Leadership Ideals for the Twenty-First Century: Servant and Christ-Centred Leadership

This chapter begins by outlining the changing nature of Catholicism in the twenty-first century and explores the key principles of Catholic distinctiveness including references to mission statements and mission integrity. The presentation signposts a survey regarding the changing nature of Catholicism demographically in the Western world, particularly in relation to Grace Davie’s concept of ‘believing without belonging’. In this context the centrality of a sacramental visionVision for leadershipLeadership will be considered. This chapter will draw on the research in the author’s earlier work The Contemporary Catholic Teacher: A Reappraisal of the Concept of Teaching as a Vocation in a Contemporary Context (Plenary meeting of Catholic Bishops conference. CES, 2011), and his later scholarship around the nature of ‘Salesian accompaniment’. The significance of academic standards in the context of Catholic identityCatholic identity will be signposted, and this will be l inked to the need to adopt a holistic visionVision within which ‘a family spirit’ features prominently. This survey is underpinned by quantitative and qualitative empirical evidence from teachers and leaders.