The Pope & The CEO: John Paul II's Leadership Lessons to a Young Swiss Guard

I recently had Andreas Widmer as a professor and he has left a very prominent mark on my scholastic life. I didn’t know what to expect when I began studying business and was a bit nervous but was given the courage I needed through Prof. Widmer’s stories and messages that he shared. It was especially amazing to hear lessons and words of wisdom directly from Pope John Paul II through this book. This book and the words of Andreas in my class have helped me to picture business as something more than just making profit. Business is meant to help others and bring value to the world. Amazing read!!

You are human. You have asked yourself "those" questions. You want answers. Not blindly told what the answers are, in some self help book. You want to feel the answers are true IN you. Here is your GUIDE. All the answers? Doubt it; however, the ones that certainly matter.Have you felt sorrow?Have people failed you?Have you sinned or felt you treated others badly or acted wrongly?What do you do when you worry?Have you felt weak?When in danger?Have the blues?Feel discourage?Want to be fruitful?When doubts come upon you?When your faith needs stirring?When you are down and out?When you want rest and peace?When you want assurance?When you grow bitter or critical?When you think of investments and returns?How to improve your prayer life?Peter Frampton had a song, "Baby I love "your" way"Andreas book, will help you find your way if you are seeking.If you know your way but often stray.If you need to learn how to balance work, family, friends, eating, sleeping, exercisingballroom dancing, knitting, kite flying. Hope I made you smile with the last couple but that is what we also want todo in life, is it not? Smile with our loves ones, smile within ourselves, smile over achievements measured at the workplace, at the home, wherever you are. But not necessarily measured due to a job title, the newest home gadgets, or car, etc.Read the first 26 pages of this book and you will know you have a book you truly have to revisit as you go along in life.This is a book:For the BusinessmanFor the parent.For the Coach.For the Mentor.For the Student.For the Teacher.You are all human beings and you all have love to give. In that love are lessons you want to pass along. Some you know how, others you know but don't know how to present, and others of you want to know.Andreas will reaffirm some for you and have answers for others.He knows about building the infrastructure of a business; however, he also teachers people how to build the infrastructures of their human spirit to move forward.Here are some pages to ponder:Page 52: How to ground yourself be you an everyday person or a CEO even as your life constantly changes.Page 63: Clearing up free will - why you may think God is like a boss, parent, oppressor of any kind. And why he is not.Page 93-94: How to be a better husband, wife, teacher, student, aunt, uncle, friend, playmate.Page 116: Three questions to know before you head out into the world of work.Page 117: Daily essentials in lifePage 118: All things in moderation. Explained.Remember the Sunday School lesson when they teach you about seeking knowledge:Seek and yee shall find.Knock and it will open.We are all seeking to improve at least a part of our lives with knowledge we don't have. And maintain a good balance on the others we do know.Open this book and those doors of knowledge will open, helping you with those answers you seek.-Bob MacFadgen

Andreas Widmer has written an unlikely but exceptionally moving book. At the age of 20, in 1986, he went to Rome to join the famous Swiss Guards in the Vatican. For two years he performed his duties and had an intimate view of the day-to-day activities of the man he was sworn to protect with his life, Pope John Paul II. Leaving the Guards, he went to college and then pursued a career in business, at which he had extraordinary success at an early age. But, as often happens, this success was followed by devastating reversals. These reversals prompted Widmer to step back and to evaluate where his life was headed and what sort of person he was becoming. He came to see that his observations of the pope's life and work could be a lens through which he could make sense of his own life and career. He shares what he learned in this book.After many years of practical experience in management and more than 15 years of teaching the subject at the university level, I'm quite willing to concede that the world does not need yet one more book on how to manage well. Or so I thought. Widmer's short and very readable volume introduces us to a dimension of the life of a world leader that few people ever see and it offers the reflections of a seasoned executive on the lessons to be learned.We do not often think that bishops and popes are executives but they certainly are. Many perform this role at a mediocre level at best--perhaps other functions are more important--but through Widmer's eyes we come to see that Pope John Paul II was an exceptional executive. The pope has been criticized for not managing the sprawling bureaucracy of the Vatican more tightly but Widmer helps us to see that this sort of criticism misses the point. What one learns from observing John Paul's life is not a set of management techniques or even a management style; one learns what it means to live out the vocation of a servant leader and to become fully human in the process.Widmer's story is partly a personal journey of faith. As such, it will have a special appeal to other persons of faith who find themselves in managerial and executive positions in all sorts of organizations. He deftly combines anecdotes about the pope--some of which are quite personal and charming--with mature reflections on the implications for the practice of management. This is a practical book, not a scholarly textbook, so each chapter summarizes points to be taken away and offers questions for further reflection.Experienced managers often find that the most useful books are biographies of successful leaders, from which they can glean insights into the challenges of management. Widmer's book does not attempt to be a biography. Instead, it succeeds in acquainting us with a very human pope and helping us to see not only some of the spiritual lessons his life had to teach but also--and this is the book's unique contribution--the powerful lessons his life teaches about leadership and management. Very powerful and highly recommended.

It is incredible how one person's life can touch so many throughout the world. This is an enjoyable book that needs to be read over and over again. The stories and lessons in the book are timeless and should be read by anyone who is interested in leaving their mark in the world.

Good Book