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Dan Duckworth is a disciple, family man, and changemaker. As a teacher and coach, he guides elite leaders to the top of their game. He’s the author of Stop Asking Why: Your Purpose is Self-Evident, and president of the Leading Saints Board of Directors. This podcast is the second of a 2-part presentation for the Young Saints Virtual Conference.

Listen to PART 1: Why Testimony is Not the Only Goal for Latter-day Youth—Part 1


Highlights
00:40 In general, our goal for the youth is to develop disciples of Jesus Christ. We want people who show up for Christ and contribute to the kingdom. We are looking for leaders and contributors that can be productive and effective leaders, missionaries, parents, and spouses.

04:20 Kurt and Dan talk about character building and why it’s important to leadership. Youth development could also be considered character development.

06:25 Youth development isn’t about knowledge or skills. Character is the most important thing.

07:20 Dan explains what character is and how it affects youth development and leadership.

09:20 Contrary to popular belief, character isn’t good or bad. It’s either effective or ineffective relative to your goals.

10:55 It’s not just about staying on the covenant path. Christ is looking for builders of the kingdom. He wants people to work alongside him. That is why character is so important. Character is about how consistently you show up.

11:40 Becoming a disciple of Christ is equally about developing character and testimony.

Character is how you show up.
Testimony is why you show up for Christ.

13:40 It’s easy to get hyper focused on testimony development and completely overlook character development. Both are equally important.

15:40 Examples in the scriptures of testimony and character. Great examples are Jonah and Peter. They had great testimonies but weak characters. Jonah tried to run away. Peter denied Christ three times.

16:40 How do you gain a testimony? Testimony is built through direct experiences with God. You are a witness of something. You could be a first hand witness or you have an experience with the holy spirit.

19:40 We need to understand character and testimony to be effective youth leaders.

20:30 Between 20 to 30 percent of missionaries go home early. Most have the testimony but lack the character. The emotional and mental maturity isn’t there to help them deal with the demands of a mission.

23:40 More scriptural examples of testimony and character.

25:55 How does character develop in the real world?

30:35 Leadership development with adults vs. youth development. Adults are much more stuck in their ways and harder to change their thinking. They aren’t malleable like the youth.

33:05 The single most impactful factor on youth development is if mentors are involved and if that mentor was not just assigned but if they emerged. They became that youth’s mentor because they were a teacher or coach and they also wanted to mentor them.

33:55 Dan shares a real life example of how a teacher became a mentor to a young man who was struggling on his sports team and also Dan’s son, who was training to run a half marathon. This man wasn’t assigned. He wanted to mentor these kids.

36:00 Most of us block people off who try to mentor or influence us. It’s only occasionally that there is a special connection made and we then open ourselves up to be mentored.

38:25 Our behavior and the narrative that we have for ourselves is based on the experiences that we have. We have to be open up to rewriting that narrative and accepting mentorship or therapy.

40:00 A huge part of mentorship is just helping that person understand the experiences that they have had or are currently having and what those experiences mean to them or about them.

41:00 How to get in a state of mentorship
#1 Deeply care about the growth of that youth or person.