Seven minute read.

I completed my first and last term with a Catholic ministry as a team leader. I was asked to write about my experiences and what I learned through this new position. I offer this letter as an encouragement to all who partake in a management role, overseeing the development of their staff. The style is written akin to St. Paul’s letters in Scripture, with an emphasis on leadership.

Dearest Timothy, you who are a leader, I write to affirm you in the great work and call you once received, to be a leader of people and resources. It is a great task and an arduous challenge, for the spirit of leadership comes with a weight of responsibility. One that if undertaken with all humility and grace can result in things hoped for that are unseen, one that if succumbed to pride and self-reliance can result in things despised and unwelcomed. I write to you on the experiences I have lived, albeit a term so short and so brief. 

I write to you about leadership of teams and staff, involving people, hearts, dreams, and strengths, along with trials, hardships, and problems. Every opportunity in leadership is an opportunity for greatness. The moments come by as they are, glamorous or wrenching, with a response from the leader—an opportunity to take hold of what lies before them. I finished a semester of working as a team leader, and I pass on to you my knowledge, namely the things I learned, for better or for worse, practical tips and tricks in the arena of supervisory leadership, and the things I would have done differently had I been graced with a second chance.

You are privileged to be reading this, for you seek to learn, to grow, and to understand. For she who looks for the still more excellent way, will she not find that which she looks for, with all her heart? A desire to be great is already greatness—the level of thoughts and ideas are the foundation for which magnanimous things can appear. And so I exhort you: be strong and courageous in your new adventure. For what I learned I now pass on: keep the flame of leadership alive in times of darkness and despair. The world needs you.

What have I learned, you may ask? Leadership is multiplication and management. It is a rhythm of the two: one without which you cannot aspire without its other. As a staff supervisor, you have the ability to speak into hearts, affirm callings, reprimand and redirect. You are looked at with admiration, with reverence even, and that state for which you have been called gives a particular executive authority for which you serve. Leadership is about vision casting, about aligning people towards your cause. You do not have to be the most versed in public speaking, nor do you have to be the most capable. You simply have to be yourself—for authenticity, paired with long-lasting virtues, stand the test of time. And what you are multiples in who your staff are. And what you do also multiplies in what your staff do. Have you not noticed the mannerisms and colloquials of those that went before you, you have also been doing yourself? Leadership multiplies. Be careful what you do: everything is under scrutiny. But do not take yourself seriously, for you are weak and not able to be everything to everyone—not on your own strength at least.

Which leads me to my next truth: we are limited. Leadership brings to light your strengths and weaknesses. We can’t do it all, nor should we try to. We all fall short of the ideal. It is humbling. And that, my friend, is the humility for which you are to lead. How can you not see the gap in your own leadership and then try and call others out of theirs? First seek to grow in that area you are weak in before helping others. Better yet lead by weakness. Those around you were made to lift you higher, as you yourself are to lift others higher. This is the hard part of leadership: you who have been called are not capable on your own strength. So get over yourself and lean on the team.

The team is the most important matter in leadership. If you get team health right, you will be laughing, both figuratively and literally. A team that laughs together achieves together. I do not have to speak at length on team health, for I assume you have already been trained on what it consists of and what it demands. Learning it is one thing, living it out is another. But I can say this: see your staff as a ten out of ten, believe the best in them, and put them in areas they can excel, for then, you will see greatness rise to the surface. It is okay to see them better than you—for if you do not see them, who else will? A team is synergistic: two plus two is greater than four. The whole is greater than the sum of its parts. What woman would raise her staff team, aware of the complexities of each individual diamond, and see together the brightness with which they can shine, showcasing the one who has a cut that the other lacks, or polishing another that glimmers more beautifully depending on the time of day? Find the diamond in the rough by bringing out the best in your team.

But leadership is rough, is it not? Leadership is hard and demanding, I will not bow down from this truth. Yet we can look at it in this perspective: nothing great in life ever comes easy. For if it came easy, then what challenge, problem, or issue became the great challenge, problem, or issue it was meant to be? Leadership is a responsibility and a response to these great trials. It requires living to a high standard and inviting others into that very dynamic calling. Yes, it requires us to engage in difficult conversations, difficult situations, where the battle lies not only within society, the organization, and the team, but also in oneself. In this broken world filled with countless injustices and problems, there is no need to search for these trials, for they will come to you. But, will you despair? Will you fear what cannot become? No, you will not, I say! You will rise to its challenges because you have been appointed from time—and remember, temporal life is very short—to serve in this way for this moment. Do not let the moment escape you, do not let the moment pass you by, for this is the moment you have been waiting for and anticipating and being prepared for even before I have written this.

