Cindy Burt is a counselor in her ward young women’s program in Kirkland, Washington. She has also served as a Relief Society president, stake Young Women’s President, and seminary teacher. She joined the LDS Church at 26 soon after she married her husband.
We have all done it, said to ourselves, I’m just going to go ahead and do this task because it’s easier for me to just handle it. Or we might say, Oh, Brother Smith is so busy. Let me do that task for him. I think it’s a natural feeling for those in leadership roles to want to take the best care of their people. We often feel like asking someone to take a task or assignment is in some way unkind. Becoming more comfortable with delegation is just like any skill, it’s learned. Learning to delegate is a skill that takes time and practice. I have found these 3 simple steps extremely helpful.
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.
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.
