(Reflections from the International Leadership Association Global Conference in Prague)
Every once in a while, life gifts you a conversation that lingers…
And what began as a 45-minute meeting with a priest at the International Leadership Association Global Conference in Prague became a nearly three-hour exploration—an open-hearted journey through philosophy, leadership, and the divine nature of being human.
Whenever I’m given the chance to step into the world of someone new—to explore fresh ideas, spiritual perspectives, or philosophical questions—I consider it one of life’s greatest privileges. This was one of those moments. What unfolded was a shared curiosity about what it means to live, lead, and love well in an imperfect world.
Perfectly Imperfect
One of the first truths we arrived at was this: no matter our rank or station in life, we are all perfectly imperfect. We all carry doubts, contradictions, and crosses of our own making.
At one point, I asked my new friend about that extraordinary moment when Christ, fully divine yet deeply human, hung on the cross and cried out, “My God, why have you forsaken me?” (Psalm 22). In that single moment, we see both unwavering commitment to purpose, yet through the trials of profound human suffering. And perhaps that’s the story of us all—each of us bearing our own cross, wrestling with our own weaknesses, and, in our own small way, trying to reconcile the human and the divine within.
Study the lives of any consequential leader in their respective arenas: Gandhi, Siddhartha, Mother Teresa, Nelson Mandela, Malala Yousafzai, Joan of Arc, and Martin Luther King Jr, Harriett Tubman, etc..—each carried both conviction and doubt, faith and fatigue, as they walked their path of purpose. have known doubt, struggle, fatigue, and fear. They were not immune to self-questioning; they were refined by it. Their strength was not the absence of weakness but the courage to keep walking through it.
The Spheres of Leadership
As we talked, our conversation began to stretch beyond theology into the practice of leadership itself.
We explored the five spheres in which all of us both influence and are influenced:
- The Personal, where self-awareness and self-leadership begin.
- The Interpersonal, where relationships challenge and refine us.
- The Team, where collaboration and purpose intersect.
- The Organization, where culture and systems amplify our behavior.
- The Community, where our collective actions shape the world we share.
Whether priest or parent, athlete or artist, general or gardener—we are all leaders within these overlapping circles. We are constantly influencing the world around us through the quality of our attention, intention, and integrity.
Faith, Philosophy, and Flow
Somewhere between the second cup of Chamomile tea, our discussion turned to the interplay between the spiritual and the philosophical.
The spiritual seeks Truth with a capital “T”—universal principles that transcend culture and circumstance.
The philosophical wrestles with truth with a lowercase “t”—our personal interpretations shaped by experience, belief, and perspective.
We acknowledged how both are essential. The spiritual anchors us to something larger than ourselves; the philosophical keeps us grounded in the realities of human understanding. Together, they form a bridge between faith and reason, conviction and curiosity.
And somewhere within that tension, leadership lives—balancing humility and confidence, vision and vulnerability, belief and doubt.
The Collective Path Forward
As we closed our conversation, one insight echoed above all: we are all works in progress, striving toward our own potential while supporting the potential of others.
We are here not only to master ourselves, but to harmonize with the strengths, weaknesses, talents, and gifts of those around us.
True leadership—and perhaps true spirituality—isn’t about perfecting the self in isolation. It’s about learning to rise together.
It’s about transforming our individual growth into collective elevation—families, teams, organizations, and communities becoming better because we chose to be intentional about who we are and how we serve.
We are all, in our own way, bearing our cross and fulfilling our mission.
Perfectly imperfect. Courageously human.
And through our shared striving toward Truth, purpose, and potential, we inch ever closer to becoming what we were designed to be—unique expressions of the divine, in service to one another.
