Leading Saints Podcast

In this episode you get to meet Rick & Karen Francom (my parents). They recently returned from an 18 month of service in the Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Mission. I thought it would be a great opportunity to learn about how church leadership works in a foreign land like Mongolia. They also talk about their formal leadership experience and how surprised they are that I turned out as an adult that contribut...

A touching story told by Elder David A. Bednar in his book Act in Doctrine:

Neylan McBaine was born and raised in New York, New York. She is the founder of the Mormon Women Project and the author of the book Women at Church: Magnifying LDS Women's Local Impact. In this episode we discuss the ways local leaders in the Church can consider ways to bring more purpose to women in their wards and branches. It's a fascinating discussion and it will bless the lives of all leaders...

A story shared by Elder Dale G. Renlund shortly after his call as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve:

Eric Shuster is the author of 3 books, (1) Catholic Roots, Mormon Harvest (2) The Biblical Roots of Mormonism (3) Where Are the Christians? He currently serves as bishops in a small farming community in Taylor, Texas. He was raised devout Catholics, married a former nun, and joined the LDS Church 26 years ago. In this episode Bishop Shuster briefly shares his conversion story and what inspired him...

Great sacrament meetings services start with great planning. The ward council (which includes the bishopric) suggests themes and speakers. The bishopric confirms the topics and invites the members to speak. How that invitation to speak is extended and how bishoprics follow up are critical. How we prepare someone to speak in sacrament meeting should be commensurate with the sacredness of the meetin...

A great leadership lesson from Elder Charles A. Callis

Every six months stake conference is a symbolic mile marker for most stake presidencies. When one ends the next one is ready to be planned for. Having the experience of going through my first stake conference as a member of the stake presidency, I realized what a hectic time it is for stake presidencies as they plan each detail. Not to mention we had a visiting authority that makes you feel like y...

In this interview I sit down again with Liz Wiseman who has been such a wonderful resource for LeadingLDS and I truly consider her a great friend and mentor. Liz recently spoke at a BYU Forum and spoke wonderfully about the power of rookie smarts and how what one knows can be a disadvantage to a growing leader. She discusses how learning how to learn is more important than the content of what one...

In this episodes we continue the conversation with leaders from North Star as we focus on Brigit Pack's story of finding peace and faith in her home and in her Church. Her spouse was born Ryan, but now prefer the name Ann. Ann is a transgender Mormon and Brigit tells her story of how leaders are working on finding a place for Ann in their LDS ward. It's an inspiring discussion that will definitely...

In this episode we meet again with member of North Star, a non-profit organization that is a faith-affirming resource for Latter-day Saints addressing sexual orientation or gender identity, and who desire to live in harmony with the teachings of Jesus Christ and the doctrines and values of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On March 17-19, North Star is having a conference in Provo,...

This is a review of an episode recorded last April 2015. I am posting this here so that it can be reviewed by the podcast audience prior to the release of Part 2 and Part 3 which will be posted in a few days. To read and review the original see here: http://leadinglds.com/how-to-support-gay-members-in-your-lds-ward/

Bishop Brandon Leavitt was called as bishop 8 months ago, and has grown greatly. He is from Logandale, Nevada (close to Las Vegas) and works in the road construction industry.

One of the first questions Bishop Allan Reay was asked when he was ordained a bishop was, "How old ARE you?" He was 31 at the time and has two young counselors to match. In this interview we discuss their unique approach to managing a ward with unique ideas that are increasing the unity and culture of the ward. They share how they put on a "Come & See Sunday" that encouraged members of their ward...

You may recognize Chris Allen's name because he was the author of the previous post called Encouraging Young Men to Lead. Again, Chris Allen is a Young Men President in Sandy, Utah. He works for a local blood laboratory and enjoys being with his family when he isn’t mountain biking. He has years of experience in the Young Men program and shares a fascinating approach to helping young men become le...

I was sitting in one of those 7:00-am-and-I'm-way-too-tired-to-be-here priesthood training meetings, listening to the stake president teach. I was struggling to pay attention until a single phrase focused my thoughts and brought the promptings of the spirit on me like floodwater bursting over a levee. The stake president said, "If a young man has to come to you at the start of Priesthood meeting t...

In 2013 the bishop and ward missionaries of the College Station Ward in Texas had an inspiration. They wanted to infuse the internet with positive messages of Jesus Christ that would help the world understand the Mormon Church better. That led to the creation of Aggieland Mormons and now they have created hundreds of posts that is spreading the good word and making it easier for LDS members to sha...

Glenn Wright is a Sunday School president in Saratoga Springs, UT. In this interview we discuss his focused approach to really making an impact in his ward Sunday School program. His ward is also participating in a Church pilot program to test out adjustments to the ward teaching that should be rolled out next year. Every Sunday School presidency and bishopric should listen to this episode. It's i...

Recently I was reminded of Elder Holland's April 1998 General Conference talk titled "A Teacher Come From God". It is a talk that was given soon after President Hinckley expressed that each member of the Church needs a friend, a responsibility, and nourishment by the good word of God. I took the time to listen to the talk, which led to me reading the talk, which led to me reading the talk again. I...

Being a ward mission leader (WML) can be an exhilarating experience. If you desire, you can learn how the Lord wants missionary work to go forward in your ward and you can become an instrument in His hands. Being a participant on the front lines of the Atonement with all the highs and lows that go along with this great work...now that is really living!

Cindy Burt is a counselor in her ward young women's program in Kirkland, Washington. She has also served as a Relief Society president, stake Young Women's President, and seminary teacher. She joined the LDS Church at 26 soon after she married her husband.

We have all done it, said to ourselves, I’m just going to go ahead and do this task because it's easier for me to just handle it. Or we might say, Oh, Brother Smith is so busy. Let me do that task for him. I think it's a natural feeling for those in leadership roles to want to take the best care of their people. We often feel like asking someone to take a task or assignment is in some way unkind....

In the LDS church, leadership sometimes comes with formal responsibility through a calling or assignment. Someone newly called to positions like, bishop, Relief Society president, or ward mission leader, might find themselves subject to a life of limited time. The reality is, most callings in the church will take as much time as you are willing to give—even more if you aren't careful. Every minute...

In this How I Lead interview we talk with Tommy Haws who is a stake president in the Gallup, New Mexico area. His stake covers 10,000 square miles! He presides over 5 wards and 7 branches that meet in 11 buildings. President Haws has years of leadership experience, serving as elders quorum president 3 times, a councilor in a stake presidency, and then a bishop before he was asked to serve as the s...

Jacob Khalil is a student at Brigham Young majoring in Vocal Performance. He grew up in a home with a Mormon mother and a Muslim father. In order to respect his father's request, Jacob didn't get baptized until he was 18 years old and could make the decision as a legal adult. In this interview we discuss how Jacob's parents, youth leaders, and other members of his ward influenced him during his yo...