GERMANY, fma. “It depends on the leader. What the Church does here or there, or what it changes or not, is not as interesting as the question: WHO will it be. Who will be Pope? Chritine and Erwin Hinterberger skillfully took the atmosphere before the beginning of the conclave to set the stage of the ‘Jour Fixe’ on March 9th. It all depends on the leader. Scholastic success depends on good teachers. The success and atmosphere of a business depends on good executives. And the days since the election of Francis give reason and hope: He, who has become Pope, can and will be able to change this Church. One person (of course with the Holy Spirit). The winds of change are blowing since the afternoon of March 13th.
On the date when they had to decide whether to cancel the conference, the number of participants was so low, that there was no other option than to remember the motto of the past year: believe that the impossible is possible – and it was not cancelled.
A couple of days later, eighteen people responded to the invitation, and after Christine and Erwin Hinterberger’s presentation, they met in the “The Father Kentenich School of Life” for an intense, profound and practical exchange. One of the participants commented: “I would have stayed forever, I was sorry that it was interrupted because of the buffet; this kind of interaction is not experienced in other places.” Conchita Monedero prepared the buffet with Spanish specialties, which contributed so that no one wanted to leave and the exchange lasted late into the night…
A universal genius, or simply himself
If current studies are observed, then the modern businessman is no more or no less than a universal genius: a prudent authority in the background, always attentive, and if help is needed, he (Javier Martínez) is available immediately. He does not fit in any system that can be copied. He is a mixture of old general, Nobel Prize winner, and emcee. At the same time, he is totally himself. “I know what you are. I know it in the best way possible,” Father Kentenich said. An Argentinean journalist describes the Pope Francis phenomena: “Surely, much is said of his gestures and his words. But the mystery of his effect is: he is simply himself.”
The presenters mentioned that Father Kentenich formulated the job description of a leader in a demanding way: “I now place myself completely at your disposal with all that I am and have; my knowledge and ignorance, my ability and inability, but above all my heart.” (Schoenstatt Founding Documents, p.13).
Key qualities of a leader were derived departing from this premise at the service of life, to the concrete person and naturally at the service of vision and mission of the business and its success in Father Kentenich’s school of LIFE”: these persons are free, they are persons with a passion or with a desire in their heart, they are persons who think beyond the narrow framework, they are creative, conquering persons, who provide structure and who forcefully do everything possible and are the cause of new life. Therefore: universal genius? Of course. How does this work? It departs from a serious interest, the courage to experiment and make mistakes. Moreover it departs from the joy for people and their ideas, concerns, and potential. At the same time, this means departing from a living contact with people, precisely with the people who “instinctively struggle for a firm support, who seek people who are etched in stone and who at the same time are kind and willing to adapt.” He/she is a person who is at the center of the business to whom the employees can relate.
Guide through personal contact
The subject of personal contact with employees, the question about the amount of control, control precisely as a confirmation of performance, is what motivated interaction later. And also the questions: at what point, or if it is possible; and if so, how can present day businesses and their function be places where people learn to take life into their hands, where they learn what in reality is learned within the family and where perhaps they seek what it precisely means to be a family…and while these eighteen people – a business consultant, boss of a home for the elderly, owners of family businesses, etc. – interacted with concentration and in a committed way, more will be decided here and now for the employees of these businesses that are in this hall and for their future and for their businesses than in many expensive seminars and long meetings.
It was not surprising that no one wanted to leave.
Original: German – Translation: Celina M. Garza, San Antonio, Texas, USA
