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Jeremy is a renowned keynote and motivational speaker and conducts leadership and teamwork seminars and lectures for corporations and groups across the map. He is also a sought-after presenter for firesides, school assemblies, public events, expos, and tradeshows. Jeremy served his mission in the San Pedro Sula, Honduras mission, currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is a member of the Willow Creek 1st Ward. Be sure to listen to the attached interview with Jeremy where he talks more about his leadership and coaching experience.
Enter Jeremy…
Leadership Under Fire
On February 13, 1945, “I” Company from the U.S. Army’s 11th Airborne Division’s Third Battalion and “D” Company from Second Battalion were ordered to attack Mt. Bijang, a hill overlooking Manila, that allowed Japanese forces to shell the city. The battle lasted all day long with attacks and counter-attacks, and as D Company’s commanding officer, Steve Cavanaugh said, “The action was pretty bad up there…” In all the commotion of the battle, a lone figure crept up to Cavanaugh’s side, firing away with his M-1 Garand rifle when Japanese machine gun fire burst into their ranks and a voice cried out, “Steve, I’ve been hit!” Cavanaugh glanced over with concern that turned to surprise. “Carrico!” he shouted. “What are you doing up here?” The wounded paratrooper was my grandfather, 1st Lieutenant Andrew J. Carrico, III. Despite the pain he was in, Grandpa obediently responded to his CO, “I had to be with my men.” You see, Cavanaugh had ordered Grandpa to rest that day and to stay behind the fighting line since he had experienced front line combat for over a month. But Grandpa couldn’t do that. Why did Grandpa place himself in such danger? Why did he seek out those who were in such precarious circumstances on that South Pacific hillside? The purest answer that can be given is that he did it out of love.
Champion Leaders
You learn a lot of things when you’re coaching athletes who are hurtling themselves down icy tracks at over eighty miles an hour in fiberglass and metal rockets. You come to appreciate perspective and the wider viewpoint that comes from experience. You come to respect guidelines and safety measures even more when you are in charge of organizing and running a semi-experimental program. You learn that every athlete learns differently and comes to the table (I mean, ice) with their own mindsets and goals and emotional energies. When I was the head coach for the U.S. Adaptive Bobsled Team, I felt a kinship to my grandfather, who demonstrated such courage and compassion for his men and for the future of the free world. While I will never match his level of sacrifice and bravery, I wanted to honor his example as I sought to help develop some of the world’s first adaptive bobsled athletes. As I thought about the way he led his men, I could not help but think of the Savior and the way He leads. Indeed, His example is the ultimate case study on leadership and if we sincerely desire to make a difference in the lives of those around us, we would do well to study His life and follow His pattern. If we are but willing to do this, then we will be able to follow the invitation of President George Albert Smith who said, “It is your duty first of all to learn what the Lord wants and then by the power and strength of your holy priesthood to so magnify your calling in the presence of your fellows that the people will be glad to follow you” (The Church News, 7 Sept 1968, p.15.) To that end, here are three principles of what I call Gold Medal Leadership, which I have observed from the Savior’s life and teachings in the scriptures.
1. Know Who You Lead
Whether you are a leader in combat, in business, in sports, or in a Sunday School classroom, understanding that those you lead are unique children of our Father in Heaven is key. Do you know what makes them tick? Do you know what their hopes and their dreams are? Do you know what challenges they are facing or what fears afflict their heart? Do you know what their talents and abilities and strengths are? What do you know about their families, their testimonies, or their conversion level? Do you know what their hobbies and interests are? Do you know how to best engage them in the Gospel and how to most effectively invite them to draw closer to the Savior through learning and keeping their covenants? Too often we forget that a class, a ward, or a team is made up of individuals. We cannot lead the group unless we know them as Jesus knows them. The Master showed the way when he declared, “I am the good shepherd, and know my sheep, and am known of mine” (John 10:14.) In this Celestial dynamic, the Lord knows the sheep whom he leads—not as a flock, but as an assembly of distinct spirits. He cares about them individually and understands all the intricacies of their lives. While this level of perfect comprehension about the people we are called to lead is impossible for us as mortal beings, we can nevertheless make the effort to get to know them one by one. By following the Savior’s example in this way, it has been my experience that the Spirit will provide deep insight as we seek to teach and counsel. When I was coaching the adaptive bobsled team, I learned that the more I got to know the athletes involved, the more effectively I could instruct and correct them in ways that matched their values, their learning styles, their motivations and their unique mindsets. Joseph Smith was called by name in the Sacred Grove. Enos was called by name and told that his sins were forgiven him. Moses was called God’s son by name as he spoke with Jehovah face to face. God knows us one by one and if we are to truly lead as He leads, we must know those under our charge one by one.
