Listen for the Needs of Those You Lead | A How I Lead Interview with Rebecca Smart

Rebecca Smart is currently on her third career. She spent a decade working for the Government of Alberta in Tourism and Communications, chose to be a stay-at-home parent for several years, retrained, and is now working as a registered psychotherapist. She considers it a blessing to bring her skills together to help build the kingdom of God in many different ways. Rebecca serves as stake Primary president and was a counselor in the stake Primary presidency for almost three years prior to that call. Rebecca finds joy serving in the Church. Other callings have included Relief Society president, Relief Society counselor, Gospel Doctrine teacher, and Primary secretary. Rebecca lives in Ottawa, Canada with her husband, three children and Labradoodle. In her spare time she loves travel, baking, and spending time with family and friends. Links There is already a discussion started about this podcast. Share your thoughts HERE. Watch on YouTube Transcript coming soon Get 14-day access to the Core Leader Library Highlights 2:20 Rebecca talks about her area in Ottawa, Canada. 4:30 Getting called as stake Primary president. She transitioned into the position after being the first counselor in the stake Primary for three years. 6:00 Growing leaders and Primary presidents 9:15 How leadership meetings go in her stake 10:00 Working together as a presidency 11:15 The power of listening 13:20 The strength of combining personal knowledge and personal revelation 15:00 Rebecca shares her own personal experience using gospel learning and working to teach our children. 17:00 Seeking and using spiritual gifts. Bring your gifts to the people that you serve. There are a lot of spiritual gifts and it’s our responsibility to seek them. 20:40 When it comes to seeking and using our gifts, it’s a process and it can take a lot of time. The gifts that we need might change over time. Pray to know what gifts you need at that time. 21:50 Rebecca shares her approach to stake council meetings. 23:50 Thoughts on Primary programs. One of the most powerful things is the Primary children showing what they have learned and their testimonies. 25:30 The importance of counseling with counselors 27:50 Taking the time for needs assessments. Find out the needs of not only the adults but the children too. It’s easy to get bogged down in administration or in the way we have always done something but are those things meeting the needs? 29:15 How has being a leader made you a better follower of Jesus Christ? The Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts 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, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 600 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.