BYU-Idaho students gathered today to listen to a devotional featuring two speakers, Sister Rebecca Craven and President Ronald Craven. Their messages centered on themes of humility in leadership and the importance of having a strong work ethic, which provided students with profound insights and advice.
Sister Craven served as the second counselor in the Young Women General Presidency of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. President and Sister Craven were just called as mission leaders for the Salt Lake City Headquarters Mission of the Church and will report to their mission tomorrow.
Sister Craven’s devotional focused on the concept of humility within covenant leadership. Her address highlighted the great qualities that define a humble leader, drawing from experiences within her own life and in The Church of Jesus Christ.
“Humble leaders are aware of their shortcomings and are eager to listen and learn. We may not be able to use all the advice we receive, but we can accept it gracefully and never close the door to being taught or corrected. In many cases, I have learned more from loving correction than from praise. It stings, but I’m grateful for those who are willing to help me become better,” she said.
Sister Craven outlined seven traits of humble leadership, including being a servant, recognizing scattered revelation, understanding that different is not necessarily wrong, asking inspired questions, building unity, being teachable and avoiding spiritual manipulation. She reminded students that being a leader doesn’t require a fancy title, but that they can be leaders in their communities, wards and especially in their homes.
“I hope that students will realize that they already are leaders, but the Lord expects them to be leaders throughout their lives and that they can stand up and be courageous and know that because of covenants that they’ve made, that they have power,” she said in an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio. “They are leaders and that the Lord needs them to be his leaders throughout the world so that we can prepare the world for the second coming of His Son.”
Brother Craven’s address titled, “Doers of the Work,” tackled the topic of virtue in honest and sustained work, particularly in the context of modern-day challenges. He expressed his concern over idle attitudes toward work that seem to be frequently seen in certain young adults, emphasizing that work is a principle rooted in divine example, referencing the continuous labor of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
“Feeling entitlement and embracing mediocrity seem to be a festering disease in our society. It is discouraging to me to see an assault on the virtue of hard, focused work,” he said.
President Craven, in hopes of guiding students in evaluating their work ethic, posed a few reflection questions: Am I dependable? Am I responsible? Do I take accountability and avoid blaming others? Do I show initiative? All questions that he hoped would help students see where they are in their work ethic.
President Craven encouraged students to prepare diligently for future opportunities and challenged them to prepare themselves for anything “just in case.” He reminded the audience that effort precedes energy and to always put in all their effort because it will make all the difference in their lives.
“Our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, they’re workers. Work is a blessing, it’s a privilege,” he said in an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio. “We would hope that rather than looking for ways to avoid work, avoid hard work even, that we say that work is a blessing from our Heavenly Father. It helps me to grow and develop and prosper.