WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.400 Paisley: Music. Welcome back, everybody. Thank you for being 00:00:05.400 --> 00:00:09.900 here today. We're going to take a look today at a talk, one of 00:00:09.900 --> 00:00:13.440 the talks that's in the Come follow me for this week. It's 00:00:13.440 --> 00:00:17.100 the one from then President Uchtdorf called the greatest 00:00:17.100 --> 00:00:20.160 among you. It's in that section about leadership, and it's 00:00:20.160 --> 00:00:24.860 really good. I always love listening to President Uchtdorf. 00:00:24.980 --> 00:00:30.020 Elder. Uchtdorf, he does such a good job of using stories and 00:00:30.020 --> 00:00:34.160 personal experiences to get his point across. And this talk is 00:00:34.160 --> 00:00:38.180 no different. He actually starts this talk telling about an 00:00:38.180 --> 00:00:41.380 experience he had that he had when he was called in the area 00:00:41.380 --> 00:00:47.020 presidency for Europe. It was when the Madrid, Spain Temple 00:00:47.020 --> 00:00:51.400 was being built, and he spent a lot of time on that temple. And 00:00:51.400 --> 00:00:53.980 then as the dedication got closer, they lived in Germany, 00:00:54.280 --> 00:00:59.980 but he spent a lot of time working on this temple. And when 00:00:59.980 --> 00:01:03.960 the dedication got closer and closer, he realized that he 00:01:03.960 --> 00:01:07.680 hadn't received an invitation to attend the dedication, and so he 00:01:07.680 --> 00:01:12.180 asked his wife if she had seen the invitation, and she hadn't. 00:01:13.800 --> 00:01:20.960 And then he explains the way that he felt and he had the same 00:01:20.960 --> 00:01:25.280 thoughts that you and I, the same thoughts that I have. I 00:01:25.280 --> 00:01:29.600 won't speak for you, but he had the same thoughts and feelings 00:01:29.600 --> 00:01:31.940 that I have when I find out about something that I didn't 00:01:31.940 --> 00:01:38.000 get invited to. It stings, right? We try to just be like, 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:41.980 Okay, well, whatever, but it stings a little bit, and 00:01:41.980 --> 00:01:45.400 President Uchtdorf said, finally, I was forced to accept 00:01:45.400 --> 00:01:50.080 the fact I had not been invited. But how was that possible? Had I 00:01:50.080 --> 00:01:53.200 done something to offend? Did someone just assume it was too 00:01:53.200 --> 00:01:58.660 far for us to travel? Had I been forgotten? So like I said, I 00:01:58.660 --> 00:02:02.400 don't know about you guys, but that's how I feel when I find 00:02:02.400 --> 00:02:05.460 out that my friends all went and did something and I wasn't 00:02:05.460 --> 00:02:11.460 invited. It's never like it never actually means anything, 00:02:11.460 --> 00:02:16.020 but that's how you feel, right when, when you when something 00:02:16.020 --> 00:02:19.860 happens you didn't get invited to but then he said this. He 00:02:19.860 --> 00:02:24.200 said, eventually I realized that this line of thinking led to a 00:02:24.200 --> 00:02:29.780 place in which I did not wish to take up residence, Harriet, and 00:02:29.780 --> 00:02:32.600 I reminded ourselves that the temple dedication was not about 00:02:32.600 --> 00:02:37.460 us. It wasn't about who deserved to be invited or who did not, 00:02:37.460 --> 00:02:41.620 and it wasn't about our feelings or our sense of entitlement. It 00:02:41.620 --> 00:02:45.160 was about. And I'm actually not going to finish that sentence, 00:02:45.160 --> 00:02:48.220 because I think we could all finish that sentence our own 00:02:48.220 --> 00:02:54.880 way, with what it what that thing that we weren't invited to 00:02:54.880 --> 00:03:00.640 was actually supposed to be about. It wasn't supposed to be 00:03:00.640 --> 00:03:05.160 about us. It was supposed to be about about something else. And 00:03:05.160 --> 00:03:10.080 sometimes that just means that somebody else needed their 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:14.700 friends, and maybe they didn't need my strong personality, 00:03:15.300 --> 00:03:18.360 which is fine, but what does any of this have to do with 00:03:18.360 --> 00:03:22.640 leadership? Well, I could tell you stories, but I'm going to 00:03:22.640 --> 00:03:25.940 stick to President Uchtdorf talk, and he will get us there. 