Speaker melds Beatitudes and 7 Habits

To anyone watching the convergence of management and advice and spiritual self-help over the past decade, it may have seemed inevitable that Jesus would be tapped by executives. 

But the lessons of Christ can be applied without watering these down, according to Kathleen Sullivan, a faculty member and administrator at the University of Notre Dame.
Jesus could be considered a good manager, she said, “In terms that [He] had a divine vision and intent to serve His Father and His Father’s children, and to speak and act out of love and goodness.” 

Dr. Sullivan, a certified trainer of the methods of management guru Stephen Covey, will deliver the annual Hesburgh lecture on Oct. 15 at The College of Saint Rose in Albany. She will speak on “Servant Leadership: The Intersection of the Beatitudes and the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.” 

Dr. Sullivan wants to help listeners see the Beatitudes as a pathway to true success. “I would like them to have some practical ideas on how to live the Beatitudes at home and work, in good times and in bad,” she said. “With the ‘7 habits,’ people can see the connections so that the Gospels are not of another time or vague and impractical, and that the Beatitudes really do apply to life.”

Dr. Sullivan is the author of “I Had Lunch with God: Gospel Inspirations for Tough Times.”

The best management advice Jesus gave, she said, was to the Apostles as they argued over their future roles. “Jesus said to them that the greatest is the one who serves.” 

As for the current financial crisis on Wall Street, Dr. Sullivan said, “We should remember the Beatitude that blessed are the poor in spirit, and ask God to guide us and also hold ourselves to account. We should remember that blessed are those who mourn.”

(The annual Hesburgh Lecture will be held at the Lally Forum at The College of Saint Rose on Oct. 15 at 7:30 p.m. It is a collaboration of the diocesan Office of Evangelization, Catechesis and Family Life, the Notre Dame club of Northeastern New York and CSR. There is no charge.)

(10/9/08)