BYU Summit

I had the opportunity to attend The Summit BYU Leadership Experience on Friday. It was an inspiring and insightful program. We heard from four, successful, BYU Alumni: Art Rascon, Carine Clark, Sean Reyes, and Liz Wiseman. I would like to briefly highlight their remarks and share some ideas that were meaningful to me.

Art Rascon's challenged us to "be someone." Most importantly, he wanted us to understand who we are. Art said, "if we truly understand who we are, then we are someone -- we are children of God." He told us that our divine identity gives us meaning and enables us to "be someone." His last key point concerned our spirituality. He said, "the greatest leaders will always be the greatest followers of the direction of the spirit of God." Receiving revelation is essential to us being able to serve and lift our peers.

Carine Clark encouraged us to "decide today." Small decision today can largely impact our future. She challenged us to decide to be "unoffendable." In other words, she invited us to take control of our lives and to not let offense paralyze us or degrade our important relationships. Carine shared personal examples where her love was able to lift others and herself from dark times. Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice already paid for everything so it is our decision to act today to follow him.

Sean Reyes told us to stand up for what we believe in. He shared a cool story where he was invited to give a speech at a large gathering of attorneys. The directors read his prepared speech and told him to revise it because it referenced God too often. The directors believed that his message might bother some people in the audience. Sean thought about it and kindly declined to revise his speech because it was what he believed, and if they (the directors) wanted to award someone else they could have a different speaker. Sean gave the speech and it was well received by the audience.

Liz closed by sharing her life story. Her main idea was to "make yourself useful." She challenged us to serve a higher purpose, even if in the moment it is not your main desire.