How Connection Can Improve Your Ward’s Mental Health | An Interview with Geoff Steurer

Helping Latter-day Saints be Better Prepared to Lead

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This is a rebroadcast. The episode originally ran in February 2020.

Dr. Steven G. Rogelberg is a professor of Organizational Science, Management, and Psychology at UNC Charlotte. The author of The Surprising Science of Meetings: How You Can Lead Your Team to Peak Performance, he is a distinguished scholar addressing issues such as team effectiveness, leadership, engagement, health and employee well-being, meetings at work, and organizational research methods.

The book is a culmination of 15 years of research and thousands of surveys and interviews. It’s a collection of evidence-based insights and represents a strategic approach that leaders and organizations can take that’s highly practical and accessible, but also strongly based in science. In this interview, Steve talks with Kurt about applying the insights from his book to improving meetings in the Church environment. This presentation of this episode was originally included in the Meetings With Saints Virtual Conference, which is now part of the Core Leader Library.


Links
The Surprising Science of Meetings: How You Can Lead Your Team to Peak Performance
StevenRogelberg.com
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Highlights
5:00 We know one thing but tend to do a different thing, but there is no formula for meeting success. Instead the key is making good choices, which is more empowering.7:00 Steve’s experience with members of the Church8:15 The cost of meetings is underestimated11:00 Being self-aware as a meeting leader: stewardship and making changes13:40 Things to reflect on that are signs that there needs to be improvement14:30 Start with a quick survey, then work on the little things and assess later17:00 Talking as the leader vs. leading the discussion20:00 Transparency and honesty allows you to lead from the back or the front in a genuine way21:10 Three phases of the meeting: planning/designing, facilitating, and post-meeting activity21:50 Planning a meeting is not time consuming and has a high return on investment23:45 Taking a “pre-mortem” moment before the meeting25:00 Agendas are a hollow crutch: what matters most is what is on that agenda and how it is facilitated

* Frame the agenda as a set of questions to be answered
* Allow other people to different agenda items
* Put the most important/compelling issues first

30:10 Parkinson’s Law: Work expands to fill whatever time is allotted

* How much time should it take? Dial it back a bit and create time pressure
* Volunteer time is a precious gift: build trust by respecting it

35:00 Combating minutiae in meetings by making meeting time incredibly purposeful38:00 Councils and update meetings

* What is a good update? Decide and then put people on the clock
* Silent updates via a shared document

41:20 Silence in a meeting is a way of engaging people44:25 Technology in a meeting: multitasking is a symptom of a bad meeting

* Keep meeting minutes in real time on the screen instead of a powerpoint

The Science of Church Meetings (including Ward Council) | An Interview with Steven Rogelberg

Josh Coates studied computer science at UC Berkeley and is the executive director of the B.H. Roberts Foundation. 
Links

The Unique Opportunity Local Leaders Have to Encourage Faith Among Latter-day Saint Millennials | An Interview with Jana Riess
Josh Coates articles at Deseret News
Stephen Cranney articles at Deseret News
BH Roberts Foundation
Mormonr.org
LDSBot
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Highlights
3:20 Introduction to Josh Coates, one of the founders of the B.H. Roberts Foundation and Mormoner. They write short articles on controversial topics.

5:45 Who is B.H. Roberts? Why is the foundation named after him?

9:20 Josh and his foundation began a research project surveying Latter Day Saints.

16:00 Creating the survey in order to have useful data. You have to be very careful when formulating questions.

18:15 What were they looking to find out in the survey?

21:30 It seems like people are leaving the Church in droves. Is that really true?

23:30 They have found that there are two types of Latter-day Saints according to their analysis. 

* Cluster 1 - 80% are pretty orthodox. Follow closely to the commandments and are very active in the Church.
* Cluster 2 - 20% are scattered in their beliefs even if they identify as Latter-day Saints.

29:40 Millennials are dramatically represented in the 20% of members that have scattered beliefs. We worry about Gen-Z a lot but maybe we are overlooking the millennials. 

33:30 The cultural evolution of the Church has improved over the last 20 to 30 years but there have also been things that have eroded the foundation of people’s faith.

