Working for the Future: Wisdom From a Simple Question

With a simple, sincere question, Fr. Merlin Mulvihill, S.J., revealed wisdom, patience, and the importance of clear priorities. I have used the lesson of that experience as a guide for my teams, as a way to suggest focus to my supervisors (including university deans and presidents) and to illustrate to many what true leaders focus on. I still remember the incident with great clarity.

The classroom was full of sophomores, all sporting the required green blazer of the early 1970s Strake Jesuit uniform. Slacks, shirts, and ties exhibited a range of colors and patterns indicative of the waning influence of the Woodstock era; coordinating wardrobes with blazers was a lost cause. Hair lengths varied, pushing the limits allowed by the school’s dress code or Coach Martinez’s rules, whichever we feared most. We were sophomores; Fr. J.B. Leininger, S.J.,  enjoyed reminding us what sophomores were: sophos – wise and moros – foolish. It was a room full of such wise and foolish boys-becoming-men that Fr. Mulvihill queried with “The leadership of the school is interested in what we can do to make the school better. What are your ideas?”

The school’s leaders were considering such things while also juggling the difficult, courageous decisions of reorganization after the financial debacle that struck Strake Jesuit when it was only about 10 years old. Amidst all the complications of those considerations – selling off property, planning improvements of buildings and construction of new ones, re-working growth and development plans with the new financial realities, expanding efforts to raise funds (that included the creation of Spring Fling) - he asked a room of 16-year-olds for their input. He sought to learn from our perspectives, yet it was we who learned if we paid attention.

Responses came quickly: “Get rid of the blazer requirement”; “Less homework”; “Let us grow our hair longer”; “No more ties”…and more, though enough for Fr. Mulvihill to get the gist of the responses. He listened. He nodded as if to say, “I should have known this was coming,” and then exhaled.

“Gentlemen, you are sharing what you believe will make your stay here easier for you. We are looking for ways to create a school that you will send your sons to.” Looking back over the years since, many of my classmates have done just that.

I have many fond high school memories, several that I used in a Career Day presentation that I delivered at Strake Jesuit years ago. I don’t think anything that I learned in high school, or after, about life, leadership, patience, wisdom, foresight, and vision tops the poignant clarity of Fr. Mulvihill’s statement. It made me a better employee, supervisor, administrator, coach, and parent. I believe it made me a better man, a better Man for Others. And that’s the point of Strake Jesuit, isn’t it?