S1 E11: High Love, High Expectations: Christ-Centered Leadership in Action | BYU's Ballard Center Students

In this inspiring episode of Born to Lead, Connie Sokol and Madison Lattin sit down with student leaders Hallie Moldenhauer and Carson Richens from the Ballard Center for Social Impact at Brigham Young University — a powerful, student-driven “social impact engine” dedicated to solving real-world problems through faith and action.

With over 160 students leading initiatives, designing interventions, and teaching principles of impact, the Ballard Center is redefining what young leadership looks like.

In this episode, they share:

• What “high love and high expectations” really looks like in action
• The difference between empathy and compassion — and how to avoid burnout
• Why affinity and proximity matter when serving others
• How to collaborate without pride and lead without having all the answers
• Overcoming the fear of not being “ready” to lead

Hallie and Carson speak candidly about learning curves, humility, balancing school and leadership, and trusting Christ to “make them enough.” Their message is clear: leadership isn’t about position — it’s about service, community, and choosing to act.

If you’ve ever felt hesitant, unqualified, or unsure whether you’re capable of leading, this conversation will remind you that potential — not perfection — qualifies you.

You were born to lead. The question is: will you step forward?

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome back to Born to Lead. We're your host, Connie Sokel. And we are so excited to talk to two students today who they basically run that Ballard Center at BYU. It's fantastic. We have hot Hallie Moldenhauer and we have Carson Richens. Welcome today. Thank you so much. We're having us for exciting to be here.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Yes, thank you so much. It's wonderful to be here.

SPEAKER_00 0:31

We're so excited to hear from you and your real-time experiences. Learning leadership, we understand the Ballard Center is essentially run by 160 students with some adult supervision. Sounds like occasionally, no, I'm kidding. But it sounds like it's incredible and lots of real-time experience in learning leadership. So we're going to jump in and ask you more about it.

SPEAKER_04 0:49

Yeah. So just to start off, can you explain to our listeners very briefly of what the Ballard Center is and what drew you to it?

SPEAKER_01 0:59

Yeah, I can start off. I would say the Ballard Center, we like to call it a social impact engine on campus. So we like to gather in all the different organizations around us, all the different students interested in making a change and empower them to make that change. So we're not the center for all social impact on BYU campus, but more we teach about social impact. We involve ourselves in social impact. We expose people to social impact. That way other leaders can go out and make a difference in the world through knowing the principles that will enable them to make that change.

SPEAKER_00 1:34

Love that. Anything to add, Hallie?

SPEAKER_03 1:37

I love the Ballard Center. I kind of like doubled across it. We have a class called Dip Get Better, which actually perfectly charge up. But I just ended up taking that class and I just fell in love. Like I just fell in love with the things that we teach. The mission of the Ballard Center is to help students develop the skills and faith to solve social problems, which is kind of broad, but all of our teams basically just enable students to do exactly that, be an engine for social impact. And so I have like loved being a part of it, and I've seen so many miracles. There's a kind of like a thing going around the Ballard Center where like you go to the temple to make covenants, but then you go to work, you go to the Ballard Center to keep them. And I just have seen that so real of just giving me opportunities to like live the covenants that I've made and to really just get involved in the suffering of people all around.

SPEAKER_00 2:25

Oh, so good. And I love that tagline to do good better. It's so good. We had the privilege of coming and doing a training at the Ballard Center last week, and it was so fantastic. It was amazing when we walked in. That energy is palpable of gathering people who want to do good and, like you said, do it better. And that's leadership, right? Learning those leadership principles. And I love that that's what you're kind of cultivating is this mindset and this way of going about things, your leadership approach. So we would love to know, you know, there's a lot going on in your lives at this stage. You've got school, you got work, you got all the things. What is maybe one of the skills that you have learned working at the Ballard Center and with people? What's maybe a leadership skill that you've learned, and especially one that kind of relates back to maybe Christ Center leadership? There's so many that he just naturally did in his leadership. But is there one leadership principle that's really stood out to you or really helped you?

