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GR Gordon-Ross served as bishop for 6 years in Lawrence, Kansas. He was raised in Kearney, Missouri and was converted to the Church in 1994 because of his influence from a childhood friend. He served a mission in Russia and later married his wife whom he met at LDS Institute. He is self-described as a non-orthodox bishop which he credits to much of his success.
Leadership Principles
- The Power of Delegation (32:13)
- Allow those you call to exercise their own leadership talents
- How to help auxillairy leaders to exercise autonomy in their callings (34:23)
- Setting Expectations (37:33)
- Leadership requires personal sacrifice (39:40)
- You cannot come together as a cohesive unit if there is a belief or view that one person does all the work
- Willingness to Serve (42:00)
- Arrive early and be willing to stay late to clean up after every church activity
- Be a leader and not a calling (45:30)
- Listen (45:53)
- Make sure that all opinions in a council setting are heard and valued
- Be Yourself and Don’t Be Afraid to Adapt to Local Needs (49:10)
- Be yourself, be human, don’t be afraid to make mistakes
Links:
Making Right Choices, by Elder Richard G. Scott
Proud to call you friend, GR!
This was a great episode, and I love both how GR both was true to his own personality as bishop and let organizations run themselves.
I take one issue with part of it though- probably more a nuance than a disagreement. I agree 100% with the principle that leaders should set expectations for members of a presidency or bishopric. But I think the focus of expectations should be a counselor’s capacity to sacrifice, rather than “equal” sacrifice, which was discussed in the interview. In GR’s case, perhaps he and his counselors had similar capacity to sacrifice, so weighing counselors’ capacity to sacrifice may not have been a significant issue. But I know in the presidencies I’ve been in, I’ve had counselors with less free time than I – e.g. working longer hours and less time to be with their families – so I have taken on more assignments than they – not because I was President, but because I had the capacity. So I’m 100% on board with the principle of clearly expressing expectations for members of a presidency or bishopric, but I would focus a little less on equality and more on what each member is capable of giving.
Thanks for another great and thought-provoking interview.