34:00 The difference between the different generations in the Church. Why are millennials struggling so much compared to other generations?

35:15 How can leaders better approach or talk to millennials? Separating policy and doctrine.

39:30 The data that Josh found on marriage and divorce in the Church. They found that temple marriages are a big deal.

42:00 Research on moral foundation theory. The five foundational values that go into making a decision:

* Will it hurt someone?
* Is it fair?
* Loyalty
* Authority
* Purity

52:00 The survey data on LGBTQ members of The Church of those that have left The Church and their view on marriage

54:30 Resources and places to go to find out more about Josh’s work.

56:00 Josh’s encouragement to Church leaders

The Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead.

What Your Ward Thinks About Priesthood Authority, Temple Marriage, & Brigham Young | An Interview with Josh Coates

Sahr Doe found the Church when he was eight years old but could not be baptized until he was 13. His mission was delayed due to the Sierra Leone civil war, and at age 21 he was called into his Young Men presidency. He was then among the first missionaries to attend the Accra Ghana Missionary Training Center, and served in the Nigeria Lagos/Ibadan mission where he was an assistant to the mission president for 12 months. Two weeks after his mission he returned to the Ghana MTC as a tutor and driver for 18 months.

Sahr served as district high counselor in the Freetown Sierra Leone district before being called as counselor in the district presidency. He then served as administrative assistant to the mission president of the Ghana Accra mission, Sierra Leone zone, while working as physical facilities manager for Sierra Leone. On his release from the district presidency, Sahr was called as the elders quorum president in his branch, then as branch president. He left to attend Brigham Young University-Hawaii for one semester, without his wife and son, but had an accident while working at the Polynesian Cultural Center and returned to Sierra Leone. He then started a construction company and was called as the secretary to the mission presidency, then as counselor to the mission president.

When the 2014 Ebola virus outbreak sent the mission president, senior couples, and missionaries to Ghana, Sahr stayed as acting assistant to the president. He later assisted with orienting new mission leaders to the country and was called again as counselor to the president. In 2016 he was involved in a serious accident that left him partially paralyzed, and in 2017 was released from the mission presidency and called as secretary to the Area Seventy. He currently serves on the Kossoh Town stake high council.


Links

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Highlights
2:45 Kurt introduces Sahr Doe and his background.

4:40 Sahr shares his conversion story. He was baptized at 13-years-old. He has been a member since 1993.

6:30 Making the decision to serve a mission and the civil war in Sierra Leone

7:50 What the church is like now in Sierra Leone in 2024

10:00 Sahr’s leadership callings

12:40 Getting called as branch president

14:00 Responsibilities while serving in the mission presidency

16:15 Working with the young missionaries and teaching them that with a willing heart nothing is impossible. 

19:50 Sahr’s advice to missionaries that will go to serve in his country

20:55 Sahr is currently serving on the high council. He describes some of his responsibilities. 

21:30 Being grateful amidst the challenges that present the people in Sierra Leone

24:00 Find an excuse to win no matter what you are going through.

27:30 You are in control of your pain.

29:30 Sahr shares a powerful leadership experience. When Sahr overlooked a man for a calling the Lord reminded him that whom the Lord calls, He qualifies. 

33:50 More leadership stories and things Sahr learned from them

36:00 The principle of listening. Listen to people as our Heavenly Father listens to our prayers. 

39:40 Great followers become great leaders and great leaders become great followers

The Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day...

How I Lead in Freetown, Sierra Leone | An Interview with Sahr Doe

Dr. Nate Sharp is a scholar and academic leader who currently serves as Dean of the Mays Business School at Texas A&M; University. He was born in Salt Lake City, Utah, served in the Korea Seoul West Mission, then taught Korean at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah, while attending Brigham Young University.

Nate graduated from BYU’s Marriott School of Business with bachelor’s and master’s degrees in accounting and later completed a PhD at the University of Texas at Austin. During his time at Texas A&M;, Nate has served in multiple leadership positions, received multiple awards recognizing excellence in research and teaching, and been widely published in top peer-reviewed scholarly journals..

