Ignatius’ resume didn’t hold him back, nor should yours!
I’m reading Heroic Leadership by Chris Lowney, which is about the founding and subsequent success of the 450 year old “company” of the Jesuits. Beyond simply feeding my love of history, this book is opening my eyes to how leadership principles of the business world compare with what Ignatius Loyola, founder of the Catholic religious order, used as pillars in the forming of his organization in the 16th century.
But even more fascinating to me is learning about Ignatius’ meandering career path and how it didn’t come together for him until what was then considered the twilight of a man’s life. Did you know that Ignatius was 48 years old when he, along with a diverse team of six others, laid out a vision and formed their “company”? And when Ignatius did finally figure out what he finally wanted to do with his life, the success of his vision was tremendous. By the time of Ignatius’ death in 1556 at age 65, the Jesuits had founded and were operating 74 colleges on three continents.
As Lowney points out, Ignatius’ resume wouldn’t have been particularly impressive up until that point. After recovering from painful wounds to his legs during his unsuccessful career as a Spanish knight, he traveled 2000 miles on pilgrimage to Jerusalem where he was permitted to stay for less than a month. At some point during these journeys, he stopped to rest in a small Spanish village and ended up staying for two years where he meditated and pondered what to do next with his life, some of which time he spent alone in a nearby cave. Eventually, he decided to go back to school to learn Latin and theology. During this phase, he met his future executive team at the University of Paris, which is where he obtained his masters degree… at age 43.
What does this story say to you? To me it says that even 450 years ago, individuals with great potential faced the same challenges we do today. We start off one way, with high hopes and aspirations, yet discover that it’s not our true path – either because it’s been taken from us or we have deliberately chosen to seek something else. Like Ignatius’ story demonstrates, this doesn’t mean that we’re failures. It simply means that our potential has yet to be realized.
If something is holding you back from discovering and then manifesting your vision, what can you do about it? I’m guessing that living in a cave near a small village in Spain for a few months might not be an option, so let us know if we can help.
Angela Loëb is an author, speaker and co-owner of Great Occupations. She and her partner, Jay Markunas, help people make successful career transitions through workshops, “pajama learning” webclasses, personalized consulting sessions, as well as through The Job Search Boot Camp Show. Find out more at www.greatoccupations.com.
[...] Ignatius Loyola can’t have thought he was doomed to fail when he started the Campania de Jesus (later known as the Jesuits) at age 48 and succeeded in helping to establish 74 colleges on three continents by his death at age 65 in 1556. [...]
I love how we can learn from the past.