Transformative Leadership of Pope John Paul II: Empowering Followers and Driving Cultural Change

Name Institutional Affiliations Date Pope John Paul II Introduction A leader is a person with defined abilities to guide other individuals, teams or organization. However, such a simple definition does not define whether being just a “leader” can enhance realization of the set goals. So, in such a case it is wise to ask what defines a successful leader with regard to the set goals of this person as the sole leader and the followers’ expectations. From such a perspective, a leader can be seen as a person that has the potentials to empower the teams/followers to embrace their unique leadership qualities while acting with independently accountable passion. Such a person is able to communicate on what needs to happen and then act in accordance with the demands of such a need while maintaining a bias for action. What does this mean? Such a leader with a bias for action does not freeze in times of uncertainty or in decision-making but rather face such situations with courage, act and take responsibility of their actions and decisions. Pope John Paul II is such a leader as his leadership approaches remained defined by his relational and transformative engagements driven by the spirit of servant-hood and solidarity as all his teachings revolved around transforming individuals, community of believers and culture. Background Information Pope John Paul II also known as St. John Paul II was born on 18th May 1920 as Karol Jozef Wojtyla in Wadowice, Poland (Navsaria, 2014). Wojtyla’s father Karol Senior served as a lieutenant in the polish army while Emilia Kaczorowska his mother died when Wojtyla was eight years and had only a single brother that died less than four years after the mother’s death. Wojtyla was an outgoing youth with a serious side and excelled in academics and dramatics. He was also a football player though under the guidance of his father living a disciplined life that demanded routine religious observance. Since childhood, Wojtyla paid frequent visits to Father Kazimierz Figlewicz at Wadowice main church that was next door to their tiny apartment. Kazimierz was his confessor and first teacher in Catholicism. It is after graduating from secondary school that Wojtyla moved with his father to Krakow and attended Jagiellonian University with his studies ending abruptly with Nazi invasion of Poland on 1st Sep 1939. The invasion spelled a period of tension and agony with drastic killings and deportations of Jews and non-Jews cultural and political leaders. After fleeing and getting back to Krakow, Wojtyla resumed his studies in clandestine classes and for four years worked in a factory owned by a person Nazi’s considered essential to their war effort to avoid arrests and deport