Lowney calls students to "know themselves" for effective leadership
Angela Shugarts, Staff Reporter
Issue date: 11/24/08 Section: News
Business leaders and students gathered in the Chapel to hear Chris Lowney speak on November 18 at 7:00 p.m. Lowney, former Jesuit and investment banker for JP Morgan, talked about his book Heroic Leadership: Best Practices from a 450 year-old company that Changed the World, specifically about leading and living leadership through a reformed corporate capitalism lens.
The talk was sponsored by the John J. Sullivan Endowed Chair for Free Enterprise and Ashoka: The Largest Association of Social Entrepreneurs, the Association of Corporate Growth, and Capital Investment Management.
Lowney became a Jesuit when he was 18 and left when he was 25 to be an investment banker at JP Morgan.
"I felt like I was going to be unhappy in this life. To be a priest is a beautiful vocation if you have that gift and that calling but it can also be a lonely and difficult life for someone who does not have that calling. I felt it was not the right path for me," Lowney says.
His book offers leadership lessons from the Jesuits, a "company" that "grappled with the same challenges that test great companies today: forging seamless multinational teams, motivating inspired performance, remaining 'change ready' and strategically adaptable," according to Lowney's website.
He spoke about the characteristics of a leader. Defined in a dictionary as "the act of pointing out a way, direction, or goal and influencing others toward it," Lowney says "we are living these words all the time."
Lowney's book seeks to renew the sense of leadership that has taken a turn for the worse in today's economy. The "four pillars" Lowney identifies as keys to successful leadership include self-awareness, ingenuity, heroism, and love.
Self-Awareness
Lowney identifies self-awareness in leaders as those who "understood their strengths, weaknesses, values, and worldview," he writes in his book.
Lowney spoke to students saying "very smart people quickly figure out how to do good at school. But they never learn how to do well. They never get exposed to experiences until it's too late in their life," he says.
The talk was sponsored by the John J. Sullivan Endowed Chair for Free Enterprise and Ashoka: The Largest Association of Social Entrepreneurs, the Association of Corporate Growth, and Capital Investment Management.
Lowney became a Jesuit when he was 18 and left when he was 25 to be an investment banker at JP Morgan.
"I felt like I was going to be unhappy in this life. To be a priest is a beautiful vocation if you have that gift and that calling but it can also be a lonely and difficult life for someone who does not have that calling. I felt it was not the right path for me," Lowney says.
His book offers leadership lessons from the Jesuits, a "company" that "grappled with the same challenges that test great companies today: forging seamless multinational teams, motivating inspired performance, remaining 'change ready' and strategically adaptable," according to Lowney's website.
He spoke about the characteristics of a leader. Defined in a dictionary as "the act of pointing out a way, direction, or goal and influencing others toward it," Lowney says "we are living these words all the time."
Lowney's book seeks to renew the sense of leadership that has taken a turn for the worse in today's economy. The "four pillars" Lowney identifies as keys to successful leadership include self-awareness, ingenuity, heroism, and love.
Self-Awareness
Lowney identifies self-awareness in leaders as those who "understood their strengths, weaknesses, values, and worldview," he writes in his book.
Lowney spoke to students saying "very smart people quickly figure out how to do good at school. But they never learn how to do well. They never get exposed to experiences until it's too late in their life," he says.
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