Jethro Jones is a school principal in Kodiak, Alaska. He currently serves as the 2nd counselor in his ward's bishopric, and has also served as elder's quorum president, and Sunday School president. He shares from his interesting experience being a member in Alaska and the challenges that come to running a ward on an island.

Jethro also runs two different podcasts that I would recommend you check out.

Transformative Principal - Jethro interviews other school principals that have made a difference or have a unique approach to their job.

Learned in Primary - Jethro Jones and his co-host analyze various popular books and apply them to the LDS world. They seek for truth and ways to improve LDS lives through these well-researched books.

Jethro's 5 Keys to Leadership

* Know what stories you are telling yourself (Jethro wrote a great article about this principle)

* Empathy - start with good intentions

* Ask Questions

* Let your testimony shine through no matter what you are doing.

* "Tell me more..."

Other Links:

"Words Home Teachers Should Never Speak"

Ryan Jenkins is the author of The Assassination of Joseph Smith: Innocent Blood on the Banner of Liberty. This book is a historic non-fiction describing the martyrdom of Joseph Smith and the events that surrounded it. As a history enthusiast I am excited to pick up this book and gain a deeper understanding about this historical Church event.

Brother Jenkins has had such a deep experience studying the life of Joseph Smith that he really understands the type of leader the Prophet Joseph was.  He shares some stories and examples that displayed the Prophet's leadership ability including how he was a prophet that didn't take himself seriously all the time. Joseph Smith enjoyed humor and recognized he was a flawed individual,  but still stood up to the task and mission he was called to manifest.

In this interview Brother Jenkins also discusses the role that leadership played in Joseph Smith's life so that he could become the man willing to give up his life for Jesus Christ. Brother Jenkins shares a fascinating descriptive model he calls,  The 3 Groves of Joseph Smith.  This includes the Grove of Inquiry (The sacred grove),  the Grove of Becoming, and the Grove of Teaching.

Brother Jenkins has also had the opportunity to serve as bishop twice and has a great perspective on becoming an effective leader.  We discuss his time as bishop both early in his life and then a decade after he was released. He has great leadership advice from which any leader can learn.

Links:

Killing Lincoln Book

Killing Jesus Book

The Cultural Hall Interview

Ryan Jenkins' Website

Buy Ryan's book here

Ryan Jenkins

Lynn Luker is a Relief Society president in Las Vegas, Nevada. Her life leading up to this heavy calling has including many trials and blessings that have impacted the way she leads and loves the sister in her Relief Society.

Sister Luker's Leadership Principles:

Know the sisters, visit in their home​s​

​Have charity​, however, learn to be proactive, not reactive **

​ Be an example, warts and all, know that you are serving at this time for a reason.

Delegate and then get out of the way

Find joy in service

Lynn also shared her experience of maintaining unity in a ward that had a boundary change, which caused her half of the ward to be absorbed by another ward.

Links:

Bridges Out of Poverty: Strategies for Professionals and Community

Greg Clawson, who you may recognize from the recent podcast on memory training, has served for 10 years in the Young Men organization, four years as Elders Quorum President, and has been serving as Ward Mission Leader for about a year. In this interview Greg shares his successes and even his current challenges figuring out how to be a Ward Mission Leader. Greg shares some deeply personal and compelling stories that drive home the leadership principles he has learned.

5 Key Leadership Principles:

* Truly love those that you serve.

* Service is a rite of passage to connecting with neighbors and quorum members. Serving another person opens them up to having a relationship with you for years to come.

* Remember the names of the individuals you serve to help show them that you care.

* Be a good listener.

* People will willingly follow you if they know you listen to them and take their input.

* Best gospel teachers ask great questions. Great gospel teachers talk less and listen more to the class discussion.

* Allow people to fail in their calling and to learn from it.

* Have empathy for others without condemning them for their situation. Don’t ever say “This is never going to happen to me.”

In this interview we also discuss creating a Ward Mission Plan, managing the Gospel Principles class, the frequency of Personal Priesthood Interviews, the importance of fun Elders Quorum activities, and recognizing the positive impact of Home Teaching.

 

Thank you to Robert Mortensen for writing the summary to this episode. Please join the Leading Saints Helpers Facebook Group so you can help too!

 

Chris Trendler is a BYU graduate, former Elder Quorum President, former missionary in Argentina and a executive consultant at ghSmart, a leadership consulting firm. We have a fascinating discussion about the latest book produced by ehSmart titled, Power Score: Your Formula for Leadership Success. This book is meant for a business leadership audience, but it contains many interesting principles that are applicable to LDS leadership.