SPEAKER_03 3:16

Yeah, I think I can go ahead and go first on this one. I have seen so much in the Ballard Center, just kind of the idea of high love and high expectations. We have what we call like the Ballard Way, which is basically just the way that we like engage with part of my change. The principle of the Ballard Way is Christ-Centered Leadership, and the things that we talk about include just this idea of high love and high expectations. Um, and in the Ballard Center, like it's so overwhelming. Like solving social issues and engaging in in that space is often really overwhelming because you're talking to people all the time that are just in the depths of hardships and are suffering. And like that's why we're there. We're there because they're suffering. And so how we there's like a lot of high expectations, a lot, a lot of things that you have to do in order to like engage in those social issues. And so I've been really grateful because in the Ballard Center, it is very student-led, which adds a lot of really high expectations of how we function and the standards that we have. But I've been really impressed to see also the high love. Everyone there loves each other so much. That's the reason we're there is because we love people and we want to help people. And so I feel like just the idea of just high love, high expectations. It's been really cool. But just experiencing that and then also being able to use that principle in service of others.

SPEAKER_00 4:26

Oh, that's fantastic. And I was just listening to Lynn G. Robbins. I was speaking at a conference, and he was there and he was sharing that parenting model that he said that is the ultimate best model is high love, high expectations. So you are all just practicing to be awesome parents. Can't wait to see what you guys all do with the next generation. That's fantastic. Carson, did you want to weigh in?

SPEAKER_01 4:45

Yeah, I would love to. I'd say at the core of my Ballad Center experience, it's been co-production from the beginning. Students are the engine of the center. We are the driving force. And it's amazing to me just to see how involved our supervisors keep us. They trust us to make decisions. They want us to make decisions. And as leaders in the Ballad Center, as student leaders, we're encouraged to not dictate our team, not to manage our team, but to work with them. And so I've found most of my the greatest ideas that I've had throughout this past year working in the Ballad Center has been through talking with my coworkers, talking to people from other teams, talking to those who have just been hired on for a week. And I believe that's what Christ would do. Christ likes to build up people. He likes to get their ideas. He can make miracles happen with whatever ideas, whatever efforts we can give them. And I'd just love to see that put into practice in my work every single day. I would not be able to do more than half of the things that I've done here. I'm working on developing a textbook, working on updating class curriculum. None of that I'd be able to do if it wasn't for all the many wonderful people I work with.

SPEAKER_00 5:56

And I love that that co-collaboration. And I know Elder Bednar talks about that revelation principle. A couple of them do, but he did it in his book, The Scattered Among Us principle. So that, you know, you bring your loaf and your fish, and you bring your two loaves and their fishes, and you gather them together. And then the Lord, through that covenant keeping, he's able to help us magnify and become not just what we're trying to achieve in the outcome, but ourselves. We're developing ourselves in the process without making it a focus. I love that.

SPEAKER_04 6:24

And you both are doing a great work, especially leadership-wise, at the Ballard Center. And you said, Carson, that you've done so many things that you wouldn't have done without being part of the Ballard Center. So, how do you two both navigate your own social lives, your personal life, school life? I feel like that would be very difficult. How do you balance that?

SPEAKER_01 6:48

Yeah, I can I can start, I guess. Um, I was put into a leadership role at the Ballard Center over the summer when that's all I had going. And it was great. I was able to get my feet wet and get started. And I thought it was going to be smooth scaling for the rest of my time here. But then the semester started. I got accepted into a program and I was in our hardest semester, what we call the junior core. And so I was busy with school, I was busy with work, I had things going on in my personal life. And it was just a miracle to see how supportive everyone was around me. I found that as I was leading in a Christ-like way, as I developed those personal connections with those that I was leading, then when I was overwhelmed, when I was busy, when I needed to balance between social life, school, and work, I had people I can lean on. And that's what I think a Christ-like community can do. If you lead like Christ, not only will you be able to support others, but they'll be willing to support you in your times of need.

