I’d been ruminating again on the classification of “soft skills” ever since last week when someone used the phrase.

There must be a better descriptor, I kept thinking, something more apt.

More accurate.

Something a far better and closer representation of the kind of leadership that lies at the intersection of smarts and heart and power and vision.

And then I heard the news that Pope Francis had passed away.

Reading the stories and accounts, a picture began to form:

Gentle and outspoken.

Loving and firm.

Deeply present and aware.

Inspirational and connected to issues of the day.

Powerful and deeply moral.

Whatever that concoction is, no one regards it as anything but primary.

And the entire world will feel its absence.