Leading Saints Podcast

Thomas Wirthlin McConkie may have the most "Mormon" name in all of Zion. :) That doesn't mean his story is a typical Mormon story. Thomas has recently released a helpful book called Navigating Mormon Faith Crisis: A Simple Development Map. This would be an excellent read for a leader in the Church who is seeking further understanding of those in the midst of a faith crisis. You can also find helpf...

Al Doan and Geoff Openshaw are the hosts of the very popular This Week in Mormons Podcast. I listen to their podcast weekly and they tend to make me laugh while they give me the run down of Mormon happenings. I encourage you to subscribe to the episode and you will find it entertaining.

President Harry S. Truman had a small wooden sign on his desk that stated "THE BUCK STOPS HERE". His desk displayed this sign throughout his administration. It's a good motto -- a motto all leaders should follow. Many interpret this motto not only as a reason to take responsibility of all things that happen in your jurisdiction, but to also hold a death grip on all details. Delegation becomes impo...

Most of us reading this website have meetings, lots and lots of meetings. Sometimes meetings to plan a meeting. Over my 20+ years in LDS Church leadership, I have spent 100's of hours sitting in meetings. The first thing I’d mention is meetings are necessary; however, meetings aren’t the gospel.

Calling management can be a distracting task for a presidency that is striving to connected individually with members of their ward. It's an administrative task that must be done while also giving special thought to whom should fill which calling.

Chance Mikos is a bishop in El Mirage Arizona. He is a former Elders Quorum President and high councilman, and a former missionary in the Boise Idaho mission.

Tyler Howe is principal of the Neil Armstrong Academy in West Valley City, Utah. He graduated from BYU in Elementary Education and then later went on to earn a masters degree at Southern Utah University. He is a strong latter-day saint and has years of experience educating young children. He was recently recognized as the recipient of the Granite School District Excel Award for his outstanding suc...

How do we really seek out the poor and the needy? How can we help the poor and needy to get-ahead rather than get-by?

Derek Cullimore is from Orem, Utah. Served a full-time mission in New Jersey, USA. I know him very well because we served in a bishopric together, he was my bishop when I served as high priest group leader, and then I was later called to replace him as bishop when he was put in the stake presidency. He has always been a fantastic mentor to me and taught me many things that have shaped my leadershi...

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 o...

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...

This is a quick episode to share some thoughts on my mind and some interesting emails I have received. I share some questions you can ask new move-in's in your ward, so that they get the best calling possible for their skills and passions. I read an interesting Facebook comment that will open up a lot of discussion about how to teach in Church. And....I got a new calling that will give me a new pe...

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,...

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 compe...

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 tha...

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 ve...

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 th...

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 w...

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 fo...

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 sp...

Ardis Parshall is a professional researching that has spend the last 15+ years in LDS Church history. Over those years she has compiled some of the riches LDS leadership stories related to women in the Church. Her work is important because many of these stories have been lost in LDS folklore and need to be heard. She just launched a Kickstarter campaign to help her fund the book project where she...

This experience comes from the April 1985 General Conference when Elder Marvin J. Ashton talked about his experience learning from a prophet while visiting those in prison: Another lesson was learned from President Kimball as we visited a prison together. One day a few years ago President Kimball said, “Marvin, I’d like you to take me to visit the Utah State Prison.” He remembered that when I was...

Great inspiration comes to those that listen to genius. Great minds challenge one to think deeper about the problem in front of them. One of those geniuses is Clayton Christensen. Not only is he a Harvard Business Professor and famous author he is also a Latter-day Saint and former Area Seventy. I enjoy listening to him solve business and leadership problems because it makes me wonder if his answe...

Chris Staggs was so kind to sit in the interviewer chair and ask me some questions. With more than 20 How I Lead interviews on LeadingLDS I thought it was time to open up personally and talk more specifically about how I lead as a bishop, why I started LeadingLDS, and what I see in the future for this organization.

President Rychen Jones is an elder's quorum president in Salem, Oregon. At the time of this interview he had served for 9 months. Listen to this interview in order to hear how he approaches his weekly quorum meeting to make it focused and enjoyable for those in attendance.