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Jayne: Pope proves a leader can be commanding and likable

By Greg Jayne, Columbian Opinion Page Editor
Published: September 20, 2015, 6:01am

I kind of like this guy.

Of course, when you are a global icon, a spiritual guide for more than 1 billion people, and an adviser to both kings and despots, it helps to have a metric ton of charisma — and that tends to make someone likable. So, when Pope Francis visits the United States this week, there will be more than a bit of pomp and circumstance. There also will be a bit of irony.

Francis, the pope who has spoken out against greed and against unfettered capitalism that is “the dung of the devil,” is inadvertently generating some commerce in his own right. For a motorcade through Central Park on Friday, scalpers are asking as much as $200 for tickets that were handed out for free by New York City and the local archdiocese. Some 40,000 tickets were distributed, with each one allowing the holder and a guest to see the pope and his popemobile. Tickets also are hot for a Mass that Francis will celebrate Sunday, Sept. 27 at the World Meeting of Families in Philadelphia, with at least one seller seeking $5,000 for a pair.

None of that really matters and none of that is of Francis’ making; I just thought it was interesting. A humble man thrust into our star-obsessed culture.

It should be noted, as well, that the pope delivers his treatises against consumption while flying all over the world and while the Vatican is not lacking for luxury. Still, Francis has elected to reside in a guesthouse rather than the traditional papal apartments and, as The New York Times reported last week: “Like no pope before him, Francis is using the grand stage of his trip to the United States to demonstrate that the church exists to serve the poor and marginalized, and that this is the responsibility of all Catholics — whether pontiff or parishioner. … Francis has seven events scheduled at which he will interact with ordinary people.”

As the pope’s namesake, St. Francis, is credited with saying (some scholars dispute that assertion): “Preach the Gospel always. If necessary, use words.”

Mark of leadership

Anyway, with the pope’s visit to the United States being juxtaposed against this nation’s ongoing and interminable presidential campaign, it leads to thoughts about leadership and the skills required to elevate and inspire a population. I know, I know, there are vast differences. The pope doesn’t face a public election and doesn’t have to pander to a constituency in order to be re-elected. He also doesn’t have to herd opposition parties like a bunch of cats. He just gets to, you know, pontificate.

In other words, it’s good to be pope. You don’t, for example, have to worry about facing Carly Fiorina in a debate.

But in a lot of ways it seems as though Pope Francis intuitively embraces what American businessman Max De Pree said about leadership: “The first responsibility of a leader is to define reality. The last is to say thank you. In between, the leader is a servant.” Or scholar Warren Bennis: “Leadership is the capacity to translate vision into reality.” Or corporate executive Jack Welch: “Before you are a leader, success is all about growing yourself. When you become a leader, success is all about growing others.”

There are, of course, many additional quotes about leadership, with many of them focusing upon the notion of service and sacrifice and humility. And it makes me wonder how many of our would-be presidents understand that. Among the two most visible candidates to this point in the process, we have an unrepentant narcissist and a delusional paranoid. You can decide which is which.

Anyway, during his 2 1/2 years as pope, Francis has seen fit to focus upon the church’s social mission as much or more than upon its doctrine. In the process he has delivered admonishments about the treatment of homosexuals and about global warming and about selfishness, admonishments that can be extended to people of all faiths and political beliefs.

And along the way, Pope Francis has come across as eminently likable.

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