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Highlights

04:05 How Duncan came to coauthor the book, Leadership for Saints, with Ed J. Pinegar 07:14 Much book content came from training meetings produced as a stake president and articles he wrote. 09:25 His conversion story: At the lockers after a lesson on the “Mormon trekkers”, a cute high-school classmate asked, “Would you like to know more?” 11:30 Techniques and models of leadership from impactful leader-mentors: A Waco, Texas bishop told him, “This morning, you failed the Lord…”, blessing his entire life. 14:55 Reproving with sharpness means with clarity, not harshness. 15:52 Train leaders and future leaders whenever you can. 17:49 Sources of Duncan’s passion for studying leadership include serving in student government and working as a political, business, and investigative journalist. 18:35 Young editor, Jim Lehrer, taught him to look at the gap between what a leader aspires to and what is accomplished. 19:41 Jim Lehrer also taught effective listening as an investigative reporter: “Count to five silently.” This leads to elaboration, new directions, and psychological space for self discovery. 23:52 He worked as a consultant to cabinet officers in two White House administrations, a laboratory for both effective and dysfunctional leadership behavior. 24:35 Paths at Purdue: After earning a PhD in Organizational Behavior at Purdue, a young man who heard him talk at BYU decided to follow his path at Purdue: his name? David A. Bednar. 25:49 Premortal memories: Experts may unknowingly teach gospel principles: premortal memories can translate into mortal teachings. 27:56 Councils: Therefore, now what? In the early 80s, he served on an advisory council that reported to the First Presidency. Their roll-up-your sleeves work sessions included George and Lenore Romney, Gordon Jump, Gordon B. Hinckley, Neal L. Maxwell, Bruce R. McConkie, Boyd K. Packer, and others. For example, one thing that came out of these included the recommendation to add a subtitle to the Book of Mormon (Another Testament of Jesus Christ). At the end of these varied discussions, Boyd K. Packer would simply say, “Therefore, now what?” to invite the council to seek what course of action they should take. 31:20 Councils are for counseling together. Make it safe for everybody in the room to offer an opinion. It’s foolhardy for a leader to try to take charge of everything and make all decisions. 32:11 One primary responsibility of a leader is not to create more followers but rather more leaders. The renewed emphasis to teach the gospel in the home requires a higher level of leadership in the home. 33:07 Three Time Zones: When you make a decision as a council or an individual, you should think in terms of time travel through three different time zones: (1) How will a particular decision square with the past? Decisions made and covenants made in the past? Expectations expressed by others? (2) How will a potential decision square with needs in the present? (3) How will that decision bless people in the future? 34:20 As a young single adult bishop, he would provide a document “Relationship Criteria” to young adults considering marriage. It helped many think of their life in the three time zones and how the relationship might affect them related to their patriarchal blessing, covenants made, etc. 36:28 Considering time zones, a ward council’s decisions related to Covid-19 pandemic lockdown and returning back to church might consider what they can do during the lockdown. Some wards were having family talent shows via Zoom to help stay connected while other wards had near radio silence. Think of interactions each ward member was having before the pandemic: if those on the edge of activity are now not hearing from anyone, how would that affect how they feel about how much people care? How can we reach out to people right now using technology, snail mail? In the future, how will we rev up the engine again? It still won’t be like it used to be: Elbow bumps instead of hugs. What will we teach in the future? What have we learned recently? And might we use tech in new ways now in the future? 40:10 How he and his wife have prepared for online family home evenings with friends via Zoom and the ensuing wonderful discussions will help them have even better family home evenings in the future when they start to get together with friends again. 41:20 Engagement: The best performers in the Church give the Lord their discretionary effort. They go beyond the minimum because they’ve been given encouragement to do that. 42:00 Leading formal stake and ward leadership training: “Yard by yard, it’s hard, but inch by inch, it’s a cinch.” Don’t think massive and complicated but bits and pieces that will help people. For example, train leaders in how to conduct both formal and stealth interviews: Teach the “Count to five” technique spoken of earlier, how to sit down with those newly called at the beginning to specific expectations and how those expectations dovetail with ward council goals. Then later, if there’s a gap between expectations and performance, there’s something to talk about. 44:55 Hard conversations: Later it takes courage and skill to step up to talking to those not meeting expectations: simply releasing them with a vote of thanks puts a stamp of approval on less-than-satisfactory behavior that will be repeated. I once heard Neal L. Maxwell teach that there are many tacit, silent deals between people where one person suggests tacitly and silently, “I’m not really going to push you to perform as best you can if you don’t challenge me”, kind of a silent deal. The Lord doesn’t want mediocrity: He didn’t send us to earth and give us agency to perform consistently at mediocre levels. If we really care about building the Kingdom of God on earth, we need to learn our duty, be teachable, be easily intreated, and step up to those hard but necessary conversations when someone else is not performing as well as they should. 