00:03:25.940 --> 00:03:30.620 Don't worry. Next in his talk, he talks about James and John, 00:03:30.620 --> 00:03:35.480 two of the original apostles. He called them the sons of thunder, 00:03:35.480 --> 00:03:38.540 and I don't know how I missed that super fun little tidbit of 00:03:38.540 --> 00:03:42.700 info, the Savior actually nicknamed James and John the 00:03:42.700 --> 00:03:46.360 Sons of Thunder. There's a little bit about it in the talk, 00:03:46.360 --> 00:03:50.740 but not much. He does put the Scripture reference in there, in 00:03:50.860 --> 00:03:55.840 case you want to go look it up. What he does say is that they 00:03:55.840 --> 00:04:01.080 were both men of action. If you think about it, Sons of Thunder, 00:04:01.080 --> 00:04:07.080 men of action. They go together anyway. At one point, these two 00:04:07.080 --> 00:04:10.560 get pretty bold, and they tell the Savior we want you to give 00:04:10.560 --> 00:04:13.800 us whatever we want. And he's the savior is kind of like, and 00:04:13.800 --> 00:04:17.880 I'm paraphrasing, so please go read President Uchtdorf talk, 00:04:17.880 --> 00:04:24.080 and then you should probably go read the scriptures too. Jesus 00:04:24.080 --> 00:04:28.040 responds with something like, Well, what is it that you want? 00:04:29.120 --> 00:04:34.460 And James and John tell Jesus that they want to sit on his 00:04:34.460 --> 00:04:38.540 right and left hand. After this life, they want to sit on his 00:04:38.540 --> 00:04:44.380 right and left hand with Him in His glory. Jesus response to 00:04:44.380 --> 00:04:48.340 them was quote, to sit on my right hand and on my left hand 00:04:48.340 --> 00:04:51.820 is not wanting to give, but it shall be given to them for whom 00:04:51.880 --> 00:04:59.020 it is prepared. In other words, President Uchtdorf says you 00:04:59.020 --> 00:05:02.340 can't get honor. The Kingdom of Heaven by campaigning for it. 00:05:03.240 --> 00:05:08.220 Nor can you get power lunch or, sorry, nor can you Power Lunch 00:05:08.280 --> 00:05:16.560 your way to eternal glory. In essence, it's not earned, which 00:05:16.560 --> 00:05:20.720 is really hard for a lot of people to swallow. Right you do 00:05:20.720 --> 00:05:25.880 the right things, you earn blessings to get to the 00:05:26.480 --> 00:05:29.600 celestial kingdom, is going to be a lot more than that. That's 00:05:29.600 --> 00:05:32.900 going to have to it's going to deal with choices and anyway, 00:05:33.200 --> 00:05:35.540 that's not about leadership. Let's come back to let's come 00:05:35.540 --> 00:05:40.420 back to this. You cannot Power Lunch your way to eternal glory. 00:05:40.420 --> 00:05:43.720 So now we're getting into leadership skills. Leadership, 00:05:43.720 --> 00:05:47.440 at least, to me, is being humble enough that people want to 00:05:47.440 --> 00:05:53.200 follow you, not arrogant enough to make them follow you. That's 00:05:53.320 --> 00:05:58.480 my own personal opinion on leadership. I do. My LinkedIn 00:05:58.480 --> 00:06:02.580 feed is full of leadership quotes and what like the 00:06:02.580 --> 00:06:06.720 difference between a leader and a manager, and that's part of 00:06:06.720 --> 00:06:12.120 why I love this talk so much, because in it, President 00:06:12.120 --> 00:06:16.740 Uchtdorf is showing us how to be leaders so humble enough that 00:06:16.740 --> 00:06:20.480 people want to follow You, not arrogant enough to make them 00:06:20.480 --> 00:06:26.360 follow you. So back to the sons of thunder. When the rest of the 00:06:26.360 --> 00:06:31.280 apostles heard about James and John's request, they weren't 00:06:31.460 --> 00:06:35.480 super thrilled about it, I can imagine, like, Well, hey, what 00:06:35.480 --> 00:06:42.400 about us? What makes you so special? And Jesus could not 00:06:42.400 --> 00:06:48.580 have been super excited like his time was. His time was limited. 