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This time last week I was in New York amidst all the flurry of activity ahead of Pope Francis’ arrival in the city; from the construction workers on Madison and Fifth filling in the potholes to the scaffolding around St. Patrick’s Cathedral being hastily dismantled. The Pope’s Ambassador showed me all the preparations he had in place to host the Pope during his stay. It was all so reminiscent of events here in London five years ago ahead of Pope Benedict’s State Visit to the UK. As a former Ambassador to the Vatican I know from experience that there is no diplomatic manual for visits of the Pope; they are unique regardless of the context.

Yet despite the modern protocol that accompanies state visits, it is somewhat counter cultural that the world’s oldest office – the Papacy – which is not a democracy - is giving such a powerful and somewhat unique lesson in leadership. Francis’ informal and simple style is connecting with people far beyond the Catholic fold. His message of mercy and forgiveness and of solidarity is one which is both challenging and reassuring in equal measure both within and outside the Catholic Church. He is forcing people to think and to reappraise. But his leadership style also gives tangible expression to deeply held principles.

The image of the Pope’s little Fiat car amidst all the hustle and bustle of a huge security motorcade is striking. No doubt Francis’ scaling back of security to get closer to people has given the US Secret Service many headaches, but it is both symbolic and constant. It also challenges many other leaders who perhaps enjoy the trappings of office and where security can become a welcome barrier between leader and people and brings rights of privilege over the rest of society.

Francis has a prophetic leadership style rather than a calculating one. He is not thinking about how a situation can play to his advantage or how he can get to the next level. In a temporal sense he is there and so the Papacy brings an immense freedom as an office. It allows a prophetic voice to come forth in a way that few other leadership offices can safely permit. But that only answers part of the question about why Francis’ style and message is still captivating so many.

That prophetic voice, to be truly prophetic has to be authentic, consistent and sincere. It has to speak truth in times of harmony and disharmony. In Francis’ case the message is not his, but Christ’s and delivered in a rather unique, direct and simple style. People seem to be responding. They are looking at the words and then his actions – they are seeing a consistency, not a contradiction. Francis is showing other leaders in all walks of life that the ‘servant leader’, with the prophetic voice is more appropriate to our age than the privileged and calculating leadership styles of the past. His example may be as powerful as his message and be his lasting legacy.

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