SPEAKER_00 7:45

That's so beautiful. In fact, I just had a mental wellness conference for my calling in my ward. And they were talking about these factors of mental wellness and what are like the core, core factors. And one of them, the strongest, one of the strongest is community and just creating that community where you go. And it doesn't have to be a neighborhood, but just the community that has that has your back. So, so good.

SPEAKER_03 8:08

Yeah, I think as you asked that question, there are so many times where I wake up every day and I have like a planned list of what I need to do, and I just get a sopperwoman. So I'm like, how, how am I supposed to get this all done? I care so much about every aspect of my life, and I know that every aspect is important. And I just over and over have witnessed like the miracle of being made enough to the atonement of Jesus Christ. It's been really incredible. And I just I think of that primary lesson where they have the darns, your big rocks and your small rocks, and then like the little sands. And it's so simple, but you know, it's so true. Like when we choose to put God first, it all works together. And I just have seen, especially with the work that I get to do in the Ballard Center and the service I provide there, like God cares so much about what I'm doing, especially when it involves serving and loving his children. He cares a lot, and he has made me enough in ways that I have not even been able to like thank him enough for. Um and so I I'm grateful for that question because it is a lot and it's really overwhelming. There's personal life, there's school, there's work, and it can be a lot and often is. Um, but I know that I just God cares about all of it and makes it makes it work.

SPEAKER_04 9:21

And I love this because it doesn't just apply to the Ballard Center, but it's to all leadership positions that we can be a part of. That God makes it work as we just listen to him, as we do good, he will make the difference.

SPEAKER_00 9:36

I love that so much. And you brought up something that I want to touch back on really quickly because this is the hard thing as a leader. When you want to go in and help people, and that's what a lot of people who are gonna be listening to this, right? That's what they want to do. And what you brought up, there's a lot of people suffering, and there's there's only so much you can do. You go in and you're not going to be able to reverse everything that's happened in the last 10, 20 years of their lives. You're just gonna go in and try to do good better. How do you navigate that reality of knowing what your part is, what how much you can do, and being able to let God, right? Not not having not feeling like you're taking on a God complex, but still just doing your part to move forward and being able to let go of that frustration or the heartache of that suffering. How do you navigate that?

SPEAKER_03 10:24

I think that's a really great question, and something that I think anybody who engages in any sort of social impact and also service in general, like when we engage in in trying to serve God's children, it's really overwhelming and there's always often a lot that goes into that. And so I think one thing that we did at the Bellard Center in our our Do Get Better class, and I guess in other classes we teach, it's something called affinity and proximity. Um, it's just the idea that like the people you are with, like the connections that you already have, like that is a space where you have the ability to make a difference. Um, I think sometimes, especially when we think about like social impact, we get into this idea of like, oh, it's grandiose. We go across seas and we serve these people who who have nothing, right? Which I think there's a space for that. I think that's super important. I think it's incredible. But I also just think, especially in a time where it often is overwhelming, like we were just talking about the greatest difference you can have is in the connections that are already there that are around you. I remember in our Do Get Better class when I first took it, we do an assignment called an issue brief. And so the whole assignment um kind of lasts like the semester long, where you choose kind of a one, a co-creator, and you get to know them, you love them, and you love the problem, and you kind of create like kind of this research based on something that someone you know is experiencing and the suffering they're going through. And I remember sitting in that class and like I don't know anybody, like I I didn't understand affinity and proximity super well. And so I was thinking about like, well, everybody that I know like has food, everybody I know has a home, and all of those big social issues we think about, like homelessness and food scarcity, like all those things, I was like, I don't I don't think I can engage with that. I'm not super proximate. Um so I just felt prompted to literally just sit there on my phone and scroll through my contacts. And so I scrolled through, and as I did, I started making a list, and it was so overwhelming. That was like such an amazing experience for me because I realized that the people that I love, the people that I care about, like they are suffering, and they are extremely hard. Even if they have food, even if they have filters, there's other ways that that God has asked us to help. I just feel like you can understand like look around you. You just look around, look up at the people who are sitting next to you um in your family or in your classes, or just watching down the street. Like that's where you can live. Um, it's less less where you stand and where you are, because you can make a really big difference there.

