Heroic leadership : best practices from a 450-year-old company that changed the world

"Leadership makes great companies, but few of us truly understand how to turn ourselves and others into great leaders. One company--the Jesuits--pioneered a unique formula for modling leaders and in the process built one of history's most successful companies. In this groundbreaking book, Chris Lowney reveals the leadership principles that have guided the Jesuits for more than 450 years: self-awareness, ingenuity, love, and heroism. Lowney shows how these same principles can make each of us a dynamic leader in the twenty-first century." - back cover.

Praise for Heroic Leadership

“Entertaining and well researched, this is a must-read for any business leader, and an inspirational read for anyone who wants to be a better human being.”
—Walter Gubert, Chairman of the Investment Bank, J.P. Morgan

“Lowney does a wonderfully engaging job of making clear the connections between our current leadership challenges and the principles employed so effectively by the Jesuits.”
—Edward J. Kelly III, President and CEO, Mercantile Bankshares Corporation

“This 450-year-old institution [seems] as current today as it was four centuries ago. Lowney shows us how every employee can and should be a leader and that love-driven leadership does work.”
—Richard K. Green, President and COO, Blistex, Inc.

“With our renewed focus on sustainable growth, Lowney’s book comes at the right time, not providing recipes for becoming a leader but guiding us along the Jesuit principles to turn us into leaders.”
—Peter Woicke, Executive Vice President, International Finance Corporation

“In this day of Enrons and Tycos, there is a need to reexamine corporate values. Heroic Leadership gives the leader food for thought. The sections on love and heroism are truly energizing.”
—John F. Galbraith, President and CEO, Catholic Medical Mission B oard

“As Asia surges forward, its managers are realizing that shallow leadership checklists and flashy management slogans from the West do not always work. Heroic Leadership sets out four key principles of whole-person leadership that . . . can be applied across cultures and geographies.”
—Jackson Tai, CEO, Development Bank of Singapore

“Lowney brings together extensive experience in international banking, a solid grasp of Jesuit spirituality and history, and a good acquaintance with recent leadership literature to produce a book that is at once challenging and compelling.”    
—The Reverend Harold Ridley, S.J., President , Loyola College in Maryland

“This informative, fascinating book tells how Jesuits, over 450 years, produced both outstanding individual leaders and a culture of leadership. This is a book to be enjoyed, pondered, and put into practice.”
—John W. Padberg, S.J., Director ,Institute of Jesuit Sources

Leadership Principles for Lasting Success Leadership makes great companies, but few of us truly understand how to turn ourselves and others into great leaders. One companythe Jesuitspioneered a unique formula for molding leaders and in the process built one of historys most successful companies.In this groundbreaking book, Chris Lowney reveals the leadership principles that have guided the Jesuits for more than 450 self-awareness, ingenuity, love, and heroism. Lowney shows how these same principles can make each of us a dynamic leader in the twenty-first century. This title examines the principles of leadership according to the Jesuits, a religious order of the XVI century founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola and discusses his success in a wide range of fields. The author shows how these same principles (self-awareness, ingenuity, love and heroism) can make each of us a dynamic leader in the twenty-first century Shows how Jesuits have successfully grappled with the same challenges that test great companies today with an emphasis on their adopted values: self-awareness, ingenuity, love, and heroism. Reprint. After living for seven years as a Jesuit seminarian, practicing vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience to the Jesuit general in Rome, I morphed into corporate man.