The Saintly CEO: How to Be a Tenacious Catholic Leader
From Timid to Tenacious + How This Biz Owner Practices Generosity.
It’s Monday, y’all! Our first with Pope Leo XIV leading us! And I’m feeling very excited. Especially with all his talk about the role of the Church in shaping the AI discourse.
Welcome back to The Saintly CEO. A free weekly newsletter from Catholic Founders to help Catholic Biz Owners and Entrepreneurs to better integrate the Catholic Faith into how they run their businesses.
Each week, get (1) tactical ways to integrate your Faith w/ your business, (2) a curated list of Catholic biz owners, and (3) misc. resources to help you with your business.
In Today’s Email:
CF Role Model: Community Building Through Generosity
+ 5 more Catholic entrepreneurs (Heavenly Hustlers)
How a Saintly CEO Would Observe Holy Week & Easter Week (10 Ways)
Miscellaneous Resources
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Heavenly Hustlers
When I speak with Catholic entrepreneurs, one of the most common challenges they have is finding others like them. We’re trying to help solve that.
In this section, we highlight other Catholic entrepreneurs/business owners (Heavenly Hustlers), what they’re doing, and their LinkedIn profiles so you can expand your network of like-minded individuals.
CF Role Model: Generosity With Our Community
🎳 Mark Bares is no ordinary bowling alley owner. He’s a community builder and an example of extreme generosity.
He took over his parents’ bowling alley many years ago. Les & Jim’s Lincoln Lanes in Merrill, WI. Since taking over, he’s improved operational performance massively (demonstrating his ability to use his God-given talents for good business practice).
He’s also developed a habit of generosity towards the Church community I grew up attending. Throughout the year, Mark would allow families to come bowl for free. In some cases, it was through the camps. Sometimes for a New Year’s Day party. Recently, for a Packer game.
Doing this has led to a deepening of our community. This is exactly the type of thing we should try to find ways to do ourselves.
Other Heavenly Hustlers:
💰 Tim Connors is the Founder & Managing Partner of PivotNorth Capital (a VC fund). He’s also a trustee at The Catholic University of America.
💅 Serena Atkinson is building a skincare product company, Arete Tallow.
✏️ Katja Borger does freelance marketing, with a focus on ghostwriting.
🥕 Janelle Maiocco is running Barn2Door, Inc. to solve the supply chain challenges of buying directly from farmers.
🧼 Joseph Perta is running Village Home Cleaning in NYC.
🙋♂️ Nominate a Heavenly Hustler (including yourself) - It takes 1 min.
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Why Catholic Leaders Need to Be Tenacious
Last week on the podcast, Rob Kaczmark shared how it was hard to embrace his leadership role. It felt weird to call himself CEO.
Over time, he’s learned to lean in.
More importantly, he’s painting a grand vision for the company; become Catholic Disney.
Many Catholic founders wrestle with painting grand ambitions while staying humble. Deep down, how many of us want to be like Steve Jobs or Jeff Bezos? If we’re honest, most of us. We’re often held back because we think it means losing humility. Or, ‘having that much success would corrupt us’.
It’s a false dichotomy.
Frankly, the people who should be able to handle great success are those whose lives are firmly anchored in the truths of the Catholic Faith.
If you’re not convinced of this responsibility, this post isn’t for you. Read on if you’re convinced and want tips on how to become this.
Here are 7 ways to go from Timid to Tenacious as a Catholic leader.
Embrace Your Role as Co-Creator.
God created us in His image and likeness. Not our appearances; our nature. God is The Creator. Therefore, we are co-creators within creation. What’s the result of love between man and woman? New creation that we are co-creators of.
This applies to the rest of life in lesser matters.
Recognizing this means you can stop feeling guilty about your desire to build something great. He put the desire to do great things in you — lean in.
Obey the Catechism’s Call to Evangelize Everywhere.
In paragraph 900 of the Catechism, we are told we, as lay people, have a responsibility, by our Baptism & Confirmation, to ensure the divine message is shared everywhere. This is especially important where priests and missionaries are rarely found… i.e., the workplace. Cristofer Pereyra mentioned this in episode 8.
