CEO recounts lessons learned as Swiss Guard

The Pope and the CEO: John Paul II’s Leadership Lessons to a Young Swiss Guard by Andreas Widmer is "a guidebook for people seeking to integrate faith into all aspects of their lives," according to the author, who was a member of the elite Swiss Guard when he was in his early 20s. If all people who were near to Blessed John Paul II paid as close attention to the late pope as the young Widmer, they would have found, as Widmer did, a joyful, spiritual man who cared for those who cared for him, and was an astute businessman.

"The late pope [was] a great inspiration and example for business leaders. He [was] that for me, and I hope he will be for you as well," wrote Widmer, who founded the philanthropic organization the SEVEN Fund and previously served as CEO of the OTF Group. Currently he is president of The Carpenter’s Fund and a research fellow in entrepreneurship at the Acton Institute as well as serving on the board of directors for several organizations.

The book is nine chapters long, one for each of Blessed John Paul II’s lessons on management. It is a careful and understanding treatment of the leader’s style. From the spiritual to the humorous, the late pope stood as an example of loving and caring for everyone with whom he came into contact. Each of the nine chapters ends with questions for the reader’s reflection designed to help you relate the lessons of the chapter to your own experiences.

The colorful blue and gold uniforms of the Swiss Guards are topped with silver helmets and breastplates and white gloves. One of the most charming photographs in the book is one of Harry Belafonte signing Widmer’s white glove for his mother.

One of Widmer’s most fond memories of the late Blessed John Paul II was the pope’s remarkable vision. Another was his willingness to meet and greet the families of the Swiss Guard, including Widmer’s soon-to-be in-laws.

Widmer’s return to the Vatican 20 years after his service in the guards took him back to temporary service to the Vatican, and there he stood in a blue suit, a red tie and a white shirt. After two decades, Widmer was still willing and able to serve the pope.

After his original service to Pope John Paul II, Widmer went into business. While he tried, he was not always a success. But he continued to work at it, using much of what he’d learned from Pope John Paul II and others in the Vatican. All were willing to teach him and his frequent conversations with the pope reminded Widmer to care for his employees.

A good vision is not simply seeing a way toward short-term financial profit, according to Widmer. The ultimate goal of any business can never be financial profit. The relationship between profit and business is like that of oxygen and life. You need oxygen to live, but the goal of life isn’t the intake of oxygen. So too with business. Your business needs to make a profit in order to survive, but in and of itself, profit is not the ultimate goal. It’s a means to an end. That end, that ultimate purpose, is determined by your vision, he writes.

Now a successful businessman, Widmer remembers his years with Pope John Paul II with great fondness. He kept track of the dying pope through the news and his friends at the Vatican. At the pope’s death, Widmer felt he’d lost a good and great friend who gave him and the other guards much, both of himself and his vision.