SPEAKER_00 13:11

Oh, that is gorgeous. And it makes me think of when Sharon Eubank talked about in a BYU women's conference, she said, God puts us in proximity on purpose. And I love just what you're saying because we do want to look out there and go and feed the hungry and a third world country instead of looking at what's around us. Absolutely love that. And I love she also shared in a recent podcast Sharon Eubank did that she said when she would go out to do something to help, when she was, I think it was in early days when she was going out, she she went to a place with this other gentleman who was her guide, basically. And she said, I didn't know how to help them. Like there was so much, and I just didn't even know. And she said, This guy produced a soccer ball, a soccer ball. She said he knew what was going on, he came prepared, he blew up that soccer ball, and then let the kids go play. And that's exactly what they needed. So sometimes it just makes me think with what you're saying. Sometimes what's needed is something so simple, so small. Sometimes they just need to forget for a while the hard things that aren't gonna change tomorrow, but they can have something that that you can do that's that's right now. Cars, do you want to weigh in?

SPEAKER_01 14:17

Yeah, I'd love to. Definitely. I was gonna touch on the point that Hallie mentioned. It's important to focus on those that you have the affinity and proximity for, emotional and the like the emotional and physical closeness too. But there's also that fear that going into this realm of social impact, going into food scarcity, abuse, or homeless homelessness, it can be really draining. A lot of people express concern that in addressing these issues, they find themselves weighed down. They find themselves struggling with just the fact that they aren't able to do as much as they want to. And there's something else we teach in the class that I work with, the Do the Better class. It's our introductory course, where our primary focus is to help people shift their mindsets on social impact. And for me, there was one lesson that really struck me when I was a student. And it was when we um talked about the difference between empathy and compassion. For me, I'm a very empathetic person, and sometimes I can find myself with empathy fatigue, is what you call it, where my friends will come to me with the struggles they're going through. Last year I had several friends who were abused. I had a friend go through an abuse a divorce, and so many of my close, close family members and friends were going through these really personal issues, these personal struggles that I wasn't able to help them through completely. And it really weighed me down time and time again. And the difference between empathy and compassion is empathy is you feeling what the other person feels. Compassion is taking it one step further where instead of just feeling what they feel, you understand what they're feeling, but you are motivated to act on it. Your focus is on the action that will bring them away from that feeling. That way you're not stuck down there. Because you can't pull someone up from somewhere that you're you're stuck in. First, you need to understand how they're feeling, of course, but recognize that there's a way out. And recognize that in the end, you don't need to solve the problems. That's not your role. Jesus Christ is the master healer, he is the one that will lift those people from where they are. All you need to do is to be a helping hand for their journey up.

SPEAKER_04 16:33

I love that so much, and it makes me think about Jesus Christ. So I'm watching The Chosen Right now with my husband, and it's really amazing to see that Jesus Christ, he's very great at empathy and compassion, and he is the one that's healing. But his disciples are also very much a part of that process. They're not necessarily the ones healing, but they're the ones who are sympathizing and having compassion with the people and allowing Jesus Christ to heal. So I think that is very beautiful. On the contrary, though, instead of working, we work with peers, right? That are trying to solve problems. How do you navigate working with peers that have different perspectives or different ways of working on things? So, for example, Carson, you working with Halley or anyone in the Ballard Center, how do you navigate working with different people as you're trying to create a social impact?

SPEAKER_01 17:32

Yeah, um I can start off if it's okay, Hallie. I I think of an experience that I had over the summer where we were trying to redesign, redesign our introductory course. We had noticed that there were some confusions that students were having, and particularly in one class, um, where we talked about really complex social issues, how to understand them and how to break them down. And in my mind, I thought I had I thought I had all the answers. I thought I had figured it out. I came to the team, I proposed my solution, and then someone raised their hand. They disagreed. They didn't understand the principle as I did. And then another hand came up. They didn't understand the principle as she understood it. And as we went through that meeting, there was a little bit of contention, but we realized that each of us was understanding the same principle an entirely different way. And luckily, as a team, we were able to step back, not take any pride into account, but understand the concerns that each one of us was having. And from that, we were able to understand if we want everyone to understand what we're teaching, we need to clear up each one of our own personal concerns. And so I could have taught the class on my own. I could have gone forward with my with my with my plan, my solution, but there would have been many people that would have been confused. Instead, we co-created, we took time to understand the point of view of the person next to us. And through understanding their point of view, it was it was able to add to my point of view. Most often, finding solutions to these issues with your peers, it's like solving a puzzle. But I'll have a few pieces, Hallie will have a few pieces. No one has them all. And so we need to co-create, we need to collaborate that way. In the end, each little gap can be filled.

