Potter Perks

It was a job perk. A recent gift from our head administrator was a free, private, advanced showing of the hottest movie of the decade: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows 2.  Last Saturday, we waited for hours to get a chance to be one of the first Americans to see the conclusion of this beloved series.  Fifteen minutes before the showing began, an armed guard arrived carrying two silver octagonal shaped cases, tagged and sealed with ribbon.  It really was a pretty exciting experience!

Our oldest son was 11 years old when "Pottermania" began and our children will be among the only generation who actually grew up with Harry.  It became a family tradition to plan a party with special treats and costumes, as we awaited the midnight release of each new book.  Every year or so, a new volume arrived and the story became more complex, just as that of the lives of of our growing children.

The movie was great.  It was well thought out and well executed.  We were pleased and satisfied when it was done.  Since then, I have spent a great deal of time thinking about the power of Harry and his friends.  It is a good story, but I think we love it because it is more, it is a story not of individuals fighting against evil, but instead, a family's fight.

I think family is the unnamed superstar of the movie.  We love Harry, but he wouldn't be the same without the deep love and acceptance of the Weasleys.  Whether they started out at the center or not, at various times throughout the stories, this family is the eye in the storm for Harry, Hermione, Lupin and so many others. The battle between evil and good, is often over who controls the patterns of family life. As the movie progressed, the audience cheered wildly as the family, in its various configurations, stood strong.  I felt deeply impressed at the power of family expressed by the faculty and students of Hogwarts.  There were a lot of sniffs among the audience when this family stood firm to protect their children.

An article entitled "Strengthening the Family: The Family is Central to the creator's Plan, (Ensign, Dec 2004, 50-51) helps us see that what we think of as fiction and fantasy on the screen of a movie theater is actually based on the reality of our own  individual family's daily life:

"The family, the most fundamental institution of society is under attack from all sides.  Adultery, divorce, cohabitation, child and spouse abuse, homosexuality, abortion, teen pregnancies, pornography, disobedient children, economic struggles, and increasing unwillingness among married couples to bear and rear children--all these and more are proof that the adversary understands very well the central role the family plays in the destiny of God's children. . . .

"Even in such circumstances, we need not fear.  God is with us.  In the end good will conquer evil.  In the here and now, however, we must take our place on the front line in this war that began in the premortal world and do all we can to preserve and protect the sanctity of the family.

"The family is the primary support structure in God's plan to help us resist evil, overcome weakness and work out our salvation.  For this reason we should do all we can to strengthen the family in these days of confusion and opposition."

Spoiler alert:  The family ultimately wins the battle, and when it's all over, we are glad to have been part of it, from the beginning to it's glorious end!  Thanks to you all.

Cougar Friday!

I recently read that Alumni are to be encouraged to wear their cougar pride on Fridays.  Well, lets consider this as our "virtual" tee-shirt!

Every Friday, until Homecoming,* we will post a blog combining an insight on leadership and its connection to our shared BYU educational experience.


"Fulfilling prophetic utterances concerning BYU will require that the school be an innovator of bold, new programs.  As Franklin S. Harris expressed it, the school must constantly find new ways to train leaders:  'What this particular university must aim to do is to train for leadership in its highest forms: leadership in the Church itself, leadership in social affairs, leadership in business, leadership in art, leadership in citizenship, in fact leadership in all that will contribute to the betterment of the world and the happiness of its people.' " (Wilkinson, Earnest L. and W. Cleon Skousen. Brigham Young University: A School of Destiny.  BYU Press 1976. pg 880).

* Homecoming is scheduled for October 7-8, 2011.  For those who live near campus, that may seem to be a long way in the future, but for those who live in more distant locations, that's just enough time to make plans to hitch up our wagons and head for Zion.

This year the Spectacular will feature Tony Award-winner Brian Stokes Mitchell.  Tickets will go on sale Monday Aug. 15 at 9:00 a.m. Mountain  Standard Time.  Anticipating brisk ticket sale, we have worked to get our own FSOS Alumni Affinity Group page ready to go.  The updated page should be available within a week and there you will find links enabling you to purchase tickets for the Spectacular as well as any other Homecoming activity.  When the page is available, we will make a post at our Facebook group site.  We will also remind you about the start of tickets sales as we get closer to Aug 15.

