Leadership Research Paper

Leadership Research Paper

Sarah Riddle

Leadership Development

SouthWestern Oregon Community College

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As the leader I wanted to research I chose Pope Francis because I think he has truly made

a difference in todays society. Pope Francis has had a very interesting life. He was born in 1936

in Buenos Aires as Jorge Mario Bergoglio. He is a child of Italian immigrants who moved to

Argentina, they werent a poor or rich family. They did have steady jobs but their Mom taught

Jorge (Pope Francis) and his siblings to finish their plates and be grateful for what they have.

Growing up Pope Francis received a very good amount of education, even going on to receive

college degrees and studied Chemistry. His upraising helps explain why he chose to take on the

name Francis; Saint Francis was one who lived a life of poverty, peace, and protected life. Pope

Francis made the statement How I would love a Church that is poor and for the poor. Pope

Francis is a man of his word and this is recognizable by his actions. In the bible Luke 18:22 it

says When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have

and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.

As a leader, Pope Francis has a combined leadership style that is made up of directive,

supportive, participative, and inspirational styles. Pope Francis uses the directive style through

his expectations of the bishops, priests, and cardinals in his church. Besides the strict

expectations of the church itself, he gives guidance and directions to those below him and the

followers of the church on how to spend money, how the church should be represented, and so

on. If a high level employee with a good record, or any member of his congregation, makes a

mistake, he will call them out and write them up no matter what.

Supportive style is shown in his leadership in many different ways. Pope Francis is in a

very high position in the church and has many responsibilities yet he still makes time to connect

with the followers, the lower level employees, and with the world. Even though he is a very

supportive leader, he still has control and is able to fulfill his duties and expectations. In our
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broken society, full of pain and conflict, he manages to keep people together and solve conflicts

within the church.

Pope Francis shows participative style by taking the opinions of others into consideration

and knows how important it is to do so, but also knows when to ignore them and follow his

instinct. When there are disagreements and tension within the church, he knows how to take

control and mediate the situation. He reminds people why they are there, why they do the work

they do, and what the goal is, which typically helps to control and calm situations. Pope Francis

knows when to change his method of leadership and level of support and acceptance of certain

things.

Inspirational style is very present in Pope Franciss leadership. He has gained acceptance

of new approaches, such as when he accepted homosexuals into the church. It was an unpopular

decision within the church but the way he handled it was so graceful that it was accepted and

many new members joined the church as well as many non-Catholics became fans of his

leadership. The Pope definitely arouses contagious enthusiasm when they reach a goal or start a

new venture. Millions of people gather outside of the Vatican when he is supposed to speak or if

something good or even a negative event happens. People gather for joyous moments and for

support.

I chose to research Pope Francis for a few different reasons. First of all, my sister and I

were raised Catholic, so the Pope has always been someone we have heard about. We were alive

for three different Popes, and Pope Francis has been the most unique and influential of all.

Popes have typically been very distant, support the spending of money on unnecessary dcor

and large hats, and the small people are usually ignored. Pope Francis, though, spends time with

every level of his congregation, speaks on nearly every societal issue, is very humble and
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conserves resources, and really tries to connect with the modern world instead of following the

rules and beliefs of centuries old, irrelevant information.

Another reason I chose to research Pope Francis is because of the difference he is making

for so many people. Not only has he accepted homosexuals into the church, but he has also done

things like washed the feet of prisoners and AIDs victims. He limits the spending of the church,

which used to be used for extravagant clothes, jewels, and other unnecessary items, and he

doesnt ride in the popemobile, making himself more available to us (as well as vulnerable).

Since Jorge Bergoglio has been in the role of Pope he has not made many failures. There

is one that has been rough to get past. The failure in some peoples eyes is that his views are

different than the followers are used to. The Pope manages to get by on standing by his opinion

and explaining why he believes in it. Pope Francis has had many success as the few years have

gone by; he has been able to get people to welcome others that werent normally accepted. A

moral of his that he expresses and teaches others is that it is not our place to judge others, that is

the job for God. When he spoke of how it is not okay for people to judge someone if they are

homosexual he said If someone is gay and he searches for the Lord and has good will, who am I

to judge? If only we all lived by some version of this, if the person has good intentions and

wants the world peaceful why do we judge so harshly for others differences?

As a leader, Pope Francis has influenced a great deal of people with his good work and

morals. The people he has influenced is the Bishops, Priests, and all the positions lower than

priesthood. Not only has he influenced them he has also influenced normal people such as us to

become the best version of ourselves and help others as much as we can. People around the

world are in love with Pope Francis. News reports, magazines, social media websites, and almost

any other form of information sharing in our society has published articles and posted about him
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and what he has done and said. Even non-Catholics are in awe of the new Pope. In recent history,

he is making more decisions, more connections, and helping more than any other Pope.

As a leader I have many of the same leadership styles that Pope Francis has and I really

hope to embody the style of leadership he has even more in the future. When I become a boss I

would really like to be there for my employees by learning how to be a supportive leader. I

believe that I would have some delegative and laissez faire style incorporated into my combined

style as a leader. I definitely have the directive style like the Pope because I have expectations for

how my people should act and react towards others and situations. I also believe I have

participative style like the Pope, I will definitely take all the advice I can about opening and

running my business from others that have experience in the field. I will have to learn how to

sort out the good advice from the bad which I believe will come more naturally with time as I do

it. I would like to try to incorporate inspirational style in some manner.

As a business owner, I would really love to be a leader for my employees like Pope

Francis is for the world. He makes real connections, helps people, and continues to improve the

church and the way things are ran every day. He is all around an amazing person and a great role

model for anyone who is looking to take a leadership position in their business, community, and

life. Even if you are not Catholic, the ideas that he supports and the movements that he begins

around controversial issues are world-changing. After hundreds and hundreds of years of

stagnant policies, viewpoints, and greed, he has managed to change the Catholic church (one of

the largest and richest churches, leaders, and organizations in the world) in just a couple of years.

As a student of business and just as a member of society, its obvious that Pope Francis, his

leadership style, and his lifestyle is an amazing role model.

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Citation Page

B. (2014, January 2). Pope Francis is doing some pretty amazing things. Retrieved from

http://thechive.com/2014/01/02/pope-francis-is-doing-some-pretty-amazing-things-18-photos/

B. (2016, March 13). Pope Francis Biography. Retrieved from

http://www.biography.com/people/pope-francis-21152349#related-video-gallery

S. (2013, March 16). Pope Franchis reveals why he chose his name. Retrieved from

http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/news/2013/03/16/pope-francis-reveals-why-he-chose-name/

B. (n.d.). Matthew 19:21. Retrieved from http://biblehub.com/matthew/19-21.htm