Among history's leaders, Joan of Arc stands out as one of the pre-eminent figures. This small book tells the tale of her leadership virtues as a mystic and a warrior who obeyed the command of God to perform extraordinary deeds. Because of her virtue, she had a profound effect on both the earthly and heavenly kingdoms. Among all the excellent qualities Joan of Arc exhibited in her short life, this book focuses on these seven: spirit (her spiritual formation and personal zeal); identity (her strong sense of self and personal calling); power (her excellent judgment in using coercive power to save her country); mobility (her purposeful action in executing her mission); realism (her ability to judge correctly what to do in complex situations); attraction (her immense powers of persuasion); and inspiration (the way in which she called the men and women of her day to heroism). Although Joan of Arc lived six hundred years ago, she is a leader we should still learn from today.
There are many books about the life of Joan, yet few other books focus on Joan of Arc's leadership abilities. This book focuses exclusively on that aspect of her character. She was one of history's greatest leaders, and this book attempts to let the reader in on what made her tick as a leader as well as a saint.
Chapter 6 (out of 7) speaks of the way Joan of Arc used her femininity as a leadership asset without succumbing to the temptation to manipulate or seduce men to follow her. She earned her loyal following because she had such a perfect blend of feminine virtue and masculine courage.
Introduction
An objective measure of how fully the 15th century maiden named Joan of Arc has captured the imagination of the world may be found in the Bibliotheque Nationale in Paris. According to one biographer (Mary Gordon) there are more than 20,000 books about Joan of Arc in that library alone. The sheer number of works about a medieval teenager defies imagination but speaks, pardon the pun, volumes about her singular contribution to human history.
The curmudgeonly Mark Twain was enamored of Joan. So great was his esteem for her life and accomplishments that he once said that it took six thousand years to produce a Joan of Arc, and the world would need another 50,000 before anyone of her stature would ever appear again. That is high praise from a man who did not dole out compliments lightly.
So, we must begin our small contribution to the Life-Changing Classics Series with a very humble declaration: we cannot possibly do justice to Joan of Arc’s life in these few pages!
Our scope will be more narrowly focused on the one dimension of her life and character that had the greatest impact on the world: her leadership skills. Joan was not a politician, although she worked with many of the key political leaders of her day. She made no contributions to culture, although European culture was tremendously enriched by her exploits. Joan of Arc was unabashedly a military leader of the French people as they took back their country from an invading army. She claimed no title except that of Maid (which we will explain in Chapter 2).
Fine leadership skills are a rare gift, and it is unlikely that anyone is truly born a leader. Many people become good leaders through training. But others, like Joan of Arc, have a certain God-given charism of leadership that enhances their natural skills for leading men and nations. Their human formation, character, and circumstances add the rest. History has seen its share of great leaders, and Joan of Arc, who did such extraordinary things in such a short period of time, takes her place among them in one of the fullest expressions of excellent leadership in history.
It is amazing to think that this world class leader had not yet reached the age of twenty when she poured out her leadership gifts on her countrymen. The entirety of her “career” lasted less than a single calendar year.
By depicting in a few words and images the astonishing leadership virtues of Joan of Arc, we can only present seven inadequate snapshots of a life fully lived. We cannot go into much detail about her personal or family history, her extraordinary spiritual gifts, or even the shocking way in which her life was cut short by the traitorous leaders of her day. I have placed a short list of superb resources for further reading at the back of this book and, of course, there are at least 20,000 others out there for your edification!