00:06:48.580 --> 00:06:53.680 He didn't have a lot of time left, and now his apostles are 00:06:53.920 --> 00:06:58.840 getting a little contentious, or there's contention among them 00:06:59.200 --> 00:07:06.000 over something that is not I don't want to say that. It's not 00:07:06.000 --> 00:07:08.640 that important, but they're getting contentious over 00:07:08.640 --> 00:07:12.600 something they don't need to worry about, especially not at 00:07:12.600 --> 00:07:17.040 that point in their lives. So President Uchtdorf says he 00:07:17.040 --> 00:07:19.680 talked to the 12 about the nature of power and how it 00:07:19.680 --> 00:07:23.600 affects those who seek and hold it, the people of influence in 00:07:23.600 --> 00:07:27.140 this world. The Savior said, use their position of authority to 00:07:27.140 --> 00:07:30.500 exercise power over others. This is not the way. It shall be 00:07:30.500 --> 00:07:35.180 among you. Instead, whosoever will be great among you shall be 00:07:35.180 --> 00:07:39.620 your minister, and whosoever of you will be the chiefest shall 00:07:39.620 --> 00:07:45.460 be servant of all, and right there, the Savior teaches us 00:07:45.580 --> 00:07:49.660 what true leadership is. Leadership is service President 00:07:49.660 --> 00:07:53.560 Uchtdorf continues in God's kingdom greatness and leadership 00:07:53.560 --> 00:07:58.360 means seeing others as they truly are, as God sees them, and 00:07:58.360 --> 00:08:01.560 then reaching out and ministering to them, it means 00:08:01.560 --> 00:08:04.740 rejoicing with those who are happy, weeping with those who 00:08:04.740 --> 00:08:08.280 grieve, lifting up those in distress, and loving our 00:08:08.280 --> 00:08:13.620 neighbor as Christ loves us, so that, right there is how 00:08:13.620 --> 00:08:17.640 leaders, real leaders, get people to follow them. They 00:08:17.640 --> 00:08:23.780 strive, they really strive, honestly strive to see others as 00:08:23.780 --> 00:08:28.880 God sees them. They provide construction, constructive and 00:08:28.880 --> 00:08:36.560 actionable feedback, and then they help to lift support and 00:08:36.560 --> 00:08:43.780 encourage as you try and act on the feedback. The actionable 00:08:43.780 --> 00:08:48.700 feedback. President Uchtdorf also shares things for us to 00:08:48.700 --> 00:08:52.300 watch out for as we serve others. He starts with another 00:08:52.300 --> 00:08:56.800 story. He was a newly called General Authority, and he was 00:08:56.800 --> 00:09:03.780 driving President Faust to Southern Utah for a stake 00:09:03.780 --> 00:09:08.820 reorganization. I don't know about you, I would have loved to 00:09:08.820 --> 00:09:11.640 have been in that car with President Uchtdorf from 00:09:11.640 --> 00:09:16.260 President Faust. Oh, that the things that you could learn. 00:09:16.860 --> 00:09:21.500 Anyway, President Uchtdorf, so he's driving President Faust, as 00:09:21.500 --> 00:09:24.080 President Uchtdorf was driving, President Faust took the 00:09:24.080 --> 00:09:27.740 opportunity to teach him some things, and President Faust 00:09:27.740 --> 00:09:30.440 said, the members of the church are gracious to the General 00:09:30.440 --> 00:09:33.560 Authorities. They will treat you kindly and say nice things about 00:09:33.560 --> 00:09:38.240 you. Then he briefly paused and said, Dieter, always be thankful 00:09:38.240 --> 00:09:45.340 for this, but don't you ever inhale it. Then President 00:09:45.340 --> 00:09:49.540 Uchtdorf shares another story, and this one was about a man who 00:09:49.540 --> 00:09:53.740 had been serving as a stake president in hennefer, Utah. 00:09:55.540 --> 00:09:58.840 They were making preparations to celebrate the 100 and 50th 00:09:58.840 --> 00:10:01.140 anniversary of the same. It's arriving in the Salt Lake 00:10:01.140 --> 00:10:05.280 Valley, and it was a big deal. I didn't live in Utah then, but I 00:10:05.280 --> 00:10:11.460 do remember it was a big deal. And this guy, his name was 00:10:11.460 --> 00:10:17.100 President rich ins, and President rich ins was help. He 00:10:17.100 --> 00:10:22.160 was working with community members. He was really working 00:10:22.160 --> 00:10:29.420 hard to try and plan, to help plan this giant event. There was 00:10:29.420 --> 00:10:33.620 going to be, like, this big parade, because the saints came 00:10:33.620 --> 00:10:36.500 through this area, and so, like it was, it was going to be a big 00:10:36.500 --> 00:10:41.020 deal. And so President Richards is trying to help plan this. 00:10:41.020 --> 00:10:44.140 He's involved. He's very involved in the planning of all 00:10:44.140 --> 00:10:47.860 of this. President Uchtdorf says. President Richards was 00:10:47.860 --> 00:10:50.320 heavily involved with the plans for the sell of for the 00:10:50.320 --> 00:10:53.140 celebration, and he attended many meetings with General 00:10:53.140 --> 00:10:56.500 Authorities and others to discuss the discuss the events. 