Some of the questions you will hear discussed on the interview are:

How can a bishopric or ward council highlight the strengths of members?

How can a ward council set priorities that lead to success?

How can leadership effectively manage talent in a ward without choosing the same 10 people?

How can a leader assess the talents and skills of members in their ward?

How can the bishop easily maintain focus in meetings by focusing on priorities?

Interview Links:

The Very Root of Christian Doctrine, Thomas B. Griffith

What Got You Here Won't Get You There: How Successful People Become Even More Successful

 

Greg Clawson from My Memory Works joins Kurt Francom to discuss memory tactics for LDS leaders. Remembering names and birthdays, allows leaders to be more effective with more impact, and why a good memory makes you an even greater leader.

They discuss the foundations of remembering names, birthdays, and personal details, of ward members, co-workers, and others.

* Why we should never say, “I’m not very good with names!” again...

* How can any leader can use the "C.I.G.A.R.” method to quickly and easily improve their retention of any name, at any time.

* Concentration

* Information

* Get the Name

* Association

* Repetition 

* How can a leader make an impact in your ward or job by being one of the select few that have a strategy and a plan for calling people by name, every time.

* What’s the “sweetest and most important sound in any language”? (Famous quote by Dale Carnegie!)

* Why “less is more” when making associating new info to what you already know, and why you must structure your brain into “files” rather than “boxes”.

We are commanded to remember others! When God or angels appear to men, they always call them by name, and are already familiar with them, and what their biggest needs and questions are. These skills, applied in our own lives, give us the opportunity to further the work and the Kingdom of God!

A special thanks to Kirt Christensen for writing the summary for this podcast episode

Larry Gelwix is widely known as the Head Coach of the Highland High School rugby team where he lead his team for 36 years with an overall record of 419–10 and 19 national championships. The movie Forever Strong is based on his experience as the coach of that team. Larry and wife Cathy have also served in numerous callings in the church and recently returned from serving as mission presidents of the California Fresno Mission from 2011 to 2014. They live in the Salt Lake area and are the parents of 5 children.

President Gelwix Leadership Principles

Consecration and Teamwork

* Deciding what team you play for Joshua 24:15

* As depicted in the movie Forever Strong he had past players write letters to current players. He carried this practice over to the mission field having departing leaders and missionaries write letters to their replacements.

Effective Stewardship Interviews (Some call them PPI’s or Personal Priesthood Interviews)

* The interviews were never focused on numbers, they were focused on how they were feeling.

* Favorite question he learned from Elder Ronald A. Rasband was to ask, “why are you here?”

* You take people where they are and then you have a plan

* For which of you, intending to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it? - Luke 14:28

FIO (Figure it Out)

* When we ask the Lord a question and it is the the realm of our ability to figure out he will kindly allow us that learning opportunity

* the Lord will do the things only a God can do - he will ask us to do just about everything else

* Examples:

* The Brother of Jared asking the Lords help to provide air and light Ether 2: 18–25

* When raising Lazarus from the dead Jesus allowed others to roll away the stone and remove the burial clothing. Jesus only did what a God could do. John 11: 38–44

Go watch Forever Strong Netflix / Amazon

Also check out the post I wrote after returning from my visit to the California Fresno Mission called 8 Things I Learned from (Coach) President Larry Gelwix.

Pictures from my Fresno visit back in January 2012:

Brian and Laura Hales are the authors of Joseph Smith's Polygamy: Toward a Better Understanding.

Brian is an anesthesiologist. Brian’s interest in polygamy began when he had a family member who was excommunicated for joining a polygamist group. As a result he researched and wrote three books about polygamy. However, he kept getting questions specifically about Joseph Smith and polygamy, which is why he wrote Joseph Smith's Polygamy: History and Theology (plus 2 more volumes) and Joseph Smith’s Polygamy: Toward a Better Understanding.

Laura is a copy editor for the Mormon Historical Sites Foundation and also edits on a freelance basis. Laura has always been interested in history. Her interest in polygamy was sparked after reading her husband’s trilogy, Joseph Smith’s Polygamy: History and Theology. These books were written for the historical community and she felt that they should write another book about Joseph Smith and polygamy for the LDS community.

The interview covers common myths about polygamy, upcoming projects, their 7 most commonly asked questions, and helpful tips for church leaders who are addressing individuals’ questions and concerns about polygamy. Some of the helpful points they cover are:

* The topic of polygamy needs to be addressed early and in a supportive and nurturing environment.

