Leaders make great companies, but few of us truly understand how to turn ourselves and others into great leaders. One company—the Jesuits—pioneered a unique leadership formula that has resulted in one of history’s most successful companies and the world’s most extensive higher education system.

Founded in 1540 by ten men with no capital and no business plan, the Jesuits have been a source of innovation ever since, as educators, linguists, theologians, diplomats, astronomers, civil rights activists, and in a host of other fields. In this groundbreaking book, Chris Lowney, a former Jesuit and executive with J. P. Morgan, reveals the leadership principles that have guided Jesuit leaders in their diverse pursuits for more than 450 years.

Eschewing flashy techniques, the Jesuit approach to leadership focuses on four core pillars:
• Self-awareness: Understanding your strengths, weaknesses, values, and worldview
• Ingenuity: Confidently innovating and adapting to a changing world
• Love: Engaging others with a positive attitude that unlocks their potential
• Heroism: Energizing yourself and others with heroic ambitions and a passion for excellence

The four principles address a person’s whole life—personal and professional--and are rooted in the idea that we are all leaders. They form an integrated way of living, a modo de proceder (“our way of doing things”) as the Jesuits called it.

The Jesuit approach scraps the “command and control” model that relies on one great person to lead the rest. Convinced that people perform best in a supportive climate, Loyola and his colleagues sought to create environments filled with “greater love than fear.” They lodged their hopes in the talents of their entire team, showing that success flows from the commitment of many, not the isolated efforts of one.

Lowney shows how the same principles that inspired sixteenth-century Jesuits can still mold dynamic leaders in the twenty-first century in all walks of life.

To read an excerpt from Heroic Leadership – click here.