00:10:56.560 --> 00:11:01.560 He was fully engaged just before the actual celebration happened, 00:11:01.560 --> 00:11:04.740 though, that stake was reorganized and President rich 00:11:04.740 --> 00:11:10.980 ins was released. The new stake president took on the 00:11:10.980 --> 00:11:13.920 responsibilities the Stake President responsibilities for 00:11:13.920 --> 00:11:19.080 this celebration and President rich ins was not part of that 00:11:19.080 --> 00:11:23.360 anymore, which in and of itself, for me, would be difficult. I 00:11:23.360 --> 00:11:25.700 love to be involved in things like that, and I like to help 00:11:25.700 --> 00:11:30.500 plan things. But President rich ins was where he was supposed to 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:33.020 be. One Sunday, he was in his elders quorum meeting, just like 00:11:33.020 --> 00:11:36.380 he's supposed to be, and they started asking for volunteers to 00:11:36.380 --> 00:11:39.260 help with this event. And of course, he volunteered. Of 00:11:39.260 --> 00:11:43.660 course he volunteered. So the day of the parade, President 00:11:43.660 --> 00:11:46.180 Richards shows up for his volunteer assignment, and here's 00:11:46.180 --> 00:11:49.720 what President Uchtdorf says only a few weeks before, he had 00:11:49.720 --> 00:11:52.660 been an influential contributor to the planning and supervision 00:11:52.660 --> 00:11:57.700 of this major event. On that day, however, his job was to 00:11:57.700 --> 00:12:00.420 follow the horses in the parade and clean up after them. 00:12:01.920 --> 00:12:05.880 President Richards did so gladfully, gladly, gladly, 00:12:06.180 --> 00:12:10.500 gladly and joyfully. He understood that one kind of 00:12:10.500 --> 00:12:17.040 service is not above another. So there's this man who was 00:12:17.040 --> 00:12:21.800 involved in top level planning and when the event, when it came 00:12:21.800 --> 00:12:25.040 to the actual event, he followed the horses and cleaned up after 00:12:25.040 --> 00:12:29.900 the horses, and he did so gladly and joyfully, because he 00:12:29.900 --> 00:12:33.020 understood that this kind of service is not better than this 00:12:33.020 --> 00:12:38.480 kind of service. They're all equally needed. Then President 00:12:38.480 --> 00:12:41.560 Uchtdorf really gets into the importance of our callings. He 00:12:41.560 --> 00:12:47.020 says, What is the most important calling in the church? It is the 00:12:47.020 --> 00:12:51.640 one you currently have, no matter how humble or prominent 00:12:51.640 --> 00:12:56.080 it may seem to be. The calling you have right now is the one 00:12:56.080 --> 00:13:00.480 that will allow you not only to lift others, but also to become 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:04.320 the man of God You were created to be. I think I forgot to 00:13:04.320 --> 00:13:08.100 mention that this was given during the priesthood session of 00:13:08.460 --> 00:13:11.640 this conference. I didn't even write down which conference it 00:13:11.640 --> 00:13:15.000 was. It was given during the priesthood session. So that's 00:13:15.000 --> 00:13:17.640 why he's talking about also become the man of God You were 00:13:17.640 --> 00:13:20.900 created to be. But it doesn't really matter, because this is 00:13:20.900 --> 00:13:24.380 still applicable to us and our own callings. President Uchtdorf 00:13:24.380 --> 00:13:28.040 also says this, there is nothing wrong with wanting to serve the 00:13:28.040 --> 00:13:31.940 Lord, but when we seek to gain influence in the church for our 00:13:31.940 --> 00:13:35.600 own sake, in order to receive the praise and admiration of 00:13:35.600 --> 00:13:41.980 men, we have our reward when we inhale the praise of others. 