Walter Franco most recently served as a bishop and has previously served as an elders quorum president, Young Men president, Sunday School teacher, ward mission leader, and as a missionary in Jacksonville, Florida. He is a principal for a boutique sports business consulting firm based out of Park City, serves on a few University of Utah boards and the KSL Community Board, and is president of a non-profit that raises college scholarship funds for DACA students in Utah. Walter and his wife have been married for 14 years, have three daughters, and currently live in Herriman, Utah.

Highlights

02:30 Getting called as a Bishop in a Spanish-speaking ward and ward dynamics 10:00 There is actually a lot of diversity in a Spanish-speaking ward. They are united by language but there are a lot of different cultures. It can cause drama and cliques and Walter talks about how they created more unity. 12:40 Principle #1: See them as the Lord sees them. 16:00 Walter gives examples of how he goes about helping people in the Bishop’s office. He strives to give the individual ownership of their repentance rather than just giving them a prescription like a doctor. 19:30 Walter elaborates more on how he works with other leaders in the ward and the struggle in the Spanish-speaking ward to have strong leadership. He gives examples of how he gives feedback. It’s important to understand that it’s a process not an event. 24:45 Principle #2: Listen first and listen a lot before you speak

This is the way to gain confidence and create great relationships

Ask lots of questions and really understand where they are coming from and going through

30:00 Helping individuals with doctrinal questions. They might not get answers to certain questions in this lifetime but you can bring them back to core principles and doctrines. 31:15 Principle #3: My role is to lead by serving.

Be the first one to extend your hand or respond

36:50 Leading a Spanish unit in an English Stake. Walter shares his view on how to address common misconceptions that English speakers have. Remember that we are united by faith and struggle with a lot of the same things. 49:00 Apps they use in the ward. Whatsapp has helped them create different groups and communicate easier.

Links

Read the TRANSCRIPT of this podcast Get 14-day access to the Core Leader Library

The Leading Saints Podcast gets over 300,000 listens each month and has nearly 10 million total downloads as part of nonprofit Leading Saints' mission to help latter-day saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org.

Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, J. Devn Cornish, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, DeAnna Murphy, Michael Goodman, Richard Ostler and many more in over 700 episodes.

Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.