Podcast: Play in new window | Download | Embed
Kurt Francom is the founder and executive director of Leading Saints, manages the day-to-day efforts of Leading Saints, and is the host of the podcast. Kurt graduated from the University of Utah in 2008 with a degree in Business Marketing. He ran a web development company for five years before focusing on Leading Saints full time. Kurt currently lives in Stansbury Park, Utah with his lovely wife Alanna. They are blessed to have three children. Kurt has served as a full-time missionary (California Sacramento), as a bishop, first counselor in a stake presidency, and elders quorum president. This is Part 1 of a 2-part podcast. Listen to Part 2 HERE.
Highlights
01:00 Kurt introduces the episode’s topic of feeling hurt when released from a calling. 04:15 Sometimes getting released from a calling is an identity shift and is accompanied by feelings of loneliness or feeling lost. 07:30 Kurt shares his story and leadership journey. Being bishop and in the stake presidency then going back to being brother Francom. The sadness about not being as involved. 14:00 There is a transition period when being released from a big calling. Even years later it can still hurt. 16:20 It hurts not to be called, not to be chosen, not to be the leader. 18:45 It’s ok to hurt and struggle with the transition of not being in leadership anymore. 19:10 Episode takeaways:
- Remember that closure is crucial
- Reach out to others for support
- Surrender your impact and things you started in the ward. The next leader is probably going to change things
23:00 Minister to the bishop who just got released. Help them through the transition. Share your own story. 24:10 Kurt reads a letter from a former bishop that got released suddenly.
Links
Part 2 of this podcast Is Aspiring Wrong? Finding Purpose in Your Ward After a Heavy Leadership Calling | An Interview with Rob Eaton Read the TRANSCRIPT of this podcast Watch on YouTube Get 14-day access to the Core Leader Library
The Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saint podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints’ mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org.
Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 600 episodes.
Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.
Thank you so much for these episodes.
I was released 13 months ago from YW’s president.
I was called in august 2019…. My son was called to be branch president the following Feb.
When I was released I felt all the feelings you talked about…it felt deeper because it was my son who thought…. In my mind…. That I am no longer needed in the branch.
I have not had a calling all this time.
For the past year…. Every Sunday I told my husband that I did not want to go to church. And every Sunday he helped make sure I was at church.
I cried for months. I resented the new Presidentcy. I was truly in a sad place.
Please understand, I am 65 years old and have been a member since I was a youth. I have served in every position a woman can serve in the church. I know how things work. But for some reason I was devastated when this release came.
I have prayed and prayed for a new calling and will be serving at a seminary teacher next year…. I’ve done this before too!!!
I just want to say thank you. It was so comforting to hear that I’m not alone
Thank you for this segment about being released. I was released in January and since then didn’t even feel “worthy ” to listen to your podcast anymore, after all, I am no longer a leader. It was a total fluke that I read your email before just deleting it like so many times before. I felt understood after listening. I felt not so weird and not so alone.
Thank you for the efforts you make to make the world and the church a better place. I am sure that is a lonely place for you sometimes. May we all try harder to just help each other feel needed, wanted, and like we’re going to make it.
Bless you for the good you do!
Thank you so much for this podcast. Even after 10 years being released from bishop I still have these feelings. For a long time I felt I had the wrong attitude because of those emotions (I also enjoyed your take on aspiring to callings) and have felt guilty about it.
My situation was virtually identical to the letter you read; one of the things that made it hard for me was the suddenness of the release after 4 years. I even asked the Stake President what I had done wrong to cause this release; he said ‘nothing’ but I still felt unsure. Two wards were being combined where the other bishop had served for 7 years and he felt long overdue for a release.
I can appreciate confidentiality and a certain level of secrecy but I felt untrusted that such an event that would affect me to such an extent as well as other people in ‘my’ ward was so high that it caused me hurt & uncertainity for years. I’m sure that other of ‘my’ leaders could have used some preparation for their releases as well that I was unable to give them.
Thank you for all you do to put some humanity into these challenges.
I really appreciate your authenticity. This helped me so much in the grieving process of losing a leadership position.
Great topic for discussion, thank you. Today, I am being released from my role as a YSA bishop after four years of service. Discovering this topic has been a blessing. I have shared it with my bishopric and their amazing wives, and we have all experienced a lot of emotions about our upcoming release.
I believe there is a need for a better process in releasing members who serve in these demanding callings. It’s similar to ‘offboarding,’ a practice I’ve encountered while serving on several professional boards. Offboarding not only brings valuable knowledge back to the organization but also validates the service of those who have dedicated so much of their time. Implementing a more intentional offboarding process in the church would provide an appropriate conclusion to their service and convey their value to everyone in the community.