How I Lead in the Ivory Coast | An Interview with Norbert Kalogo Ounleu

Norbert Kalogo Ounleu is from Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast). He grew up Muslim and was baptized when he was 25 years old. Norbert served as a Sunday School teacher, ward mission leader, and Young Men president, and was called as a bishop at age 27, just two years after he was baptized. He then served as a stake president, mission president of the Ivory Coast, and area seventy. He currently serves as a Sunday School teacher. He has worked as an Institute director and teacher and currently works for the Church History Department. He and his wife Valerie have four children. Highlights 01:45 Introduction to Norbert Ounleu and his conversion story. 07:10 Norbert talks about his very first calling teaching Sunday School. 09:40 How Norbert met his wife and their story. 12:15 Norbert was called as a bishop at 27 years old, just two years after his conversion. 14:00 Norbert describes what it was like stepping into a bishop’s role without much experience or knowledge. He went to the missionaries for help. 16:00 If Norbert could go back in time and give himself advice as a new bishop he would tell himself to just follow the Spirit. 16:30 Ward demographics and dynamics at the time that Norbert was bishop. 18:00 Day-to-day responsibilities as a bishop in the Ivory Coast Welfare needs Helping people with their callings 20:45 After 3 years as bishop, Norbert was called to be a stake president. 21:30 How being a stake president is different from being a bishop. 22:15 Stake demographics. It was a very large area for a stake. Members would have to travel for a couple of hours to get to the stake center. 23:10 Norbert’s advice to stake presidents and other leaders Be united with your counselors 24:40 The Church was very new to the Ivory Coast in the ’90s and it was difficult to find leaders and train them for callings. They relied heavily on the handbook. 26:00 What Norbert learned as a young leader. He had to learn the handbook very well. He made plenty of mistakes at first but was humble when told what he did wrong. 27:45 Getting called as a mission president. He had less than two months to prepare. 31:40 Once again he started a new calling, as a mission president, knowing nothing. He relied on the help of other leaders. He had the unique dynamic of dealing with a civil war, no MTC, and not having a temple. Most missionaries were not endowed. 35:35 Serving as mission president helped Norbert and his wife grow together. 36:50 Norbert’s wife focused on the missionaries’ health and training the sister missionaries. 37:30 Norbert talks about how he helped grow the Church in his country when he served as a mission president. 38:00 Right after his mission, Norbert was called as an area seventy. 39:30 From the mission home, Norbert moved his family to Ghana and started teaching and directing the Institute, and served as an area seventy. 40:15 What it was like to be an area seventy. He served in this calling for seven years. 44:00 Working for the Church History Department Links Pioneers in every land: Norbert K. Ounleu has seen the restored gospel grow exponentially in the Ivory Coast and in Africa Read the TRANSCRIPT of this podcastListen on YouTubeGet 14-day access to the Core Leader Library The Leading Saints Podcast gets over 300,000 listens each month and has over 10 million total downloads 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, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, J. Devn Cornish, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, DeAnna Murphy, Michael Goodman, Richard Ostler, Ganel-Lyn Condie, and many more in over 500 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.