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 that callings takes rarely seem wasted. That is what is so hard about time management in church callings; it always feel like time well spent.
Every week thousands of ward bishoprics stand at the lectern and deliver that week’s sacrament meeting agenda. All bishoprics follow the basic format given in the Church Handbooks, but having a well organized paper agenda can make the job of the meeting...
Shawn Hammond is a bishop in Colorado Spring, Colorado. He’s also had the opportunity to serve as a Young Men’s president, elders quorum president, and was also blessed to serve in the California Sacramento Mission in the early 2000’s.
We hear it all the time in sacrament meeting; the invitation, coming from the lectern, to “stand after your name is read.” This means members of your ward are getting a calling. Most callings that are extended to us require no leadership responsibilities.
Recently I had lunch with a friend. This wasn’t just a friend but also a past bishopric counselor of mine. At the time of our lunch I had recently been released as bishop and he had recently been called as bishop in a different ward. These scenarios led to a discussion about leadership vacuums.
Imagine if you sat on the board of directors for a large Fortune 500 company that needed to find a new CEO to improve the dismal progress of the company. You are not allowed to conduct any formal interviews. You can only choose from people that live in a specific geographical neighborhood (about 350 people). To top it off, you have to make your decision in only 2 weeks.
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 helpful resources at MormonStages.com.
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 impossible. Oversight is required. The leader maintains control. This interpretation is the birth of a micro-manager—and nobody likes a micro-manager.
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.
