00:00How are you, friends?
00:07I am Brother Joseph from the community of the Brothers of Saint John
00:10And I'm here with you to discuss a topic that I believe is very important.
00:16for this leadership school, and it is the relationship between leadership and ethics.
00:23So I invite you, we're going to be working on these four short videos,
00:27This topic.
00:30And I want to start this topic by talking about freedom.
00:34There is much talk today about being free, and we consider it to be a great value.
00:41In fact, we love people who express themselves at least as if they were unrestrained.
00:48as if freed from all the things that generally bind us as human beings,
00:54less dependent on the limits of time, place,
00:58including the limits that religion may impose on us, and political limits as well.
01:05So, what does this mean?
01:07I want to begin this reflection with freedom,
01:10Because yes, it's a big topic that has great importance today.
01:14But personally, and after much reflection on this matter of freedom,
01:20I actually realize that she never appears alone.
01:26It actually exists as a property of our actions.
01:31What does this mean?
01:33A property means something that accompanies them and not the end.
01:39In other words, if we look at it more closely,
01:43We do many things automatically or because of the environment in which we were raised,
01:48our family, our culture.
01:50Many things push us to decide or choose things in one way or another.
01:58And that doesn't mean we are any less free.
02:04So, where does freedom really come from?
02:09Freedom will only appear when we decide,
02:13when we have deliberated on something that we consider worth seeking, choosing.
02:21Then, it appears.
02:24And this can certainly be more or less free depending on our culture,
02:31As I was saying, there may be different restrictions.
02:35Therefore, we classify our actions as free.
02:41Does this make sense?
02:41It's very important.
02:44So, what I mean by this is that freedom,
02:47In this reflection we are making, it is not an absolute.
02:50Nor the measure of the truth or goodness of our actions.
02:55To be honest, it's just like a quality.
02:58Very noble, indeed.
02:59But it's not the first thing, it's not the most important thing.
03:03And when it comes to seeking the ethics of the leader,
03:06It is important to establish this starting point.
03:09The most important thing about our actions is not simply whether we are free or not,
03:17as modern culture often portrays it to us.
03:20However, it is true, it is one of the characteristics of our actions that make us human.
03:25Let me give you an example.
03:27Michelangelo Boona created the Sistine Chapel, one of the most beautiful works of art,
03:33not initially driven by his freedom, but rather driven by it,
03:40due to the somewhat limiting authority of the Pope,
03:44which practically forces him to do it, to develop it.
03:49But how beautiful it is to see how Miguel Ángel Bonarotti, within this restriction,
03:57decides to put his creative potential to use.
04:01And we see the wonderful work he has developed.
04:05Seeing all the limitations we have in our lives,
04:09and those that add up to the environment in which we live,
04:12including this coronavirus pandemic,
04:16We could give up and stop fighting for what we love.
04:22Then, then we would cease to be free.
04:27The driving force, the key, is that love, that intention in life.
04:31It's about fighting for what we love.
04:34Freedom then appears,
04:35No, not as someone capable of freeing us, as he did with Michelangelo,
04:42of all these restrictions that may limit me,
04:47the exercise of my freedom.
04:48Therefore, freedom appears as something we continually conquer,
04:52day by day, and increasingly so,
04:56even if we are externally limited by many things.
05:00We're wrapping up this first video,
05:06I repeat,
05:08searching for the meaning of freedom today,
05:12putting him in his rightful place,
05:14only a property of our actions.
05:16And the interesting thing is the good,
05:19decide what we want to pursue.
05:22And you as a leader,
05:23You need to train yourself to discover then
05:26what can we truly say is worthwhile,
05:29to be wanted,
05:32pursued.
05:34And then,
05:37call others,
05:38to summon others as a leader,
05:41to seek what is good,
05:43And that's what will truly awaken within you
05:46true freedom.
05:49Next video,
05:49Let's look then
05:50this ethical question
05:52about what is good.
