March 11, 2010
Interview With Fr. Spitzer
How Do Companies View the Collar?
It’s a question friends of the Center have asked in private: How do companies respond to a leadership message when the messenger is a priest? Here’s an answer provided by Fr. Spitzer himself.
It’s unusual to see a Catholic priest offering leadership advice to corporations and other secular organizations. Has the collar been a help, a barrier, or a nonfactor in your relationships with organizations?
In working with nonreligious organizations, I’ve seen two distinct responses to the collar. There are organizations, like Boeing or Costco, that accentuate the message above the collar. There are other organizations that are very concerned about pluralism, and they emphasize the collar above the message. Sometimes they don’t get through to the message at all; sometimes they do see the message and see that it’s useful, but they don’t want to risk offending other Christian people, or Jewish people, or anyone else. I understand that.
Obviously, it’s not always a barrier or you wouldn’t have the client list you’ve compiled. What’s different about the companies where the collar isn’t seen as a problem?
In general, there’s a lay person on the inside who has stood up and affirmed that this curriculum [the Journey to Excellence] would be really good for the organization. And once I actually start to talk to people – once I get going on the Four Levels of Happiness™ or other topics – the collar isn’t a barrier anymore. After five minutes, people don’t see it.
In cases where the collar is a concern that prevents me from getting in the door, we have other options. We can have a lay person deliver these messages in a similar way to how I would deliver them. You need a person who can present passionately – I think that’s absolutely key – and we have people who can do that. But I don’t think my priesthood stands in the way of my being able to articulate leadership principles. I think I bring some unique perspectives to the table.
To move ahead in your life, you need the freedom to do it, and freedom doesn’t come from training. Freedom comes from higher viewpoints that enable you to make good decisions based on the highest principles and the best methodology. |
Could you elaborate?
Well, for starters, I do have a degree in public accounting and finance. I know a cash flow statement, I know what’s up with a line of credit, and I certainly know what’s up with my ratios. I know what a bond rating is. I know how the market can just bust your shops. I know – I’ve been there.
I haven’t run an organization like Boeing, with 160,000 people, but Gonzaga has 8,000 students and 1,000 employees – 600 non-faculty and 400 faculty. I’ve learned a lot about instantiating my own principles within an organization of that size.
But I’m not only an organizational leader – I’m a leader who’s also a professional philosopher. I know some leadership trainers don’t value philosophy, and I know there are business people who’ll say, “What does philosophy have to do with anything?”
When people say that, what do you tell them?
What do you think a philosopher does all day? You think about the world of higher viewpoints and deep rationales. Philosophy is always asking “Why?” and trying to get to the bottom of things. If you want to talk about the great ideas, the great questions, and the great methodology, I’ve been there and back.
What I’ve done with my ethical leadership curriculum is to blend all this into something that’s unique. I’m trying to make a difference to the organization’s culture, and I’m also trying to improve the lives of the individuals who work there – not just on the job but in their family lives as well as in the community.
To move ahead in your life, you need the freedom to do it, and freedom doesn’t come from training. Freedom comes from higher viewpoints that enable you to make good decisions based on the highest principles and the best methodology. That’s real freedom – the freedom to do the most we can do with our lives, to achieve the highest degree of creativity, and to make the best decisions.
When I'm doing the Journey to Excellence for companies or secular organizations, I’m not wearing my priest hat, per se. I’m wearing my organizational leader hat and my philosopher hat. There aren’t many people out there who are professional philosophers, who also happen to be organizational leaders, who also happen to write and speak passionately. I wish there were more because this synthesis is very powerful, and it’s a perspective you don’t find in most leadership curricula.
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