00:13:42.040 --> 00:13:47.080 That praise will be our compensation. He also says, in 00:13:47.080 --> 00:13:49.540 the eyes of God, there is no calling in the kingdom that is 00:13:49.540 --> 00:13:53.200 more important than another our service, whether great or small, 00:13:53.200 --> 00:13:57.700 refines our spirits, opens the windows of heaven and releases 00:13:57.700 --> 00:14:00.900 God's blessings, not only upon those we serve, but upon us as 00:14:00.900 --> 00:14:04.380 well. When we reach out to others, we can know with humble 00:14:04.380 --> 00:14:07.560 confidence that God acknowledges our service with approval and 00:14:07.560 --> 00:14:11.820 approbation. He smiles upon us as we offer these heartfelt acts 00:14:11.820 --> 00:14:16.380 of compassion, especially acts that are unseen and unnoticed by 00:14:16.380 --> 00:14:21.380 others, serving in the church, serving in our callings. Being a 00:14:21.380 --> 00:14:28.400 real leader doesn't need the accolades of men. Shouldn't need 00:14:28.520 --> 00:14:35.540 the accolades of men. True leaders gather people, gather 00:14:35.540 --> 00:14:41.320 followers, because they help them, because they serve them, 00:14:41.500 --> 00:14:46.180 because they make them feel good about themselves. The point of 00:14:46.180 --> 00:14:51.400 all of this comes from Matthew 2311 Hold on. Let me back up for 00:14:51.400 --> 00:14:54.940 just a second. There are some callings where it's harder to 00:14:54.940 --> 00:14:59.920 serve in the shadows Bishop Relief Society or young women's. 00:15:00.000 --> 00:15:04.380 It stake, President, it's harder to serve in the shadows when you 00:15:04.380 --> 00:15:11.760 have a more high, visible, highly visible calling. But 00:15:11.820 --> 00:15:15.540 that's okay. The Lord knows the intent of your heart, and 00:15:15.540 --> 00:15:17.940 whether you're doing it because you want everybody to be like, 00:15:17.940 --> 00:15:20.300 Oh, she was a great Relief Society president, or he's such 00:15:20.300 --> 00:15:23.420 an awesome Bishop, heavenly Father knows if that's what 00:15:23.420 --> 00:15:26.540 you're going for, and if it is and that's what you get, then 00:15:26.540 --> 00:15:30.200 that will be your compensation, your reward. If that's not what 00:15:30.200 --> 00:15:32.600 you're going for, if you're truly serving just to help 00:15:32.600 --> 00:15:38.060 someone else, the blessings will be different. Okay, so back to 00:15:38.060 --> 00:15:42.100 the point of all of this comes from Matthew 2311 he that is the 00:15:42.100 --> 00:15:47.020 greatest among you shall be your servant. And this, this is quote 00:15:47.020 --> 00:15:50.260 from President Uchtdorf. Even though our acts of service may 00:15:50.260 --> 00:15:54.220 seem lowly, modest or of little value, those who reach out in 00:15:54.220 --> 00:15:57.700 kindness and compassion to others will one day know the 00:15:57.700 --> 00:16:01.020 value of their service by the eternal and blessed grace of 00:16:01.020 --> 00:16:09.540 Almighty God. The point is to serve others, to learn to love 00:16:09.540 --> 00:16:12.780 each other this kind of the whole point of this life is to 00:16:12.780 --> 00:16:15.360 learn to love each other the way that our Heavenly Father loves 00:16:15.360 --> 00:16:19.800 us. I hope that we are all finding ways to serve those 00:16:19.800 --> 00:16:26.480 around us out loud or quietly, for now, quietly is something 00:16:26.480 --> 00:16:32.180 that I need to work on a little bit more. Know that if you are 00:16:32.180 --> 00:16:36.620 serving, it is noticed. It is noticed. It's noticed, 00:16:36.740 --> 00:16:41.500 especially by the people that you're serving and that you are 00:16:41.500 --> 00:16:46.000 already showing some real leadership. Thank you so much 00:16:46.000 --> 00:16:48.460 for being here. You guys. Keep learning, keep growing, keep 00:16:48.460 --> 00:16:52.660 trying, little bit more every day, right? And Be of good cheer 00:16:53.200 --> 00:16:54.040 until next time you.