When God Is the Chairman of Your Board
How Catholic Women Entrepreneurs Lead Through Surrender, Not Control
“His mother said to the servers, ‘Do whatever he tells you’” (John 2:5).
Surrender as Strategy
In the life of a Catholic woman in business, leadership can quietly become ownership. We carry the vision, manage the people, oversee the numbers, and anticipate every risk. We become competent, responsible, and necessary. Somewhere along the way, we may begin to believe that fruitfulness depends primarily on our vigilance.
This month’s prayer theme — Surrender & Consecration— calls us back to a deeper order. Consecration means entrusting everything to God: our companies, our consulting clients, our classrooms, our creative ideas, our reputations, and even our ambitions. It is not withdrawal from excellence; it is freedom from the illusion of control.
As we prepare for April 28 (the feast day of St. Louis Marie de Montfort), we reflect under the mantle of the Blessed Virgin Mary, whom we invoke this month as Mother of Total Consecration. St. Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort, SMM was a French Catholic priest known for his influence on Catholic Mariology. He inspires us to contemplate her words at Cana: “Do whatever he tells you.” Mary did not orchestrate the miracle. She did not engineer the outcome. She trusted.
For Catholic women in business, this is revolutionary. What if God — not you — were truly the Chairman of your board?
Mary as the Mother of Total Consecration
At the Wedding Feast at Cana (John 2:1–11), Mary notices a problem: “They have no wine.” She brings the need to Jesus, then turns to the servants and says the most strategic words ever spoken in Scripture: “Do whatever he tells you.”
She mediates trust, not competence. She does not over-function. She does not panic. She does not take control.
Under the title Mother of Total Consecration, Mary shows us what leadership through surrender looks like. She entrusts the need to Christ and releases the outcome.
This month, we are invited to do the same with our businesses.
Holiness Is Received, Not Engineered
As high-capacity women, we are trained to engineer outcomes. We optimize processes. We refine presentations. We build systems. But holiness — and fruitfulness — are received before they are produced.
When we attempt to manufacture spiritual success the same way we manufacture business success, we slip into subtle perfectionism. Grace cannot be engineered; it can only be welcomed.
Action: Begin each workday with: “Mary, handle this.”
For deeper reflection, read: Totus Tuus (Even at Work).
Mary Mediates Trust, Not Competence
At Cana, Mary does not perform the miracle — she points to Jesus. Catholic entrepreneurs often feel they must be the most competent person in every room. But grace flows through humility.
Asking for help — in consulting, research, operations, parenting, or leadership — is not a weakness. It is consecration in action. It declares that you are not the savior of your enterprise.
Action: Ask for help once this week — in consulting, research, or teaching.
For deeper reflection, read: Following the Little Way at Work.
Dependence Is Not Weakness
Excessive self-reliance often hides beneath words like excellence, high standards, and professionalism. Yet over-functioning can block grace. When we refuse to delegate, refuse to rest, or refuse to imperfectly release something, we signal mistrust.
Mary’s surrender did not diminish her dignity; it magnified it. Dependence on grace does not make you smaller; it makes you aligned.
Action: Stop one perfectionist habit that blocks grace.
For deeper reflection, read: The Freedom of Humility.
God Acts Through Surrender
The miracle at Cana came after obedience. The servants filled heavy jars with water — an ordinary, hidden act. Then Jesus transformed what they offered.
In your business this month, where did grace surprise you? Which door opened without force? Which conversation shifted without manipulation? Which provision arrived unplanned?
Consecration makes room for divine initiative.
Action: Review where grace surprised you this month.
For deeper reflection, read: Getting to ‘’Yes’’: What Surrender Looks Like.
Closing Prayer
Mary, I give myself to you. Handle me and my work.
Fruit of Prayer
As we grow in total dependence on grace, we receive the fruit of deepened humility and peaceful reliance on God. Our businesses remain ambitious, but no longer anxious. Our leadership remains strong, but no longer controlling. Our work becomes holy — not because we perfected it, but because we surrendered it.
May Our Lady, Mother of Total Consecration, teach us to lead like her: attentive, obedient, and free.
Practical Reflection Box
3 Ways to Treat God as the Chairman of Your Board
Begin each workday with deliberate consecration. Before opening your laptop, whisper: “Mary, I give myself to you. Handle me and my work.” This reorders your identity from controller to steward.
Build a “Grace Agenda” into your weekly planning. Alongside KPIs and deliverables, ask: Where is God inviting surrender? What must I release? What conversation requires humility?
Offer your business in Mass. During the Offertory, consciously place your clients, staff, proposals, and uncertainties on the altar. Imagine your work being lifted, blessed, broken, and returned — purified of anxiety and reordered toward love.
When God is Chairman, you still lead — but you do not carry alone.
Dr. Glory Enyinnaya is a management consultant who worked at Accenture before founding Kleos Advisory. She is a member of the faculty of Pan-Atlantic University in Nigeria. She blogs at www.gloryenyinnaya.com.