50. Following Our Priesthood Line Authority

Problem or situation. The influence of my area supervisor, Elder Kikuchi, had a profound impact on my mission experience. I learned from his counsel and advice, and from his example.

I had known Elder Kikuchi as a missionary in Japan 18 years earlier. I had memories of him as a warm, considerate, dedicated young missionary. Though I had not had a lot of contact with him over the intervening years, I had had dinner with him shortly before my call came to serve as a mission president. We had discussed missionary work. It was then--before I knew anything about possibly being called as a mission president--that he began to share his vision of what could and should happen in Japan.           .

As soon as I was called, Elder Kikuchi spent more time with me and shared his vision of the work in more detail, expressing his expectations of me. He shared with me several of the talks from President Kimball in which he discussed his vision of missionary work. Elder Kikuchi said, "Dee, when we read these, we just can't sit still. We have to get going." I began to feel his vision. It was the same vision President Kimball was talking about, and I felt it was right.   .

Elder Kikuchi helped me resolve the many problems and concerns and conflicts in leading a mission. In a sense, a mission president is responsible to many people: to the Lord, to the Prophet, to his direct priesthood line authority, to the missionary department, to the visiting general authorities, to the missionaries and their families, to the local Church leaders, to the local people among whom he is laboring, to his own family, to himself, and to many others. These people are not always in agreement with one another about what should be done--the goals and objectives themselves--let alone the methods and approaches for achieving them.

Though the general goals and objectives of missionary work may be similar to members of the Church, the attitudes, methods, timing, and overall approaches differ considerably from person to person. Before, during, (and even after) my mission I had seen and heard many of these "visions" of missionary work. I once asked Elder Kikuchi about the different attitudes, methods, timings, and approaches. How did he handle them? His response was that he resolved it by just following the Prophet. That being the case, I decided I would be on safe ground by following Elder Kikuchi. And I wanted to follow him.   

Action taken. (?-??) BELIEVED IN AND FOLLOWED MY PRIESTHOOD LINE AUTHORITY, ELDER KIKUCHI. (Productivity label:   not labeled.) . 

In most supervisor/subordinate relationships, the subordinate generally has to follow. But believing in and following are quite different things. Following

gets one's mind and hands to work at task; believing in and following get one's heart and soul, spirit and dedication, creativity and imagination, as well. That is what I felt with Elder Kikuchi. I can seldom remember feeling I had to do something that he wanted me to do. It was more that I got to do what we both wanted to do and knew was right. There were times I didn't fully understand his counsel and direction, but even then I trusted, believed, and followed to the best of my ability. I did everything I could to persuade my missionaries to follow him as well. 

Results of the action. I believed that harmony between leader and follower was essential not only for enjoyment and satisfaction but also for effectiveness. I felt we had that harmony. We were together. Our togetherness helped unite our missionaries and the whole mission in a common purpose.

I attribute much of the success we had to Elder Kikuchi's leadership and vision. It was not just that I believed in and followed him, but also because of his warmth and consideration, his dedication and hard work, his insight and ability, and his unique power to plant the vision of the Prophet--which was his own vision--into the hearts of others. 

Overall Conclusions 

During my mission, I kept a list of new insights I had gained and old insights that had been reinforced. I called it THINGS I LEARNED AS MISSION PRESIDENT WITH REGARD TO PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATIONS. Following are a few of these items. I have found them to be effective not only in a mission, but also in organizations as diverse as restaurant chains and oil companies. 

1. PEOPLE ARE ALMOST ALWAYS SOMEWHAT UNSURE AND THUS PUT ON "FALSE FRONTS." THEY WANT TO FOLLOW "SURE" PEOPLE. 

            2. THERE IS A RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN ATTITUDE (VISION) AND KNOW-HOW (SKILLS). YOU NEED BOTH TO BE SUCCESSFUL.  

3. DECISIONS AS TO WHO YOU TRUST HAVE THE GREATEST IMPACT ON YOU. 

4. FEW PEOPLE WILL AUTOMATICALLY DO WHAT YOU TELL THEM TO DO. 

5. FEELINGS ARE EQUALLY IF NOT MORE IMPORTANT THAN FACTS. 

6. DON'T JUDGE PEOPLE BY APPEARANCES OR FIRST IMPRESSIONS. IT IS PERFORMANCE OVER A PERIOD OF TIME THAT REALLY COUNTS. 

             7. YOU MUST BUILD SUCCESS   IN STAGES: THE LATER STEPS WON'T WORK IN THE EARLY PERIODS AND THE EARLY STEPS ARE OFTEN IRRELEVANT IN THE LATER PERIODS.

8. A CORRECT PERCEPTION OF WHO YOU ARE IS THE KEY TO EFFECTIVE PERFORMANCE. 

9. CREATIVITY IS NOT JUST CREATING SOMETHING NEW, BUT ACQUIRING FROM OTHERS AND APPLYING IT TO NEW OR OLD SITUATIONS. 

10. IN ORDER TO MAKE A SYSTEM OR PROGRAM WORK, YOU HAVE TO HAVE BUILT-IN CHECK-UPS TO SEE THAT PEOPLE ARE REALLY DOING THE PROGRAM AS DESIGNED. 

11. THINKING, PLANNING, STRATEGY, PRIORITIES, AND TIMING ARE MORE IMPORTANT THAN JUST. "HARD WORK." 

12. ABILITY TO IDENTIFY COMPETENT PEOPLE AND ASSIGN THEM APPROPRIATELY IS A MORE IMPORTANT SKILL THAN BEING COMPETENT AT THE ASSIGNMENT YOURSELF. 

13. THE QUESTIONS OF "WHO" AND "WHEN" ARE USUALLY BEST ANSWERED BY "ME" AND "NOW." (LOOK INWARD, NOT OUTWARD DO SOMETHING NOW, NOT LATER.)

  14. THE MOST VALUABLE TYPE OF SELF-CONFIDENCE IS NOT ONE BASED ON SPECIFIC SKILLS AND KNOWLEDGE BUT RATHER A CONFIDENCE THAT YOU BOTH CAN AND WILL GAIN THE NEEDED SKILLS AND 'KNOWLEDGE TO DO ANYTHING YOU DECIDE TO DO IN ANY SITUATION. 

15. YOU CAN EITHER MAKE GOOD THINGS HAPPEN, OR LET BAD THINGS HAPPEN. 

16. WITHOUT A DOUBT THE GREATEST WASTE IN THE WORLD IS NOT FUEL OR NATURAL RESOURCES BUT HUMAN POTENTIAL.

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