Dean Vernon Heperi on Leadership
I had the opportunity to hear from Vernon Heperi, Dean of Students. He shared with us some incredible thoughts on leading by love. I’m just going to put the notes I took during his lecture on here, because it was such a good presentation.
- The quality of our work is directly proportional to our capacity to love.
- Dean Heperi is not the kind of person to say hello to people, but he knows that it lets others know that he cares, so he does it.
- He who truly loves sees others with honest concern.
- It’s not enough to be encouraged. It’s good to be corrected.
- We’ve been called to lead. The way we choose to lead is by serving others.
- It’s a challenge to lead by example. We have the choice to be a better example (even when we’re annoyed). Sometimes reproof doesn’t come from our leaders.
- Serving others and learning to lead by example is vital to our success.
- You must develop a climate of trust. You have to be tolerant and patient, not necessarily let everything slide, but you can still be kind.
- We should be able to have differences of opinions and still be able to have dinner with those people.
- The honor code makes us what we are. It is our brand. We don’t change it – it is what we are!
- Our greatest goal as leaders should be to be leaders in our homes. Good on you if you’re a famous CEO or whatever, but the most important is the home.
Loving those you lead is of the utmost importance. If we don’t love those we are leading, we will not be able to effectively lead them. It is also important to express that love, even if not through words. In your actions, you can show people you love and care about them. If you assist people in their projects, you are showing them that you care about them. If you offer support in any way, you are showing them that you care. There are an abundance of ways to show people we love them; we just have to make the effort to do it. When we love those we work with, we are also opening up opportunities for us to help them improve. If we try to correct them without love, that definitely won’t go over well. However, if we offer correction with love, those we are assisting will likely be open to the correction, because they understand that we are trying to help them rather than criticize.
Sue Murie on Leadership
I had the opportunity to hear Sue Murie’s thoughts on leadership. Sue is a Student Leadership Coordinator at BYU, and she had some excellent advice for us as college students and as aspiring leaders. Sue told us about several myths about the world of careers. They were:
- Myth #1: The major I choose now will lock me into a career forever. FALSE.
You have the freedom to go where you want in life. If you follow the guidance of the Spirit, you can’t go wrong.
- Myth #2: I have to find my specific “calling” in life to be happy. FALSE.
Use your spiritual gifts in many positions. It’s not a matter of finding that one perfect position, it’s making your position perfect.
- Myth #3: When I find my calling, work will be bliss. FALSE.
Jobs aren’t exciting and intensely fulfilling all the time, even fabulous jobs. Don’t expect to have deep meaning from your work without paying the price for it. That can even make it that much more meaningful.
Concerning Myth #1, I would just like to say that although I am a sociology major, I am exploring career options in a wide variety of fields. I am considering hospital administration, work in the nonprofit sector, social work, and tons of other options. Although some of these are fairly pertinent to sociology and others are not, I am not letting the fact that I am studying sociology lock me into a specific career path. It’s important to be open-minded and to go where the Lord guides you, even concerning careers.
And, just a word about Myth #3: The amount of work you put into something will equal the amount of reward you get out of it. Whether you’re planning an event and work really hard at advertising it, or whether you’re working on making your job exciting, how much you put into it will be equal to the benefit you get out of it (i.e. lots of attendees at your event or an engaging work environment). Along the same lines, I have found this to be very true concerning friendships with people. There are some people that I am not immediately drawn to, but I am in a situation where I need or want to be able to get along well with them. I work diligently to have a good friendship (not a superficial one) with these people, and when I have success, it is even more rewarding than friendships I can just walk into, because I personally worked toward the success of that relationship.
Another thing Sue talked about is the importance of focusing on blessing and serving others rather than boosting yourself up. If we focus on serving, we will be extraordinary in whatever we do. In my time serving in BYUSA, I have truly learned that when we are serving, all other areas of our lives are made better as well. We become kind, loving people who do what’s right, and in that, we are able to progress spiritually and temporally. When we are focused on serving, everything else falls into place.
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