* Joseph Smith was human just like any other leader we see in the church. He made mistakes and didn’t do everything perfectly.

* Leaders and teachers should be open to questions and researching when they do not know the answer.

* Sometimes a person just wants to have their fears and concerns validated and heard, rather than discounted and ignored.

* When people have questions and concerns, information and patience are needed.

Links

* Purchase Joseph Smith's Polygamy: Toward a Better Understanding

* Joseph Smith's Polygamy Website

* Mormon Polygamy Documents

* Gospel Topics Essays

* Revelations in Context

* Joseph Smith's Papers Project

* Fair Mormon Answers

* BYU Religious Studies Center

* The Maxwell Institute

* BYU Studies

 

*A big thanks to Heather Mecham for writing up the summary for this interview.

There is a constant passive aggressive struggle between auxiliary leaders and those that hold the keys to extend church callings to members. This struggle is also apparent between bishoprics, and stake presidencies when stake callings are needed in the ward (i.e. clerks, elder's quorum leaders, high priest group leaders, etc.). A Relief Society president, for example, needs an instructor called for an upcoming lesson. She knows that if the person isn't called with enough time to prepare the lesson then the responsibility will fall on her. She doesn't have time to pick up the slack but is willing. This extra task keeps her away from tasks tied directly to leadership, and she will therefore have less of an influence over her stewardship. On the other hand, the bishop has seen the last three email requests from said Relief Society president. He sincerely intends to get to it, but the Lake family is in the middle of a crisis, and is taking most of bishop's attention.

Regardless of why the follow through of a calling is or isn't happening is beside the point. The reality is, trust and confidence between the leader and their auxiliary leaders can be damaged if intentional action and communication, is left undone.

There are a few adjustments both bishoprics and stake presidencies can make to simplify this administrative task. There are also a few things for auxiliary leaders to consider that will get their group staffed much more quickly.

Is the bishopric making all the calls?

A few years back I talked with a discouraged primary president. Her discouragement stemmed from the fact that she would be sitting in sacrament meeting and find out with the rest of the ward when a primary worker was called or released. It naturally caused her to feel out of control of her auxiliary and therefore discouraged her to take charge and make a difference. Why should she strive to magnify her calling when what she considered inspiration could be vetoed at any moment?

In defense of that bishopric, I don't think they were trying to lead with an iron fist, but they probably misunderstood their role and figured the bishopric is supposed to make all the calling changes. Using a Liz Wiseman-ism, they had become accidental diminishers—which happens to all leaders to some degree. 

Again referencing Liz Wiseman's book Multipliers, she discusses the power of offering 51% of the vote. When a leader allows an auxiliary leader to own 51% of decisions made in their respective auxiliary, it validates their leadership and they feel like they can make a difference. Having 51% of the vote gives them 100% of the accountability. There is much less of the this-is-what-you-gave-me-to-work-with attitude. They will feel empowered and, most importantly, happier in their calling.

Naturally, every auxiliary leader can't have any near-perfect saint that happens to be in their ward. It should be expected that there is going to be competition to snag certain members. In these moments it is the responsibility of the bishopric to facilitate the discussion between auxiliary leaders, and to make the best decision for the individual and the ward. These debates are catalysts for revelation from above.

"Bishop Bottleneck, when are you going to make the call?"

It doesn't take a Nibley to tell you where the bottleneck is in the callings process. The Sunday school president submits a potential name for a Gospel Doctrine Instructor to the bishopric and then he waits. He gives it a week, maybe another week or two will pass, and he is wondering if the bishopric forgot. He is now tired of teaching the gospel doctrine lesson himself and finally asks the bishop, in such kind words,

Bill Reel from Mormon Discussion Podcast joins me again for chapter 2 in our discussion about the leader's role in assisted Church members that experience a faith crisis.

In this interview we discuss the framework of the Fowler 6 Stages of Faith. Understanding these concepts will help LDS leaders gain a deeper perspective of the stages people experience when facing serious doubts of faith. Bill spends some time explaining what each faith stage represents and then why stages 3 and 4 are the most important stages for a Church leader to understand. We also discuss how leaders can create room for these individuals in their ward or quorums.

For better understanding on this topic, check out our first interview about helping other through a faith crisis.

 

Links & Resources:

Critical Journey Book

Adam Miller Website

Stages of Faith (a deeper explanation)

Faith Development & Faith Formation: More Than Just Ages and Stages

An article from an LDS leader addressing how to make more room for Stage 4 Mormons

Excerpts from Elder Marlin K. Jensen's discussion at Utah State University