47:54 Simple training: Sometimes training can be as simple as reviewing tasks that everyone is supposed to know how to do such as sitting down with a nervous new bishop to review how to conduct a meeting and give a few tips. 49:01 The scriptures are an excellent leadership training handbook. There are hundreds of scriptures that could facilitate wonderful discussions based on this question: “If we live that principle, Brothers and Sisters, what would it look like in observable behavior? For example, “What would it look like in observable behavior, if someone is reproving with sharpness?” (see D&C 121). It’s not about being harsh at all–it’s about being clear. It can be hard when you’re coaching someone, but we can do it lovingly. They need to feel they love you and have your best interests at heart. Describe different ways to do something and different expected results. Ask which results they’d like. 50:55 The greatest teacher is the Holy Ghost: according to Joseph Smith, the most distinguishing characteristic of the Latter-day Saints comes from the covenants we make and keep in order to enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. 51:45 Patriarchal blessings are different from all other blessings. As a stake patriarch, he’s learned that the Holy Ghost speaks in italics. He gives recipients of patriarchal blessings from him a second copy with some words in italics if he heard them in italics. 54:15 You can pray to understand through the Spirit what someone is asking but also to hear what someone is not asking to know what you need to teach them. 56:16 Simple discovery: Often the best learning is from what an individual discovers in himself or herself. Teaching teens in Sunday School, he asked them all to write a personal mission statement in six words. He was inspired by the challenge to Ernest Hemingway to write a novel in six words. And he did: “For sale: Baby shoes, never worn.” His teen class members were really impressed with how writing a six-word personal mission statement helped them examine what’s really important to them, what testimony means, how they were developing their testimony and hoped to strengthen their testimony, the covenants they were determined to make and keep, etc. Something as simple as that can be a very powerful teaching tool. Although it’s nice to have a curriculum and books, you really only need to take a scripture and ask, “How does that translate into observable behavior?” The possibilities are endless! 60:22 Study the real stuff to recognize the counterfeit: In an interview in London, an expert in counterfeit currency worldwide working for Scotland Yard admitted he did not take any time to study counterfeit currency but rather spent all his time studying the real stuff. Then when he sees a counterfeit, he recognizes it immediately. Likewise, in leadership training we need to focus on the real stuff: the scriptures, the behavior and teachings of the Savior, and teachings of living prophets. Of course, general authorities do quote sources outside the scriptures, but of course they’ve studied the real stuff and know what squares with it. Use the scriptures as a square to measure and judge any source. 65:23 Some counterfeits can be very convincing: Satan himself beguiles by telling dangerous lies. An evil spirit can reel us in with something we know to be true, and then we kind of go to slow and can be beguiled. Stay prayerful. 66:17 Short tips for a new calling: Stay prayerful because your greatest coach will be the Spirit: listen to the Spirit. When leading, establish and clarify mutual expectations early: Talk openly and listen well by counting to five. 68:38 Honoring our covenant to mourn with those who mourn: Leading has made him more mindful of the Savior’s expectations of us to honor our covenants. Leading has broadened his understanding of what it means to mourn with those who mourn (Mosiah 18): it’s more than making a batch of funeral potatoes. There are people around us at any time who are mourning and need comfort. We frequently won’t know what the specific issue is, but if we listen to the Spirit, we will know when to reach out to people and befriend, encourage, and uplift them. Listen to the Spirit. The Spirit will never ever let us down. The Spirit doesn’t usually grab us by the lapels and shake us. The Spirit whispers to us, so we need to be in a listening mode.

Neal A. Maxwell quote

“In human relationships there are too many tacit, silent deals in which one person agrees not to demand full measure, if the other person will agree to mediocrity when excellence may be possible. In any event, the unwillingness of most leaders to set standards, to administer feedback when standards are not met, to praise clearly when standards are met, stands in the way of the development of excellence on the part of followers with inevitable loss in follower effectiveness and follower satisfaction. The leader who makes no demands of his disciples cannot really lead them at all. The sense of new excitement and new challenge generated by the gospel will be blunted by leaders who shield followers from the full demands of followership” (Neal A. Maxwell, A More Excellent Way (1967), 34).

Links

Leadership for Saints, by Rodger Dean Duncan and Ed J. Pinegar Relationship Criteria document