Following leaders is the path of safety

Back in the early 80's I purchased a copy of The Teaching of Spencer W. Kimball (Edward Kimball., ed. Bookcraft. 1982).  I wore it out.  I purchased another copy and lost it in a move.  Recently, I ordered a used copy from a book seller's website.  When the package arrived,  I opened it and immediately  looked for some of my favorite quotes and in doing so, I was surprised to see many statements that hit home about today's  most pressing national issues.

We need to carefully follow the counsel of our living leaders, but if we really want a testimony of the power of the gift of prophecy on these men, go back and read what they said twenty or thirty years ago.  If we have concerns about immigration issues, read the words of President Kimball.  If we want to understand the challenges facing our nation regading it's finacial obligations, read the words of President Harold B. Lee.  If you want to know about government and the Constitution, read the words of President Ezra Taft Benson.  If we want to know how to face the threat of terrorism, read from the life of Howard W. Hunter.  If we lose sleep at night about issues of media bias, having a bedside copy of  anything written by President Gordon B. Hinckley, would serve better than a glass of warm milk.

A "prophet" who can't anticipate future events is not a prophet.  We have men at the head of our church who do see the course of future events and they really do give us a warning voice.  

"Following leaders is the path of safety.  Every normal person may have a sure way of knowing what is right and what is wrong.  He may learn the gospel and receive the Holy Spirit which will always guide him as to right and wrong.  In addition to this, he has the leaders of the Lord's church.  And the only sure, safe way is to follow that leadership--follow the Holy Spirit within you and follow the prophets, dead and living." (Edward Kimball., ed.  The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball.  Bookcraft. 1982 pg. 459).

The Stagnant Truth

How many times have we known people who failed to live up to their potential because they couldn't find the answer to a problem in a book or manual written by somebody else?

Often, creativity goes hand in hand with the type of leadership that gets things done and that motivates people.  It is important to be well informed, but as this quote states, we need to take what we learn and make it into something else:

Stagnant Truth

"Do not mistake acquirement of mere knowledge for power.  Like food, these things must be digested and assimilated to become life or force.  Learning is not wisdom; knowledge is not necessarily vital energy.  The student who has to cram through a school or a college course, who has made himself merely a receptacle for the teacher's thoughts and ideas, is not educated; he has not gained much.  He is a reservoir, not a fountain.  One retains, the other gives forth.  Unless his knowledge is converted into wisdom, into faculty, it will become stagnant like still water.--J. E. Dinger (Lyte, Clyde Francis., ed. Leaves of Gold. Coslett Publishing, 1948. pg 59)

Kindess is not a weak word

  When we serve in leadership positions, whether inside of the church or outside, we may find that the challenges we face sometimes require us to grow and change ourselves. Recently, I was involved in a large project; it demanded a lot of time and resources. Some people became dissatisfied that their pet projects were to be set aside for a time.  One individual became offended and began to express anger that their project didn't receive the resources they felt were "owed" to them.  I found the statements and anger expressed to be self-serving and short sighted.  In response, I could feel anger building up in myself.

I knew that the project needed everyone's effort.  As a leader, I had a choice:  give in to my own anger and frustration as a way of manipulating  this individual or find a way of side-stepping contention and get everyone back on track with the larger, more demanding project.  I really wanted to do the first, after all this person was acting like a jerk!  Instead, I chose something better.  I decided to do as Alma taught in the Book of Mormon :

"Now, as I said concerning faith--that it was not a perfect knowledge-- even so it is with my words. . .

But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if you can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for  a portion of my words. (Alma 32: 26-27).

The motto we have chosen to use for the BYU Former Student Officers Society comes from an address given by  President Gordon B. Hinckley.  Speaking at a Regional Conference of Priesthood Leadership in the Boston Massachusetts area on April 22, 1995, President Hinckley said, "Kindness, civility, decency, honesty, integrity, in our relationships--these are the qualities we need." (Gordon B. Hinckley, Discourses of President Gordon B. Hinckley Vol I: 1995-1999, Deseret Book. 2005. Pg 270.)