Nate married Holly Carroll, they are the parents of five children, and their oldest daughter is currently serving in the Peru Lima Central Mission. Nate has previously served as an elders quorum president, ward Young Men president, ward executive secretary, bishopric counselor, high councilor, and bishop. He currently serves as stake president in the College Station Texas Stake, a calling he has held since 2016.


Links

Linking Every Sacrament Meeting to Christ | An Interview with Thomas Griffith
Thomas Griffith's BYU Speech: The Very Root of Christian Doctrine
Why Every Ward Needs Digital Ward Missionaries
There is already a discussion started about this podcast. Share your thoughts here. 
Transcript coming soon 
Scriptures referenced in this podcast: Doctrine & Covenants 45:3-5, John 5:38-40
Get 14-day access to the Core Leader Library
Highlights
2:30 In a previous episode, Nate talked about having digital missionaries for the ward and the blog they created and the impact it made. 

4:30 Getting called as stake president

8:40 Their stake has a large number of single adults. The recent changes to put singles and students in leadership has created lots of positive change in the singles ward.

10:45 Nate currently works for Texas A&M; and is the dean of the Mays Business School.

12:30 The role of being a dean is about building relationships, selfless service, and elevating the school. The values they have on campus have created an environment similar to BYU. 

19:30 Stimulating a positive culture as a stake president. They set a vision of creating a culture and doctrine of belonging. Including more students in leadership opportunities even if they won’t be there very long.

22:50 Approach to mentoring bishops and helping them establish culture in their wards

25:30 The bishop has the opportunity to demonstrate to the youth hopeful repentance.

28:15 How can bishops apply this idea of hopeful repentance? Let the youth know you are proud of them for coming forward with their sins. Share hope filled conference talks about repentance.

Making Repentance Hopeful | An Interview With Nate Sharp

Julie McAllister Hillyard was raised in Vancouver, Washington, served in the Philippines Bacolod Mission, and graduated from Brigham Young University with a degree in Psychology. She taught classes to male inmates and mentored female inmates at the Utah State Prison before and as she launched her career. Julie had the privilege of working and traveling with Dr. Stephen R. Covey, author of The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People, and worked with him as he developed and wrote The 8th Habit. She joined him as he consulted with leaders of countries and companies and helped him prepare and deliver presentations to audiences around the world. 

Julie has served in various teaching callings, including as an Institute instructor, Relief Society teacher and president, Sunday School and Gospel Doctrine teacher, and Young Women leader. She currently teaches a stake adult religion class and the high school seniors Sunday School class in her ward. Julie is married with three fabulous kids, owns a pickleball paddle company with her husband, and does consulting work in leadership and communications. She is also a host on the Teaching Restored podcast.


Links

Teaching Restored Podcast
Teaching Sunday School with Questions | An Interview with Kevin Jones
The Power of Learner Councils | A How I Lead Interview with Russell Rigby
The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters, by Pria Parker
There is already a discussion started about this podcast. Share your thoughts here. 
Read the transcript of this podcast
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Highlights
2:10 Kurt introduces Julie Hillyard, the co-host of the podcast Teaching Restored. She shares what the podcast is about.

4:00 Julie’s professional background and experience in teaching. She currently teaches the adult religion class for her stake. 

6:20 She worked for Stephen Covey, the author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People. She shares her experience.

11:00 Julie’s stake offers an adult religion class on Tuesdays and Julie teaches it. It’s for people that want to dive more into the scriptures together. It’s like an institute class for adults. 

15:30 Inviting discussion can be a vulnerable way to teach but invites something special. Balance discussion and teaching. 

17:40 Her class isn’t about teaching all the content of Come Follow Me but setting people up for further study at home. It lines up with the Come Follow Me lessons. 

20:00 Finding simplicity on the far side of complexity. As a teacher you have to dig through the weeds to arrive at what you need to focus on in your class. Discussions can be rich if they are facilitated in the right way.

22:00 Best practices for teaching the youth

* Be real. No fluff. Don’t talk about the superficial stuff.

How Connection Can Improve Your Ward’s Mental Health | An Interview with Geoff Steurer

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