Kurt Francom, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was struggling in his calling as the Elder’s Quorum president in his young single adult ward.
“I made all the typical mistakes. I guilt tripped them about home teaching and just burned the candle at both ends. At the end of that experience, I was kind of deflated. I tried hard; nothing seemed to work,” he said.
Francom then met his wife, got married and moved. Years later, however, Francom was called to be in his ward’s bishopric. Then, he was called to be a high priest group leader.
Past failures discouraged Francom as he tried to learn how to best motivate and inspire the ward he led in. Seeking leadership advice, he observed there were many books about leadership in general, but few about leadership in the church.
“I could walk into a bookstore and there’d be bookshelves full of life leadership, business leadership, so much leadership research and knowledge,” Francom said. “I didn’t consider myself a leadership guru by any means, but I thought, maybe I can create a platform to start having conversations about leadership principles … in the context of being a leader in the church.”
His experiences inspired him to start a podcast in 2014 that combined church and leadership principles.
Francom is the executive director and founder of “Leading Saints,” a popular podcast that discusses how members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can become better leaders in their church congregations.
The podcast has released about 800 episodes over the past 10 years.
It has featured many guests, including former Relief Society General President Julie Beck, General Authority Seventy Elder Tad R. Callister, New York Times best-selling author Liz Wiseman and President of BYU-Idaho Alvin F. Meredith III.
Leading Saints is more than a podcast. It also includes retreats, virtual conferences and articles on the website.
You can learn more about Leading Saints and listen to the podcast here.