🎬 What can Conclave teach us about Leadership?
In Crisis, Some Lead from Fear. Others Lead from Force.
Conclave - Leading from forces, forces from fears.
🚨 SPOILER ALERT!
In Conclave (2024), the sudden death of the Pope triggers more than just a vote — it exposes the true nature of leadership at the heart of the Church.
Amid sacred ritual, political tension, and whispered secrets, three cardinals emerge with distinctly different leadership paths:
Cardinal Thomas Lawrence — The guardian of order and tradition.
Cardinal Vincent Benítez — The humble outsider with unexpected depth.
Cardinal Bellini — The classic power-seeker, eager to control the process
Each embodies what happens to leadership under pressure:
It either contracts into fear — or expands into force.
🔹 Benítez: The Quiet Force of Humility
At first glance, Cardinal Benítez seems unremarkable. Reserved. Soft-spoken.
But behind that stillness is conviction without ego.
He doesn’t fight for power. He doesn’t campaign.
He simply shows up — authentically, consistently, humbly.
And because of that, others are drawn to him.
Benítez leads from force — not the force of authority, but the force of authenticity.
🔹 Lawrence: From Duty to Depth
Cardinal Lawrence begins as a man of ceremony.
He believes in structure, tradition, and order.
But as the conclave unfolds, he’s confronted with uncomfortable truths — about others, and about himself.
What makes him a true leader isn’t his role. It’s his willingness to evolve.
He listens. He reflects. He has the courage to change.
Lawrence leads from curiosity, integrity, and ultimately, courage.
And in doing so, he reconnects with both faith and purpose.
🔸 The Italian Cardinal, Bellini: Leading from Fear
Then there’s the Italian cardinal — Bellini. Political. Calculating. Fearful.
To him, leadership is about control — not service, not meaning.
He spreads doubt, resists change, and manipulates outcomes.
Because change threatens his comfort and his status.
This is fear-based leadership:
Defensive. Reactive. Performative.
Disconnected from the people it claims to serve.
⚔️ A Moment of Crisis: Two Mindsets, One Decision
Conclave: A moment of crisis
One of the film’s most intense scenes unfolds with a looming bomb beneath the Vatican.
As uncertainty mounts, the cardinals face a defining choice.
What follows is a powerful debate — a moment that reveals two fundamentally different approaches to fear.
💥 One side, led by Cardinal Bellini, declares:
“We must cancel the conclave. The Church is under attack.”
🔥 The other, supported by Cardinal Benítez, responds:
“We are under attack because of this. We must proceed.”
One voice represents fear-based leadership — focused on survival.
The other, force-based leadership — focused on purpose.
Benítez doesn’t deny the threat. He reframes it.
This is not a reason to pause. It’s the reason to move forward.
He calls on the cardinals to own their responsibility and lead.
💡 The LeaderNess Model in Action
This scene — and these three characters — vividly illustrate the LeaderNess journey:
🔹 Find — Benítez and Lawrence find their forces: compassion, clarity, service, and purpose.
🔹 Feed — They nurture them with humility, curiosity, and truth-seeking — even in uncertainty.
🔹 Fuel — They act decisively. Not for control, but to serve something greater than themselves.
And Cardinal Bellini?
🔸 Finds fear
🔸 Feeds ambition
🔸 Fuels dysfunction
Final Reflection
Conclave reminds us:
Leadership isn’t about what happend in the world.
It’s about your response.
When fear rises — do you retreat into control and comfort?
Or do you lead from truth, courage, and conviction?
💬 True leadership begins the moment you stop performing — and start standing in who you are.
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