I just read another headline about Pope Francis doing something controversial and it struck me how effectively he’s been able to lead the Catholic Church in just over a year. Without question, he exercises leadership by virtue of his position, but most of his actions hold valuable leadership lessons for anyone in any position in the organization. This time, the controversy stirred when for the second year in a row he chose an unexpected group of people for the ritual washing of the feet on Maundy Thursday.  As I thought about it, there are three approaches to the Pontiff's leadership style that could apply to leaders in any position:

1.    Take in the full view of things

Pope Francis sees things differently than most other leaders of the Catholic Church, especially in his inclusion of “outliers.” I am using that term to account for how he seems to focus on the poor, on the disenfranchised and even on non-Catholics more than his predecessors and possibly than the rest of the Roman Curia. As the first non-European Pope in about 2,000 years, and coming from the far southern end of the earth’s southernmost inhabited continent, the former Archbishop of Buenos Aires arrived in Rome as an outlier himself.

And he hails from a country full of such outliers – it’s impossible to ignore the poverty and disenfranchisement in Argentina from decades of economic and political turmoil, especially in contrast to the prosperous and privileged parts of society that Argentina also has. As a result, it’s not surprising that the leader of the Catholic Church in Argentina would have such a broad and inclusive perspective.

Broadening your perspective beyond what might be expected of you is an effective way to exercise leadership no matter where you are on the org chart. While most jobs have clearly defined responsibilities, their impact is part of a broader ecosystem of functions so not losing sight of those broader impacts often holds the key to improving how you execute what IS expected of you.

In the world of data, outliers are the data points that don’t exactly fit your model.  While getting a model with the best fit enables you to make the most confident predictions, outliers can sometimes point to the leading edge of a revised model. In our world of big data, we have the ability to consider outliers like never before - don’t squander the opportunity to consider outliers.

2.    Be mindful of all audiences

In the case of the foot washing ritual, it seems the controversy with the pontiff’s decision is related to the fact that his modern predecessors routinely washed the feet of 12 priests in the Vatican (not prisoners, Muslims, the disabled and disfigured, as this Pope has chosen). If he repeated the choice of his predecessors, the Pope would have signaled continuity to Catholics and non-Catholics alike. Doing so might have relegated the symbol-laden Holy Week foot washing ritual to another routine in an institution that has increasingly come under attack for seeming insular and out of touch with the needs and concerns of the diverse global Catholic flock. Picking the 12 closest priests in the Curia could have been a quick, easy decision for a very busy man at the head of an organization that’s so big it has its own diplomatic corps.

I believe Pope Francis understood very well that his choice would make waves, and it was an important opportunity to speak to all of his audiences. It’s clear he doesn’t limit his viewpoint just to the Curia. And while “leading the Catholic Church” might be narrowly focused on attending to the needs of Catholics, that specific view of the position entails leading 1.2 Billion people around the world. In business parlance, that’s an addressable market of 1.2 Billion people. What if you understood that your impact as Pope is much wider than just the world’s 1.2 Billion Catholics? I think Pope Francis knows that when he speaks, he’s heard by more non-Catholics than Catholics, and he understands the importance of that secondary audience in terms of leading his primary audience of Catholics.

In the 24x7 all-you-can-eat buffet of our interconnected, online all-the-time social media world, we all have impact beyond the definition of our job description. No matter where you fit in your organizational chart, you have secondary and tertiary audiences. And it’s worth always remembering how your job relates to the customer and/or how you support your organization’s mission.  No matter how far away that connection might seem, it should be a reference point that provides validity to anything you do at work.

 3.    Be consistent

Pope Francis has made it a point to remind his followers and his other audiences consistently that the Catholic Church – and other institutions as well – should be concerned with the plight of the poor. This is a position he took at his installation mass and has repeatedly taken since becoming Pope. Consistency is important because as a result, there is no question that Pope Francis’ direction for the Catholic Church is a renewed emphasis on attending to the needs of the poor and disenfranchised and not on extravagance. And he hopes the Catholic Church will lead other institutions to follow suit - even challenging the world’s business leaders at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland this year to remember charity and the deeper meaning in their business lives.

The pontiff’s consistent focus on the poor stems from his interpretations of the teachings of Jesus Christ, and from his years in the Jesuit order, which requires all Jesuits to take a vow of poverty. As a result, he has not had a single possession of his own for most of his adult life.

Leading with consistency means that each decision or action you take reinforces your position or the values you espouse. Being inconsistent introduces doubt. It creates the need to verify, and as such prevents the ability to streamline processes. It introduces potential alternatives in ways that undercut efficiencies or achieving economies of scale if those apply. It stands to reason, then, that consistency is more beneficial the higher up the food chain you are, the bigger your budget is, or the more complex your organizational matrix might be. And so it would mean that inconsistency bears a bigger negative impact in those circumstances as well.

I believe the need for consistency underscores the need to relate your job to the customer and/or knowing the link between your job and your organization’s mission. In the day-to-day reality of an organization, it’s very hard to argue against a point being made in terms of the customer. And it’s equally hard to try to refute a position arrived at with data. And when you can make your points consistently with data and in terms of the customer, you’ve positioned yourself to exercise leadership no matter where you find yourself in the organization.