This is not optional. It’s what the Catholic Church teaches us; we have a responsibility. It’s not a nice-to-have situation. All baptized and especially confirmed Catholics have a duty to evangelize.
It’s heavier for this audience. As leaders in the business world, we operate where the missionaries are seldom seen. We can change that through our actions. Also, by inviting the religious into these spaces.
Acknowledge Your Skills Come from God
When God created you, He endowed your unique interests and skills. We know God takes care of us. He tells us not to worry, like the lilies of the field. So why do we need skills at all?
My conclusion? They were given to us so we could become instruments of His will. By embracing this call to use our skills, we willingly walk the unique path to Heaven that God has charted for us.
Not convinced of the importance of this? Recall the parable of the talents?
Pursue Personal Transformation
What is the most powerful force in the universe? God. So, to become more ‘powerful’, we must become more like God; more like His Son Jesus.
How? We pursue personal transformation of our hearts to be more like His. Thankfully, we don’t need to rely on our strength. Jesus does it for us if we ask and cooperate willingly.
Through this transformation, God uses us and the skills he gave us to become better leaders. Through listening to God, we discover our purpose on earth (our purpose after our vocation). The best way to learn how to listen to God is to conform to His will and spend time with His Son.
If you don’t know how to pursue this, check out the book, The Spiritual Combat.
Be Generous
God is infinitely generous. Everything we have comes from Him. If we want to be more like Him, this is a good place to start.
Give from the start. Waiting till we have more is an excuse — begin today. If we don’t, we’ll never start. Recall the story of the woman who gave her only penny.
Practicing generosity helps us develop the motivation to give more.
Give Glory to God
When you receive praise & recognition, give glory to God. Do this from day one. Because as time passes, your success will be greater, and you’d better have the habit by then.
Doing this is a constant reminder that you are a vessel. For most, this will keep you humble. Some may need more help. But don’t lose hope.
Make this a daily practice. Practice it publicly and privately.
Paint a Catholic Vision
You can now visualize what a Catholic visionary looks like. It’s time to act.
Other leaders set visions. Often, originating from their own ego. Sometimes, they credit the universe. Maybe it’s God, or maybe it’s an excuse to exploit others or neglect family.
With us, it’s different. We don’t need to dream it up. Jesus’ life and teachings give us the vision: a world overflowing with true Christian Charity. In other words, the Catholic worldview.
The only creativity required is finding ways to implement it through our businesses. It may be a stretch for some because of your business. However, assuming it’s not morally opposed to The Faith, we can at least incorporate this worldview into how we treat our employees & customers. Worst-case scenario, we can use our financial success to advance this vision.
Regardless of how we do it, we must paint this vision because others are not.
Often, their visions are positive-sounding, perhaps even good. Yet, how much better could this vision be if painted by a Catholic with a strong understanding of the life of Jesus?
You’d transform the lives of your employees, your customers, suppliers, partners, etc.
Still feeling timid? Reflect on the following (preferably in adoration).
God created you at this specific time in History.
He gave you these specific skills and interests.
He led you to leadership.
Are you really going to get this far and skip the most important part—setting the vision?
In summary:
We are called to be visionaries. Just in God’s way.
God created us to create within His creation.
All our skills and interests come from Him, so be generous.
Most importantly, if we don’t set vision, no one else will, because they don’t possess the fullness of Truth.
Finally, proceed with confidence. He gave us all of this, and He’s guiding us on this journey. What is there to fear other than separation from God?
God Bless & Happy Building
~Silas Mähner
Misc. Resources:
Join the Catholic Founders Guild (peer group) $10/month or $100/year
Investor? Check out SENT Angels (Angel Investors network for Catholics)
Sign up for the SENT Summit in September at Notre Dame (Space is super limited)
Need help hiring? Email us: dearcfpod@gmail.com
Want to be inspired to pursue your most ambitious dreams? Listen to this MFM podcast episode with the founder of Boom Supersonic.
If you like in-depth documentary podcasts about incredible companies, check out Acquired’s recent episode on Epic Systems.
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