Leading Saints Podcast

In this episode of How I Lead, I had the pleasure of interviewing Carola Strauss, a Relief Society president serving in Lincoln, Nebraska. She is a German immigrant with an inspiring story of leadership. During the interview she shared stories from her life that illustrated great leadership principles. I didn't expect such lessons to come from the interview, but I am happy they did. Even though Si...

This is a powerful guest post by a new author (who will remain nameless). There are fantastic leadership lessons to be learned--focused on ministering to the one. Enter Anonymous Guest Author... We are called to lead a stake, ward, auxiliary, quorum or group.  Leading the many is not the way of the church.  Though it is absolutely necessary, ultimately our challenge and calling is to minister to t...

I originally found this story in the book Return: Four Phases of Our Mortal Journey Home by Elder Robert D. Hales (p. 89). It can also be found in the 2002 February issue of the Ensign.   Sometimes we feel that answers to our prayers and our pleading for guidance and direction should be given through dramatic manifestations, such as a voice from heaven or a visitation by an angel or a heavenly hos...

In this episode of How I Lead we interview Brad Lammi--a ward mission leader, former elder's quorum president. The ward mission can be as daunting as any other leadership assignment, especially in this time of the church when we are encouraged to "hasten the work" and make missionary work one of the primary focuses of a ward. Brad has a unique approach to involving the auxiliaries of the ward and...

Brad Wilcox is a well-known LDS author, Brigham Young University professor. He has served as bishop, mission president, and a member of a stake presidency. One of his greatest contributions to the Kingdom of God is putting the doctrine of GRACE into an understandable and applicable format. His books The Continuous Atonement and The Continuous Conversion are life changing to all that read them. The...

Blake Dalton is a full-time teacher from West Valley City, Utah. He served a full-time mission in Eugene, Oregon. He has served as an elder's quorum president, a high councilman, and currently serves as the executive secretary to his bishop.

Does the role of a leader end with your official release? No. Leaders spend years developing friendships with individuals and inspiring them to become more. You are still their shepherd after your release and sometimes it requires you to urge them back to the flock many years after. President Monson spoke of this principle in April Conference 1990: The desire to help another, the quest for the los...

Nathan Waldron is an elder's quorum president from Roy, Utah. He has a bachelors degree in Computer Information Systems, an MBA, and pursing a graduate degree in banking work as an analyst for Zions Bancorporation. He served his mission in Madrid Spain (Did I mention his wife and 3 kids?). I recently interviewed Nathan during the How I Lead segment on the LeadingLDS podcast (listen HERE).  Enter N...

We all know President Thomas S. Monson cared deeply for the widows of his ward when he served as bishop. There were many, and he continued to show them kindness throughout all their lives. This Christ-like love seems to come easy for President Monson; however, he also learned how to love from great men that came before him. In this segment of Leader to Leader we hear President Monson in 1980 (The...

In April conference of 2009 Elder David A. Bednar shared an experience he had when he was called as a stake president. He talked with a friend who had already served as a stake president. What he learned changed his focus and ministry as a stake president. "Strive to make temple preparation the center of all we did..." Shortly after I was called to serve as a stake president in 1987, I talked with...

A quick lesson from President Kimball to Elder Hales.

I'm excited to announce a new segment on the LeadingLDS podcast. It is my goal to produce as much content to nourish the growing leader inside all of us. This segment will allow us to learn from some of the greatest and most inspired leaders to ever live--prophets, seers, and revelators. These will be a series of short episodes (about 5 minutes) that give you a daily leadership lesson from the gre...

Back in 2002 I was a missionary in the California Sacramento Mission. Nine months into my mission I was transferred to a small town called Tracy. My new companion was Elder Valdez from Houston Texas. From that day a strong friendship began and now Elder Valdez is Bishop Valdez in San Paulo Brazil. He has had an interesting experience being a bishop in a country he has only lived for 10 years. In t...

In this episode I had the opportunity to sit down with Ron McMillan. He is a four-time New York Times best-selling co-author of Crucial Conversations, Crucial Confrontations, Influencer, and Change Anything. He knows his stuff when it comes to creating lasting change. The interview answers a lot of questions, including: How do you create lasting change in Elder Quorum and Relief Society? How do yo...

I recently finished the book Quick and Nimble: Lessons from Leading CEOs on How to Create a Culture of Innovation by Adam Bryant. It was a though provoking read and I recommend it to all leaders. The book is based on 200 interviews with CEO. 80% of the book is quotations from these CEO on how they develop remarkable culture in their organizations. I went into the book not overly interested because...

In this episode of How I Lead, I talk with Marty Halverson who is currently serving as a Relief Society president in South Jordan, Utah. Marty shares her 5 keys of leadership and includes advice on choosing counselors when you don't know anyone in the ward, establishing unity in a ward, creating a mission statement, showing love at every opportunity, and leading how the Savior would lead. Marty's...

Lay leadership creates an interesting dynamic in the LDS Church. There are bishops that are Ivy League educated and other that are simple potato farmers. They are called of God and asked to manage an organization of people without any prior experience required. There are more positive outcomes to this approach than negative; however, it does lead to some head-scratching decisions. Leadership Counc...

Nathan Waldron has been in an elder's quorum presidency for a few years and has grown greatly as a leader. In this interview we learn about how he leads and some unique approaches he has to managing an elder's quorum and home teaching. President Waldron's 5 Keys of Leadership Love, lift, and care for the one Establish a vision and keep it in sight Emphases covenants and the associated responsibili...

In LDS meetings there is generally a presiding officer present. It is usually the bishop or member of the stake presidency that is highest in seniority. It is their duty to manage and direct the meeting as they see appropriate,"as they are lead by the Holy Ghost, according to the commandments and revelations of God" (D&C 20:45). The presiding officer is constantly measuring the time of the meeting...

Pamela Mills is currently serving in her fourth year as Relief Society President in Kirkland, Ohio. She is a convert to the church and has a deep testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I was so pleased to interview Pamela and learn from her leadership experience. She is the first (of many) Relief Society Presidents to be interview on the LeadingLDS Podcast. In this episode Pamela shares with us...

David Goates started The Goates Notes Blog as a suggestion from one of his children. Since then it has been growing in popularity and the content is very thought provoking. You will find a smorgasbord of topics on his blog, but many are focused around the doctrine of Jesus Christ, and very well researched. David is also the grandson of Harold B. Lee and has many fond memories of his time learning...

Many may classify 100% home teaching a fairy tale. Even 80% would be a modern day miracle. Like I mentioned here, home teaching is a unique challenge. It's hard to compare it to anything else in life. When a new elder's quorum president is called everything is new to that new leader--especially the problems. How does a quorum go from 40% home teaching up to 80%? I don't mean to group every new eld...

There is no better leadership training than reading about the life of great men. Recently I picked up President Henry B. Eyring's biography and was encompassed by his integrity, his spirituality, and his humility. I was a bit intimidated by the girth of the book but was soon surprised how quickly the pages turned. As I read biographies, certain details always capture my attention. Details that are...

Are you familiar with #TwitterStake? If you are then you probably know @ldsEQpres who describes himself as, "One man doing the work of ten, because no one else volunteered. Please don't ask me to help you move." Even though he impersonates an elder's quorum president on Twitter he is an actual, priesthood key-holding, elder's quorum president in real life. Like other "callings" in the #TwitterStak...

In this episode I talk with Bill Reel from the Mormon Discussion Podcast. Bill is always a wonderful guest and I hope to have him on the podcast many more times in the future. Bill has served in many callings including: bishop, elder’s quorum president, and ward mission leader. I took the time to ask […]