Truth and Leadership
One
Story of Solomon
Solomon is presented in Scripture as the most knowledgeable person who ever lived. He is told that his wisdom is so great, that there had never been anyone like him before, and there would never be anyone like him again. He is presented as the author of the wisdom literature in Scripture: Wisdom, Ecclesiastes, and Proverbs, this incredible collection of insights that rivals the greatest reflections of any culture at any time.
And of course, Scripture tells us that Solomon’s wisdom was not simply the result of his own efforts: it was given to him as a special grace from God.
Why? Why should Solomon receive such a gift? The answer Scripture gives is that Solomon was given wisdom because he was a leader, and he knew he needed wisdom to lead well. So, he asked God for it, and God gave it to him.
Two
Truth and Leadership
Many people have heard the story of how God visited Solomon and invited the young king to ask for anything. Solomon asked for wisdom, and God was so pleased He not only gave Solomon wisdom, but a great many other things besides.
But why did Solomon ask for wisdom? Was it just to satisfy his own private curiosity, or for his own private enjoyment? Was it so he could become wealthy and powerful and famous?
No. It was because he was the leader of a great nation, and he knew he could not rule them rightly without wisdom.
So listen. You either are or will be in a position of authority or leadership.
You might be an owner or manager of a business, the head of a team of medical professionals, the principal of a school or a teacher in a classroom, you might be a priest and pastor of a parish, and most probably you are the head of a household – a father or mother, grandfather or grandmother…And this is the lesson of Solomon’s wisdom: a leader must be more wise, must be more committed to reflection on the truth, than everyone else. Because a ruler doesn’t just need truth to guide his own actions – he needs truth to guide other people’s.
And he will not acquire that truth, or that wisdom unless he makes the priority to seek it from God in prayer and to commit to exercising his intellect in the discipline of study.
A leader must be humble enough to prioritize both prayer and the intellectual discipline of study.
Three
The Truths a leader must reflect on
So what are the truths every leader needs to continually reflect on?
First of all, he needs to think about the purpose of the community he governs. Why does this community exist? What does it mean for this community to flourish? A school, for instance, exists to facilitate the full human flourishing of the students. A business exists to serve the common good in a way that’s sustainable for the business itself. A family exists to cultivate the human and theological virtues. In other words, a family exists above all to make happy saints for the world and the Church.
Secondly, the leader needs to think about the individuals in the community he governs. Which person needs encouragement? Which person needs a careful reprimand? Which person needs more direction? Which person needs to be left alone? Most importantly, which person do you need to show that you delight in? Which person needs to know that his or her superior is happy with him?
To know these things you will need to know God and the individuals you are responsible for and that means time with both. Finally, each leader needs to think about his or her own character. If you’re the leader, you need to be continually asking yourself where you are tempted to be selfish, negligent, impulsive, and hot-headed. Where are you in danger of losing perspective? And where have you made a mistake? In fact, where do you need to maybe apologize?
Because the first step to the wisdom of the ruler, as the story of Solomon shows, to recognize your own limitations.
Four
The truth that God is in charge and that He’s put you in charge
Finally, as the story of Solomon makes clear, the wise ruler must be continually in relationship with God, meditating on the truth about Him and asking for wisdom from Him.
This brings great peace to the ruler because even if you don’t make the best decisions every time for your family, or whatever other group of folks you’re in charge of, it always helps to remember that ultimately, God is in charge.
He has put you in charge and he wants you to exercise your authority as best as you can but He is the one who can arrange things in a way that supplements for your failures.
Contemplating that truth gives us the courage to trust, and courage to do the best we can, however inadequate that is, for our families and subordinates.
Five
The virtue that translates truth into action is prudence and Aquinas says that prudence is required above all for the leader.
Prudence is the art of making good decisions. There are three steps to prudence:
Deliberate, gather all relevant information, and weigh the pros and cons. Be humble enough to take counsel with those who are more experienced, and knowledgeable in the matter at hand. Take counsel with God. Pray. Ask Him what to do and listen to Him.
Make a decision. Separate the relevant from the irrelevant information, narrow down and eliminate options. Then make a decision – because that is the responsibility of the leader – to take responsibility and decide.
Take action and follow through to the end.
There are three dangers to avoid:
Rash Judgment, the failure to think before you act, look before you leap.
Indecision, the failure to decide. This is when you can gather all the relevant info but get paralyzed when it comes to making a choice.
Irresolution, when you can get all the facts, make a choice but you struggle to put your resolutions into action and follow through.
By prayer, by getting to know the individuals we are responsible for, and by the practice of Prudence we can be the leaders both God and the people we serve need.