Strive to Become & Build Others
Objectives
- What does it mean to "Strive to Become"?
- How do we build others?
Our Father’s work and glory are “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”
As our great Exemplar, the Savior showed us how to live, and as our Redeemer, he made it possible to exercise our faith to repent and progress along the path that leads to eternal life.
The way of the disciple requires a commitment both to striving to become better ourselves and to lifting and building others.
What does it mean to "Strive to Become"?
The ultimate end goal of "Strive to Become" is to become like our Savior. However, it is a process that we will work on throughout our lives.
Read the following articles and reflect on the following questions:
- Striving to Become Like Him - The Spoken Word
- Until Seventy Times Seven - Lynn G. Robbins
- 2 Nephi 32
The Man in the Arena
It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.
| Example of Christ: Jesus Teaches of Being Born Again | |
WATCH Jesus Teaches of Being Born Again or READ John 3:1-21, then consider the following questions:
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How do We Build Others?
Building others can be seen as serving, helping, and teaching those people you lead. You need to show respect to all people. Also, building others will require you to show kindness and love.
Watch the Building Others/Choose2TOA video:
Paradigms and 7 Habits Overview
Watch and read the following about the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
- Watch the Paradigms video.
(3:47, Paradigms Transcript)
- Read the first part of the Paradigms and Principles chapter (Starting on page 45 and ending on page 72).
- Take notes as you read.
- Read The 7 Habits-An Overview (pages 73-88).
- Review the following 7 Habits of Highly Effective People at a Glance infographic.
Habit 1: Be Proactive
- Watch this video, The 7 Habits Coach: Episode 10 (start at 6:50 min).
(7:49, The 7 Habits Coach: Episode 10 Transcript)
- Read Habit 1: Be Proactive (pages 90-102)
- Read the Circle if Concern/Circle of Influence (pages 102-111)
- You will apply these concepts in future assignments.
Habit 1
- Principle: I am free to choose, and I am responsible for my choices.
- Ineffective Paradigm: I am a product of my circumstances.
- Effective Paradigm: I am a product of my choices.
Values and principles guide behavior. Hence, each of the Habits is based on a principle or value.
“When we can no longer change a situation, we are challenged to change ourselves.”
-Viktor Frankl
“Our destiny is not determined by the number of times we stumble but by the number of times we stand up, dust ourselves off, and stride forward.”
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Mini-Case: Gaining Trust as a New Leader
Henri, a young leader from France, had had great success in building an outstanding network of distribution partners throughout Europe. Impressed with his success, the CEO of the company asked him to move from Europe to the head office in the United States to lead the entire international network.
While a caring person at heart, Henri was also a deeply private person. His management style, while effective in Europe, was foreign to his colleagues from America and from other parts of the world. For example, in a meeting with the Latin American region, he made the following sincere statement: “I don’t want to be your friend; I want to be your partner.” This message resonated well with his European colleagues, but his new Latin American counterparts were more accustomed to a “Friends first, business second” way of doing things, and they interpreted his message as, “I don’t want to be your friend.”
Similarly, back at headquarters, his colleagues were accustomed to building trust and shared meaning through open conversations about family, life decisions, and other private matters. Since Henri kept personal matters to himself, some mistrusted his intentions, felt that he was “all business,” and that he didn’t have their best intentions at heart.
Henri worried that if he couldn’t get people to trust him, he would struggle to lead them where they needed to go.
- Based on the principles we have learned so far about learning and growing personally, and about building others, what would you do if you were in Henri’s shoes?
- What doctrine or principles, if understood, would help you gain the trust and commitment of your colleagues?
Please note: You will be discussing this mini-case in your groups.