And so, what I have learned and acquired is to lead by weakness. Do not lead with your strengths, for though they are many, they will not allow you to rely on a grace that is bigger than you, nor will it give you the humility to serve a team and rely on their strengths. Do not consider yourself better, do not consider yourself more worthy than others, for you do not have a say in that matter. You are to accept all that befalls you, and allow things to happen to you and your team, so long as you stay the course and never, never, ever, give up. The moments might come where the trial seems too arduous, yet I know that your firm faith and confidence in that which is greater than you, called grace, you will not stumble to the point of falling forever into an abyss that cannot be overcome. Lead by weakness. You were made to reflect that.

You ask, my friend, practical tips and tricks for leading well. Ah, how it depends on the person, but I can at least write what has worked for me. First, execute an excellent morning rhythm. This enables stability amongst the chaos. Set for yourself a predetermined time you will wake up, turn off the alarm on its first few rings, and seize the day with private victory. Every day has its ups and downs, yet consistency is king. Having a set time to wake up, and a morning rhythm, can help win the first few minutes of the day. Perhaps that is your only win that day, but a win to start, nonetheless. 

For I have laboured and I have worked hard and run the race. My morning prize consisted of waking up between 6 and 6:30 AM, with a ten minute home workout, followed by a call with my soon-to-be spouse. I then spent some time in mental prayer and reflection, before eating and getting ready for my battle at work. It was a rhythm that helped me through each day, taking care of my body and soul. Quietness was a part of the morning, as best as I could have it interiorly while the world outside was noisy. For silence is a gift—do what you can to have a mind at peace to begin your day before it gets busy.

Ah, and then you will need your Samwise Gamgee in mission, your one in ten thousand, your spiritual friend you can turn to for guidance and support. As a leader, you might feel alone, especially with the great responsibility for which you have been granted. But know, my good friend, that you are not alone. You have brothers and sisters who have gone before you and who are beside you. Do not be afraid, get over yourself and call them in times of despair, in times of plenty, in times of rejoicing, and in times of hardship. Because, my friend, you are not alone. It is a temptation to think otherwise. Yes, you are to be vulnerable and reveal a little which might be hard to share, but in confidence with that close friend, you will not be far from the sweetness the encouragement desires to bring.

Yes, I have spoken of the chaos, and to which I return. Life happens, days fly by, with its arrows that attack the identity and activity with which a leader lives. Amongst this busyness, do not lose your soul to the apostolate, rather, make space for self-reflection and prayer throughout your days. Make space to think, and schedule it in your weekly calendar. Make space to think about your team, your culture, your challenges and gaps in ministry, and yes, even your personal work. Take breaks, go for a walk, breathe. Pray when you can, and if you shall pursue the still more excellent way, do an afternoon and evening examen. A leader that takes a step back oftentimes then takes two steps forward. Do not allow busyness to rule your day. Be present. And when you fall short of this mindfulness, of excellence in your tasks, begin again. Do not give in, do not give up. You have this mantra because you were chosen.

And what I have learned to do differently, I say this. I learned that as a leader, I cannot do everything. I learned that I cannot do all things, even though I can do many things. There are things I want to do but don’t, and things I don’t do that I should. Leadership helps me to focus on those areas that are truly important, but I recall from my weakness, that I cannot be everything to all people—in my own limited human capacity. This stems from pride. As a leader I am limited in resources and energy. So take this truth before you shall even begin: you cannot do all things on your own effort. Do not try. For in doing this, you will succeed in failing.

And I would have taken more time for planning at the beginning of the semester. For a leader that anticipates, calculates, and monitors wins half the battle. And submit all plans to a spirit of docility and flexibility, not letting the plans define you, but that you and your team define the plans. Plan and execute, execute and evaluate, that could be a good motto to strive towards. For I was tested in my first term: I learned about team leading on the fly. If I made more time to plan, that would have been helpful.

Above all, learn and grow from your experiences. You will never arrive in leadership, because no work is ultimately finished until the day we die. There is always more; more to do, more to achieve, more to explore, more to understand. Go deeper, now, my friend. If you have the attitude of learning and growing, your development will exceed at a pace that you would not have thought possible. And find greatness. It lies within you. Within who you are. “Be who you were meant to be, and you will set the world on fire”, said my good friend, Saint Catherine of Siena.

That shall be enough. I point you to the great leader in St.Paul, who also hopes that you advance in the calling for which you were chosen. You can do this with grace.

But how are they to call on one in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in one of who they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone to proclaim him? And how are they to proclaim him unless they are sent?

—Romans 10:14-15

For Christ did not send me to baptize but to proclaim the Gospel, and not with eloquent wisdom, so that the cross of Christ might not be emptied of its power.

—1 Corinthians 1:17

For freedom Christ has set us free. Stand firm, therefore, and do not submit again to the yoke of slavery.

—Galatians 5:1

This article is part of the Leadership section. Check out more entries here!