading. Highly recommended.
I feel that Pope Francis appeals to all people because of his authenticity and sincerity; he speaks to the human heart instead of a particular “group” of people, and that is what makes him a pontiff for our times. I tried to portray this in the NPR round table discussion I was part of last week.
BTW, Sarah, if you have a stack of books that need to be reviewed, send some my way! It’s mutually beneficial, because I love to both read AND write!!
Also, do you have any podcasts or anything we can see/hear from when you were in LA?
I need to listen to your NPR thing, Jeannie, that is SO COOL that you were on that! 🙂
And I sent you an email about the other stuff. 🙂