As I faced my co-worker, both of us by now offended and angry, I could hear these words from a Prophet of God ringing though my head, "Kindness, Civility, Decency, Honesty, Integrity."  I thought of Alma, and decided to try a faith experiment on the word.  The word I chose from among the group was kindness.

I took a deep breath, like you would jumping off a cliff, and then said, " I realize that you are being required to make sacrifices for this project, but all we are really asking for is a little kindness on your part."

In an instant, I was looking at a person with a very different countenance.  The anger was gone!  My own anger was replaced by respect.  My co-worker had  done just as Alma describes, "Therefore, blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble; or rather, in other words, blessed is he who believeth in the word. . ." ( Alma 32:16)

The Constitution--A Glorious Standard

On September 16, 1986, President Ezra Taft Benson delivered an address at BYU entitled The Constitution--A Glorious Standard.  This Brigham Young University devotional was later reprinted in the Ensign in September, 1987.  It is well worth our time to read the entire address.  The following are a few excerps:

"To understand the significance of the Constitution, we must first understand some basic, eternal principles.  These principles have their beginning in the premortal councils of heaven.

"The first basic principle is agency.  The central issue in that premortal council was: Shall the children of God have untrammeled agency to choose the course they should follow, whether good or evil, or shall they be coerced and forced to be obedient?  Christ and all who followed Him stood for the former proposition-freedom of choice; Satan stood for the latter--coercion and force.


"The second basic principle concerns the function and proper role of government.. . .The most important single function of government is to secure the rights and freedoms of individual citizens.

"The third important principle pertains to the source of basic human rights.  Rights are either God-given as part of the divine plan, or they are granted by government as part of the political plan.

"If we accept the premise that human rights are granted by government, then we must be willing to accept the corollary that they can be denied by government.  I, for one, shall never accept that premise.  We must ever keep in mind the inspired words of Thomas Jefferson, as found in the Declaration of Independence:

'We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain inalienable Rights; that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; that to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.'

"The fourth basic principle we must understand is that people are superior to the governments they form.  Since God created people with certain inalienable rights, and they, in turn, created government to help secure and safeguard those rights, it follows that the people are superior to the creature they created.

"The fifth and final principle . . .basic to our understanding of the Constitution is that governments should have only limited powers.  The important thing. . .is that the people who have created their government can give to that government only such powers as they, themselves have in the first place. . .they cannot give that which they do not possess." (Ezra Taft Benson, "The Constitution--A Glorious Standard," Ensign, September 1987.)

No blind followers Part III

Good results come from training people to do their jobs.  Productive leaders need to understand how each  person or department contributes to the over all success of the program and  they find ways to empower workers to learn how to fulfill responsibilities.  Giving in to the temptation to do someone else's work for them, encourages our people to remain blind to their own obligations.  In our impatience to "get the job done right" or move the work along faster, we get short term rewards with long term consequences.

" 'We must be as coaches in a football game and not become the quarterbacks, to attempt to do directly what we have the responsibility to teach those under our charge to do.'  A dictatorship may be a shortcut to get immediate action, but the longer-lasting results come in painstaking and patient instruction and development by giving a man a responsibility and then letting him learn his duty and giving him the authority to act in his office and calling, according to his appointment.

"This is an objective of leadership which we sometimes fail to consider in our anxiety to promote certain programs. . .  The principle of stewardship is one in which we each have some clearly defined responsibility and a sameness of calling and concern for others, even as God holds us accountable to Him for our performance.  We may fail to let the principle of stewardship operate when we take over someone else's responsibility.  If we do, we not only prevent growth but we blur the lines of accountability.  The matter of our being willing to let another learn his duty involves our willingness to teach correct principles and then allow the individual enough room to apply and grow in his leadership.   (Lee, Harold B,. The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, Clyde J. Williams, Ed.,  Bookcraft, 1996. pg. 512)