Embodying Your Values in Catholic Leadership 

God created you with intention.

As a pastor or leader within your organization, God has hardwired you for greatness.

Embracing who God created you to be is an incredibly important step for any leader. It isn't until we have the courage to embrace what we value that we can start to affect others to do something great.

So much freedom comes from understanding yourself and the beauty and essence of who you are! You start seeing those values drive your agenda, parish, and renewal through difficult times. When that begins taking place, I see priests and other leaders experience a whole new level of freedom, passion and joy, and that's what sustains them in the long term. And without it, the reality is it's never sustainable for long.

People can read us like a book. They're very intelligent–intuitively, relationally–they get it. So when we start going through the motions, it shows! If you're trying to live somebody else's values and vision, you'll find yourself getting exhausted. And if it's not your true passion, you'll ultimately burn out.

When you understand your values and have the courage to live and lead out of them, everyone around you can see your authenticity and passion on display. Your organization becomes aligned around a common vision.

If you're feeling overwhelmed by all the things you've been told to do as a leader—and if your heart isn't totally in it—it might be time to take some time to get clear on what really matters to you.

Once you know what truly matters to you, you can start thinking about how those values will guide your leadership. You won't be held back by what others expect of you; instead, your actions will flow from an internal sense of purpose and passion.

With that in mind...

What is it that you truly value?

Have you asked yourself this question recently?

"What do I truly value?"

As leaders, we know the importance of making good decisions. But for those decisions to be truly effective, they need to be informed by a leader's core values—the things that matter most to them.

For example, one of my core values is fun! If something's not fun, I don't want to do it. And while this may sound frivolous at first, it's actually very important to me. As a leader and as someone who coaches leaders every day, I know how easy it can be to get caught up in the daily grind and lose sight of why we're doing all this in the first place—to make a difference in people's lives!

If something's not fun, I don't want to do it. I don't think church and fun are mutually exclusive. I don't think leadership and joy are mutually exclusive. And sometimes we're so focused on results and getting things done in a particular way that we can suck the fun right out of the room, right out of a team, right out of a church, and that's not good enough for me.

So even in my coaching - if I'm not having fun, that's a flag for me; because it's one of my core values. It doesn't mean that I have fun all the time; it doesn't mean I'm full of joy all the time. But if I go a period of time and I recognize, "I'm harsh right now; I'm dry right now," that's a problem.

When you embrace who God created you to be and understand that who you are isn't something you have to kill, you become freed up to be the best version of yourself.

God's calling you to embrace how he's hardwired you; you were fearfully and wonderfully made in His image, and He's placed a unique calling on your life.

So what are the things you value?

Until you know what you value, it's hard to get clear on what's most important. If you don't have an understanding of your own values and what motivates you, why would anyone else?

A healthy vision places people over programs.

Vision needs to be spoken into everything. We have to ask ourselves, "if we're wildly successful, what could this look like?" Because your vision is going to be such an important part of how you recruit great people.

A healthy vision will always require sacrifice.

And so often, people aren't going to lay their life down for programs, best practices, or a particular model; but they'll lay their life down for their kids, friends, family, and neighbors.

"Who are we going to save? Who are you going to mobilize me to help?"

It's always about people. That's what ignites passion within our organizations.

When we will lay down our lives to help others reach the people they love and care for, and when we're intentional about equipping the Church to be the hands & feet of Jesus to the ones that God longs for, people get behind that!

And ultimately, your team will watch you as the leader to see what you're willing to sacrifice for.

If you're telling people what to do but aren't willing to lay your own life down for it, those around you will be able to feel it. And if your team believes that you're dialing it in, they will do the same.

The level of interest, passion, and sacrifice you bring to the vision will inspire your team around you!

A perfect example of this type of leadership is what Jesus did on Holy Thursday. With all the power on heaven and earth, Jesus knew who He was, He knew Whose He was, and He knew where He was going. He's staring his passion right in the face, and he literally got on his knees and washed his apostles' feet.

And Peter tries to say, "You can't wash my feet."

But Jesus essentially responds, "You don't get it. If you can't do this for each other, you have nothing; This is what I do! This is what leadership looks like in my game. You have no part of me if you're unwilling to do this. So let me wash your feet. I want to show you what leadership looks like. I don't just want to tell you."

I think, as leaders, if your vision & values are rooted in passion, people will see it. You're going to sacrifice for it, and you're going to live in it. It's going to bring you energy, and that's going to invigorate your whole team around you!

It's so exciting. It brings your vocation alive in ways that you'll thank God for every minute of every day, even in the suffering. Just like St. Paul, he was glad to suffer for the Gospel. He was laying his life down for the right thing, the right purpose, the right reason, and the right person.

Find that passion in your own leadership! When you do, the team around you will know they're loved and cared for, and you'll experience a whole new level of loyalty and buy-in.

God made you on purpose. Embrace it!

You matter. God made you on purpose; lay person, clergy, and bishops.

Your leadership will have an exponential impact as you lean into how you are fearfully and wonderfully made in the image of God. Getting in touch with your values ignites your passion and brings ministry alive in a whole new way.

God created you for impact, so do the work to determine exactly what that means.

And if you find yourself in situations where you're perpetually misunderstood and not welcomed to be you, reach out to someone for help. Because it kills your spirit; it kills your soul. And you're meant to be you.

You're God's A-plan for what you do.

Cast a vision grounded in values and built around people over programs. Understand yourself as a leader, and build your organization around it! Show your team that you're willing to sacrifice for the mission, and watch as others get on board and begin to lay their life down for the same.

Embrace who you are; give thanks to God for who you are! When you do, you'll begin to be freed up again; you'll begin to have passion again, and that passion will drive your vision for what's possible in your organization.

Thanks for reading!

God Bless

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Additional Resources on this Topic

Want to learn more about your own leadership strengths? Check out these tools to help you put language around how God has hardwired you.

*These are not sponsored links; I simply believe these tools could be of value to you!

The CliftonStrengths® Assessment (previously Clifton StrengthFinders)

From their website: “Your customized CliftonStrengths reports and guides will give you an ‘aha’ moment as you experience new ways to understand what makes you so unique.”

APEST Personal Vocational Assessment

From their website: “APEST is a ministry assessment emerging from the most comprehensive statement of ministry structure, that of Ephesians 4:7,11-12. Within this passage, we find the fivefold ministry of APEST: apostolic, prophetic, evangelist, shepherd and teacher; But to each one of us, grace has been given as Christ apportioned. It is he who gave some to be apostles, some to be prophets, some to be evangelists, and some to be shepherd and teachers, to prepare God’s people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”

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This episode was adapted from Episode 83 of the Ron Huntley Leadership Podcast, 'How To: Your Values, Your Vision’

Watch the full conversation on YouTube: Your Values, Your Vision | Ron Huntley Leadership Podcast #83