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The main mission of Leading Saints is to be a platform to share ideas of leadership, in an effort to help individuals more effectively build the Kingdom of God in their respective jurisdiction.
I had the chance to speak with Andy Chatham who, according to his blog, is a husband, father, wealth manager, Eagle Scout, and bishop in the San Jose California area. He has been serving for over 4 years.
Wouldn’t it be remarkable if the church put out a booklet like Preach My Gospel, but specifically focused on bishops or elder’s quorum presidents? Andy Chatham sure thinks so. Thankfully, there are bishops like Bishop Chatham that have had experiences we can learn from–no matter what our calling is.
Here are Andy’s 5 points of leadership:
1. A Great Executive Secretary Will Keep You Sane
As I have mentioned before, the executive secretary is the true first counselor. Bishop Chatham relies greatly on his executive secretary. His executive secretary organizes his calendar, conducts leadership meetings, and keeps the bishop up-to-date with all interviews.
2. Understand Your Responsibility–Then Delegate
Bishop Chatham references an area training he had with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland. Elder Holland stressed that bishops were not called to be administrators. The importance of understanding the many tasks you preside over is great, but the importance of delegating those effectively is pivotal.
Each bishop has counselors, clerks, secretaries, and a ward council full of auxiliary leaders ready to pitch in. There are countless ways to use these individuals. Remember that you, as a bishop, are a minister and your time is best spent with individuals that need to know you love and care for them personally.
3. Leverage Technology & Online Tools
Many online tools and technologies are the biggest secret to keeping life simple as an LDS leader. Google calendar, Google Voice, and Google Drive (Docs) are the core tools to automate the calling.
4. Find Mentors
Have you ever started a new job and been afraid to ask where the bathroom is? Every new responsibility has a learning curve. Being a new bishop seems to trump such concerns. Overnight you become an individual who members look to for marital advice, mental health counseling, or a financial analyst. It helps to find mentors to use as sounding boards. Bishop Chatham turned to his stake president, previous bishop, and other previous leaders to see what he could learn from them. It’s made quite the difference.
5. Live Your Life So You Can Be Guided
Receiving priesthood keys that give you the right to receive revelation for hundreds of ward members is daunting. It becomes paramount to live your life to a new level of worthiness in order to more easily identify the revelation coming through you. Bishop Chatham finds listening to a daily conference talk to be the source of many answers to questions he is facing. A quick 8-10 minute conference talk in the morning can bring new ideas for new problems you must solve.
Thanks Kurt. It was great speaking with you!
Here's the direct LINK to "Passing the Baton" – my blog post dedicated to new Bishop's. http://allyouhavetodoisask.blogspot.com/2013/04/p…
Looking forward to more good stuff from http://www.Leading Saints.com
I wish I could move back to civilization where the church is strong and there are enough people to staff a ward properly. We live in the "back of beyond" where we all have 3 or 4 callings and no one is effective or efficient. Members here come when it's convenient or when nothing else (in the family) is happening. Teachers NEVER call to let us know they are coming, nor do they arrange for a substitute, because after all, who would they ask? The Executive Secretary falls asleep in ALL the meetings he attends and never seems to take notes or follow up on anything. I'm the RS Pres, and in a former life (before children) was an Executive Secretary, paid and everything! So I'm the one to remind the Branch Pres about things in PEC and Branch Council. I get so discouraged here I'm ready to run away! The Gospel is true, I'm just not so sure about the church. Thanks for the great post. Keep up the good work, I like to hear that the church works in other places.
My recent post A Tiny Success
Wow! I'm sorry to hear things are discouraging. I am sure other are in a similar situation. What things have you tried to break this cycle? What do you think is the next step?
In RS I've used the online Leadership Training Library to teach responsibilities and give a vision of what is possible. I've asked the Branch Pres. to use it to train the Branch Council and the Priesthood quorums, but so far (two months) he hasn't. When asked or given a specific assignment in PEC or Branch Council I diligently ponder and pray, then complete the assignment and return and report. I just try to quietly set a good example and tell others how helpful the handbook and the Leadership Training Library are to me.
My recent post 2009 Writings on Government
CONT. I'm not perfect in my calling and many times wish I had a secretary to do take some of the load, but that is not possible here. Only the Branch Presidency is a fully staffed presidency. I have just one counselor and no teachers. When I have prayed to know how to proceed, the answer is always "fix visiting teaching and everything else will fall into place." The Branch President also feels that improving Home and Visiting Teaching will do more than anything else to grow this branch. I am currently on a campaign to get the Ensign into every home. (Difficult proposition as many are not excited about reading it due to literacy issues.) But! The Gospel is true and I'm grateful for tender mercies.
My recent post 2009 Writings on Government
Great interview. Even though I’m closing in on my five year mark, I picked up several great tips I can implement. Such a great platform for sharing ideas; keep them coming!
Bishop S
Kansas