2. Lead Through Love
Throughout my careers, on and off the ice, I have known a wide range of personality types when it comes to leadership positions. From domineering and controlling authoritarians to quiet, lead-from-behind managers, I have studied the effects of each leadership style and have unsurprisingly found that with remarkable accuracy, those who lead closest to eternal principles are the leaders who have the greatest ability to inspire, guide and direct. One of the most fundamental aspects of great leadership is genuine care for those you lead. It does not matter how much experience we have or how elaborate our title is, as Paul cautioned, if we “have not charity, [we are] nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:2.) My father often likes to say that we need to “warm someone before we warn them.” As leaders we should make occasion for introspection to ask ourselves what our motivations are for the directional actions we seek to undertake. Are they for the benefit of others or to appease our own egos? Are they to serve the Lord or our own self-interests? Are we opening our mouths to speak with the Spirit’s voice or to express our own, mortal thought patterns? Motivations in the business and even the athletic world may vary, but we know from the scriptures that when we accept any leadership position in the Church we must do so with “an eye single to the glory of God” (Doctrine and Covenants 4:5.) That is the true essence of service: to leave our own wants and wishes aside, to instead focus on what God needs us to do. When we truly lead through the “pure love of Christ” (Moroni 7:47), we will see as He sees, listen as He listens, care as He cares, teach as He teaches and lift as He lifts. We will pray for our flocks and seek the Spirit’s guidance in ways to better lead them to the Savior. We will correct without guile and mal-intent. We will encourage, congratulate, embrace, and elevate with “brotherly love” (Hebrews 13:8), and find deep joy in every Gospel step they take. Grandpa snuck up to that Manila hillside in 1945 because he loved his men and was willing to face the danger with them. Do those we lead know that we are willing to do the same with the dangers in their lives? Do they “know that [our] faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:44)? When I think of Grandpa walking up that hill outside of Manila and of the sacrifice he was willing to make at the top for those he loved, I cannot help but picture the Savior as he made his own walk up a hill outside of Jerusalem, willing to make the ultimate sacrifice for those he loved. And if we are possessed with that same love for those we are called to serve and lead, whenever we walk up to the podium or step into our office or walk to the front of the classroom or pick up the phone, we will do so with the same willingness to give “so that others might live”—spiritually, emotionally, mentally and physically. Leading the Savior’s way is not about a title or an office; it is about love.
3. Teach the Truth
When Joseph Smith was asked how he could possibly manage a church that was growing so rapidly, he responded, “I teach them correct principles and they govern themselves” (Journal of Discourses 10:57.) Leaders in the Lord’s Church today, from the lowliest librarian to the prophet himself, must without equivocation and hesitation always be willing to teach correct principles. Indeed, the Lord himself said that, “the…teachers of this church shall teach the principles of my gospel, which are in the Bible and the Book of Mormon, in the which is the fulness of the gospel” (Doctrine and Covenants 42:12.) The Holy Ghost can only bear witness to the truth, so when we water down the doctrine or teach “the philosophies of men (or the media) mingled with scripture,” we deny the individual, the class, or the congregation we are leading the opportunity to obtain a witness of eternal principles. In addition, the only way to unlock the windows of Heaven is through obedience to true principles. Teaching anything less than the truth—the whole truth—leaves those we lead with an inability to receive the fullness of those promised blessings. If we shrink from an opportunity to share revealed doctrine then we also deny the listener the chance to act upon an invitation that would bring an increase in light, peace and knowledge. No wonder President Joseph Fielding Smith said, “To those who are called to positions of trust and responsibility in the Church we say: Preach the gospel in plainness and simplicity as it is found in the standard works of the Church. Testify of the truth of the work and the doctrines revealed anew in our day” (“Counsel to the Saints and to the World,” Ensign, July 1972, p.28.) Teaching and leading this way requires courage, especially if we find ourselves in situations where true doctrine runs contrary to popular opinion, something that appears is edging ever closer to the norm around the world. In these cases, we can open our mouths with love and boldness combined, and thus follow the examples of Paul, Joseph Smith, Moses, Alma, Amulek, Nephi, Peter, Brigham Young, and so on unto the Lord himself. When I was coaching, the only way to truly help my athletes to succeed was to teach them the correct principles of our sport. If I had given them anything less than the truths required to win, I would have been failing in my duty as a coach, and thus have performed at less than the best. Ultimately I would have given them far less than they deserved and whenever we as leaders, parents, teachers or even friends withhold the truth out of fear, we do a disservice to those we “might have saved, had [we] done [our] duty,” as John Taylor taught. Whatever our calling may be, as Abraham Lincoln invited, “in…faith let us to the end dare to do our duty as we understand it” (Address, Cooper Union, New York, 27 Feb 1860.) If we will humbly do so, we will rest peacefully through the application of the old adage, “Do your duty; that is best. Leave unto the Lord the rest.” That is the secret to Gold Medal Leadership: doing our very best and trusting in the Lord’s mercy and grace to strengthen and enlighten us along the way.
About Jeremy:
American bobsled athlete Jeremy C. Holm (www.jeremycholm) has spent over half his life in this fast-paced winter sport. He is the author of Fire on Ice: Gospel Lessons Learned Through a Lifetime of Sports and The Champion’s Way: 12 Winning Principles for a Gold-medal Life. He is the former head coach for the United States Adaptive Bobsled Team and is the founder of The Athlete Outreach Project, a non-profit that pairs the world’s best athletes with service organizations to better serve the community.
Jeremy is a renowned keynote and motivational speaker and conducts leadership and teamwork seminars and lectures for corporations and groups across the map. He is also a sought-after presenter for firesides, school assemblies, public events, expos, and tradeshows. Jeremy served his mission in the San Pedro Sula, Honduras mission, currently resides in Salt Lake City, Utah, and is a member of the Willow Creek 1st Ward.
