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Ryan Gottfredson is an assistant professor of Organizational Behavior at Cal State Fullerton where he researches and teaches leadership, and is a leadership consultant. He first became interested in organizational behavior during high school in a sports psychology class, and now holds a Ph.D. in Organizational Behavior and Human Resources from Indiana University and a BA from Brigham Young University. He has worked for Gallup and written multiple articles for Leading Saints, including a series of articles on community.
Highlights
8:10 Where the community articles started
9:50 Many people attend church but they don’t feel they fit, or don’t attend
- “What community is and why is it important?”
- How do we create a community in the church so everyone feels welcome?
14:00 There are three community types: basic, involved and united. It is a continuum.
- 14:45 Basic community: little attachment, little involvement, much like an alumni group, few demands and little connection
- 15:45 Involved community: share more, some emotional connection but still disconnected but not fully accepted, much like a large workplace
- 17:30 United community: Share interests, goals and beliefs. Strong identification with group much like a family: when they hurt, we hurt. Provides acceptance, love and protection. This is what it should be within the church.
20:20 A united community is ingrained deep in the LDS culture and doctrinally founded, but with some negative side effects
- Low cognitive diversity. Can’t think outside a box, inability to allow different perspectives. This is not doctrinal thought, but community thought.
- 25:30 Lack of inclusivity. Difficult to allow others in, many feel judged, hard to accept others. Often is unintentional judging over what is/is not socially acceptable (tattoos, piercing).
- 29:00 Lower psychological safety: When something is different, or comments in class get questioned, others are less likely to share. People feel uncomfortable expressing their opinions.
- 33:40 “Sometimes we have a stronger desire to be right, than we do to love others.”
36:20 How do we improve the united community in the Church? We must be “intentional”.
37:20 Six elements of an intentional community
- Charity
- Safety
- Openness
- Inclusiveness
- Being present
- Having a clear purpose and common cause
38:30 Charity: we must see everyone as people, and value them as such. 41:00 Safety: do our members feel safe and able to to comment in class? 43:25 Openness: we have a social pressure to certainty. If value is on knowing, we are limiting learning. We don’t know all and we can learn from others 45:50 Inclusiveness: everyone should feel welcome. Don’t let little things get in the way of loving them. Care less about how they look and more about how they feel. 47:40 Be Present: we are as involved as we can be, regardless, while we are there in attendance we should be present. Make our meetings matter, provide a value. Intentionally create meetings worth coming to. 50:45 Having Purpose: is everyone heading in the same direction? 53:00 Cliques are not necessarily bad. Smaller groups may allow more connections with others. Perhaps smaller groups can strengthen the whole community. 56:40 Most important to understand what community is and why it is important. Be mindful.
Links
https://www.ryangottfredson.com/
Articles about community in the Church:
- The Foundation of Belonging
- Flaws We Need to Recognize and Overcome
- Becoming an Intentional Community
- Moving Forward in a Changing Social Landscape
The Anatomy of Peace: Resolving the Heart of Conflict, by The Arbinger Institute Leadership and Self-Deception: Getting out of the Box, by The Arbinger Institute
Such a good interview. We recently had a 5th Sunday discussion on a similar topic in our ward after it was discovered that there are a lot of people who don’t feel like they have a friend at church. Really excited to go through the connected articles and re-listen to the podcast, and hopefully get a few in our ward council to join in.
My own experience reinforces the topic of this podcast. Even know as I serve in a Leadership position in my Ward, I don’t always feel people can give an honest answer. If we don’t agree or have a different point of view than the majority, we might as well not say anything. In many ways, I feel we are expecting adult to regurgitate information like the Primary children. Currently there are several people in my Ward who I know are struggling with their testimonies, some who feel they don’t fit in (although they only stay for Sacrament Meeting and don’t come to activities). I have not always felt included, but realize my testimony is not based on my social needs. I have other groups I do the types of activities I enjoy (tennis, hiking, running) since there really aren’t any Ward members close or on the same schedule. We do need to love and not judge.