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Leading Saints Podcast

Inspiring Great Leadership for Saints | An Interview with Rodger Dean Duncan

Leading Saints Podcast

Leading Saints

Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.81.2K Ratings

🗓️ 20 June 2020

⏱️ 73 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Rodger Dean Duncan has been advisor to United States presidential cabinet officers in two administrations and to top business leaders in multiple industries. He’s author of several books including the award-winning, bestselling CHANGE-friendly LEADERSHIP, and co-author of Leadership for Saints. He also writes a regular leadership column for Forbes.com, a platform that reaches about 75 million readers each month. A descendant of 19th-century Baptist evangelists and a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he has served as bishop (three times), stake president, high councilor, and stake mission president. Today he is patriarch of the Liberty Missouri Stake and a sealer in the Kansas City Missouri Temple. In the early 1980s he served on the advisory council that first recommended that “Another Testament of Jesus Christ” be added as subtitle to The Book of Mormon. He is a father of four and grandfather to twelve. 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...

Transcript

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0:00.0

The most downloaded episode in the history of the leading Saints podcast is my interview with Rob Farrell the young single adult stake president

0:08.5

that I recorded probably 18 months ago maybe two years ago, it's phenomenal.

0:12.8

And I constantly get emails from people saying, hey, have you done a part 2 to that interview?

0:17.6

Well, I'm happy to say we've done so much more than a part 2.

0:20.5

We actually invited Rob to present in front of a live audience and we recorded it all.

0:25.2

He gives us five additional hours, roughly, of content of his leadership approach and perspective.

0:31.8

It is so helpful. I've had countless

0:34.0

emails of people saying how much this has deeply impacted their approach to

0:37.8

leadership. If you have not seen it, you've got to see it and you can see it in the

0:41.4

core leader library which we make available to all core leaders now to become a

0:45.5

core leader you just go to leading Saints dot org donate and there you can submit a monthly

0:51.7

quarterly or yearly

0:53.4

subscribing donation and that gets you access

0:55.6

to not only Rob Farrell's presentation

0:57.8

in the Core Leader Library,

0:59.0

but the entire Core Leader Library.

1:01.6

So you got to check it out. Go to leading Saints

1:03.4

or donate and help us grow this organization and move it forward by

1:07.5

becoming a core leader.

1:09.2

What we have going here is a podcast called the

1:14.5

leading saints podcast my name is Kurt Frankham I will be your host if you're new to

1:19.0

leading saints I welcome you what this is is a podcast where we focus on the mission of our

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