Leadership
for Saints
A Practical Guide for Christlike Service
Meridian
Will Serialize a Ground-breaking Book
Click image for more information on this book.
On
August 7, Meridian will begin serializing a ground-breaking new
book called Leadership for Saints.
Written
by Rodger Dean Duncan and Ed J. Pinegar, Leadership for Saints is
aimed primarily at a church audience but also contains plenty of
material to help parents, community volunteers and business people
who serve in any kind of leadership capacity.
Subtitled
“A Practical Guide for Christlike Service,” the book emphasizes
the leadership model offered by the Savior and the living prophets.
Meridian
interviewed the book’s co-authors.
Meridian:
Why did you write a book on leadership?
Duncan:
Leadership is at the heart of everything that goes on in our world
today. Virtually every important news story is somehow connected
to leadership in politics, religion, business, community service,
education or family life. When something good happens, some form
of leadership is somewhere in the story. When something bad happens,
somewhere there was a lapse in leadership. The plan of salvation
itself is about leadership. It’s about the Savior’s leadership through
the ages, and it’s about the agency and personal leadership that
each one of us must exert.
Pinegar:
There’s a crying need for leadership resource material. I had just
given bishopric training in our stake and I thought it would be
nice to buy them a book on leadership. I visited several bookstores
and to my surprise nothing was there. The prophets consistently
talk about the importance of effective leadership in the Church,
in the home and in the community. A good resource was needed.
Meridian:
What about Church handbooks?
Pinegar:
Church handbooks are available only to a few people in a ward or
stake. Besides, Church handbooks are relatively brief and they focus
mostly on policies and procedures. Leadership for Saints
is nearly 400 pages of ideas and practical guides on every ingredient
of great leadership. It addresses the things that great leaders
are, what they see and what they do. It covers planning and organizing.
It explains ways to build unity. It talks about creating a climate
of hope and energy. It discusses the many ways that good communication
builds bridges between the hearts of people. It shows how to exert
righteous influence, how to breathe life and vitality into meetings,
how to be worthy of and use the spirit of discernment, and how to
maintain a sense of personal balance. No other book on the market
covers these leadership issues in such detail.
Meridian:
Did you follow any particular model in writing the book?
Duncan:
Of course the primary model is the Savior. The scriptures are a
treasure trove of the Savior’s example of righteous leadership.
And the living prophets teach us both by precept and by example.
As for modeling the book after any previous books, no. We’ve tried
to make Leadership for Saints especially user-friendly. It’s
printed in a two-column format. The smaller columns contain hundreds
of quotes – mostly from Church general authorities – about leadership.
The primary columns contain discussion of leadership principles
and straightforward tips on how to put the principles into practical
application.
Pinegar:
Both Rodger and I have “been there.” We’ve both had the privilege
of serving as bishop twice. We’ve both served as stake president.
We’ve both been heavily involved in missionary programs. We’ve both
served on general Church committees and worked closely with the
brethren. We’ve been able to observe – close-up – men and women
who are some of the most effective leaders in the history of the
Church. They’ve been great mentors to us. We certainly don’t claim
to be great leaders ourselves. In this case we’re just reporters.
Meridian:
How do two people write a book? Don’t you get in each others’ way?
Duncan:
It certainly helps that we’ve been friends for 35 years. Total trust,
candor and mutual respect are critical for this kind of project.
Then it helps to have a reasonable division of labor. Ed knows the
scriptures better than anyone else in my circle of friends. He has
great spiritual insights. He’s a gifted speaker. My orientation
is writing and leadership coaching. In addition to my own church
service, I know leadership from a professional perspective because
that’s my focus as a consultant. I did most of the drafting, then
Ed made suggestions on where to fill in the holes, where to strengthen
a point, where to tie concepts together. Although the book’s style
and rhetorical “voice” are mine, the spirit of it comes from both
of us. This is a true collaboration. Neither of us could have produced
this book alone.
Pinegar:
People who serve often say things like “How can I …?” “What should
I do if …?” “Do you have any ideas about …?” or “Do you have any
information on …?” We constantly asked ourselves questions like
that, then produced a book that’s designed to provide some helpful
answers.
Meridian:
Did you feel any special “help” in writing this book?
Duncan:
Only time will tell how this book will be received and the impact
it will have. But I can say this with absolute certainty: Virtually
every time I sat down at my computer keyboard I asked the Lord to
give me clarity of thought. When I sought that help I was able to
write things that I would never have thought of on my own. On those
few occasions when I was in a hurry or too preoccupied to pray (boy,
that’s a lame excuse, isn’t it?), the writing was much more laborious
and my thinking was not as lucid. It seemed that the Lord definitely
had an interest in this project. His influence was clear.
Meridian:
Leadership for Saints has what is probably the best collection
of endorsements of any other book published for the Latter-day Saint
market. How did that come about?
Pinegar:
We sent the manuscript to a number of people whose opinions we value
and whom we know to be reliable critics. People like Truman Madsen,
Hugh Nibley, Stephen Covey, Mary Ellen Smoot, Elaine Cannon and
many others reviewed the book and gave it very generous endorsements.
Our friend Ardeth Kapp, former general president of the Young Women,
wrote the book’s foreword. We are humbled by this very positive
response and know that it’s a tribute to the importance of the subject,
not to us personally.
Meridian:
Why are you making the book available for serialization?
Duncan:
We want the book to bless as many lives as possible. Meridian is
the leading Internet site for Latter-day Saints. Each month it reaches
more than 110,000 people in about ten dozen countries. We want the
book to be read, talked about, and used. Meridian is a wonderful
gathering place for Christians who are interested in the principles
and practices of righteous leadership.
For
more information on this book, including how to order copies, click
here.
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