Father Richard Rohr is not one to talk much about himself, despite an impressive list of accomplishments. As a Franciscan friar and ecumenical educator, Richard teaches on God’s grace and love largely through his role as founder of the Center for Action and Contemplation. Richard entered the Franciscans and was ordained to the priesthood at a young age. He founded the New Jerusalem Community in Cincinnati at just 28 years old, and since then has authored several New York Times best-selling books and appeared twice on Oprah’s “Super Soul Sunday” talk show.
But Richard isn’t interested in the fame or money that this kind of success can bring. In fact, it goes against his teachings and belief that ego—the sense of self-importance—leads to the death of the contemplative mind through which wisdom comes.
Ego can easily become an issue with leaders. A high level of confidence that inspires others to follow can quickly turn into an overinflated sense of self if left unchecked. People look to leaders for guidance, and when high egos are in the mix, a leader’s beliefs and opinions begin to outweigh everyone else’s. Diversity of thought falters.
As Richard explains in a 2015 talk on the spirituality of leadership, when we operate under our egos, we exist in the lowest level of consciousness because ego relies on what we think we know. Wisdom comes through the understanding that we don’t know everything; we don’t have all the answers and we pursue a different way of thinking that doesn’t box everything into a label of up or down, black or white, or right or left (what Richard explains as dualistic thinking). Wisdom is non dual thinking where you don’t place everything in oppositional pairs and then choose sides, says Richard in his speech.
How do leaders keep egos at bay to heighten their level of consciousness? The answer is humility. At Leadercast 2022—The One Thing, taking place May 4 at PromoWest Pavilion at OVATION in Newport, Kentucky, Richard will discuss the topic of humility as the one thing you need in your leadership. He joins a lineup of nine other leaders all answering the same question: “What is the one thing that makes a leader worth following?”
Richard’s teachings explain that without humility, we simply cannot grow. As leaders, people look to us for answers, but we must remain humble and work against our egos by understanding that we don’t know everything.
Do you operate under humility or does your ego run the show? Are your choices ego-led or soul-drawn? Join us at Leadercast 2022—The One Thing to learn from Richard about where your leadership lies. Attend live on May 4 conveniently located minutes from downtown Cincinnati, OH or virtually at select locations around the globe.
