A newly released book titled Leading with Depth: A Practitioner’s Guide to 21st-Century Ignatian Leadership offers modern leaders a practical and accessible interpretation of Ignatian leadership. The work draws from the extensive experience in educational leadership of its authors, Fr Johnny Go SJ, founding Dean of the Ateneo de Manila University’s Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design, and Dr Assunta Cuyegkeng, Executive Director of the Lily Gokongwei Ngochua Leadership Academy.
Both Fr Go and Dr Cuyegkeng have played various significant leadership roles in their respective careers in education and have taught leadership at academic courses and professional development workshops. They bring decades of collective leadership experience and insight into their writing as well as the “wisdom of practice” that emerged from conversations with fellow leaders in education and other disciplines.
Leading with Depth offers a fresh perspective on Ignatian leadership, aiming to make it accessible and relevant to modern leaders. Building on the foundation laid by Fr Go’s earlier work on Ignatian Pedagogy, co-authored with Rita Atienza, this book is designed to be practical and user-friendly. It features diagrams, graphs, and exercises intended to help leaders reflect on their practice and deepen their understanding of Ignatian leadership principles.
“Like our earlier one on Ignatian Pedagogy, this book is unapologetically practical because that’s what leaders look for,” says Fr Go. “Theoretical discourses on leadership are valuable, to be sure. It’s helpful to hear what experts have to say about Ignatian discernment and cura personalis, but what do they look like and sound like in actual practice? This is what we hope our book can make a contribution to.”
Fr Go and Dr Cuyegkeng dedicate the book to “those who have consented to bear the cross of leadership”. They believe that the Ignatian model of leadership is uniquely suited to address the extraordinary challenges of contemporary leadership.
“These are exciting and perilous times for leaders. We face so many novel challenges, for which there are no self-evident solutions. For this reason, leaders need all the help they can get. Ignatian leadership invites leaders to look into their depths, connect with their deepest selves, and nurture and draw from their well of inner resources. This is what makes Ignatian leadership so relevant and valuable today,” says Fr Go.
Published by the Ateneo de Manila University Press, Leading with Depth is a collaboration with the Jesuit Conference of Asia Pacific and the Gokongwei Brothers School of Education and Learning Design. The book is currently available at the Ateneo de Manila University Press, both onsite and online, and will soon be on Amazon.