SPEAKER_00 19:21

So good. Well, you are all like wise beyond your years. I'm like thinking, I wish I could go back and redo. I didn't get this stuff until I was in my late 30s. You're amazing. In leadership, there's always a learning curve. I think sometimes we think that we pop up just like a daisy and we're gonna be amazing. But there's this learning curve, and there's usually embarrassing moments or learning moments that we're like, uh, but then we end up saying, I learned so much from that. I remember when I was podcast hosting for at the very beginning, I was doing it with KSL, and there was a very well-known author that came on and I didn't have any information. So I said, Oh, so we're talking about your book. Is this your first book? And he said, No, that's my 91st. Oh, mic dropped. I was dying. So have you had any learning moments from then on? I learned from that to get the bio and read it. I didn't have the information, but to get the bio, read it, and make sure I knew something about this person that I was going to be talking to. So it was a great learning experience for me. Do either of you have any kind of experiences like that, a leadership learning curve experience?

SPEAKER_03 20:19

Yeah, I've got plenty. So the work that I do at the Valorant Center is pretty unique. Um, my lab is working on pitching provider communications with young adults on chronic illness. And so we pretty much are creating and designing interventions to help bridge the gap between providers and young adults. And so, as we've kind of like done a lot of our research and done a lot of our designing of our interventions, we wanted to make sure that we were doing it with the help of people who knew the problem. And so we had taken it to a lot of co-creators or people that were young adults that were experiencing and a part of like our demographics. Um, but we had we had to take it to like a provider, so the other end of kind of the issue we were working on. And so my lab partner and I, we realized this and we're like, okay, we need to like have more well-rounded um feedback in for our intervention. And so we took it, um, all the things that we'd been working on for months, and we took it to a few providers and got some pretty negative feedback, and basically just those were completely off. And so I feel like in that moment I realized that like we needed to be better about actually creating interventions, including more people, like the more feedback you can get, and the more humble you are about that, the better. And so I yeah, it was a pretty embarrassing moment for me, but I think it helped me realize that. Like, I really did need to be humble in the ideas that I had. Like, I went into it being like, this is like the best thing ever. Like, we've done so much to get to where we are, and I'm so excited about this. And then I got shot down pretty hard. And so I think just understanding we need everyone to be a part of of what we do and of the leadership that we that we carry forward.

SPEAKER_00 21:54

So beautiful. And you can see because you were talking about like affinity and proximity, and we've been talking about these principles. So I just love that. Arson, do you have one?

SPEAKER_01 22:02

Yeah, I have plenty, but the the one that comes to mind um is right when I had just barely been put into a leadership position at the Ballad Center. And I was just tasked, and like they said, Hey, we want to develop a textbook for the class. And we want you to do it. And then they just said, go for it. So here I am. I'm just barely transitioning into leadership. I have no idea what a textbook even means or what the process of doing that is even about. And I just started. I started working with my team and we worked really effectively. We wrote all these chapters, like for our first beta version that we tested this semester. And I felt really confident with everything. But then I go to the team in the Ballad Center who was going to help us, you know, review, edit, and publish it. Not publish it yet, but like to print it for testing. And I'd worked with my team so hard. We felt we were in a good place. We thought if we had dot all dotted all the I's, crossed all the T's, and then we learned, like, oh, so we were supposed to keep track of like all of our sources throughout writing. Oh, we were supposed to do this. Oh, you needed this. And so there's all these details that we hadn't quite prepared yet, which is fine because we're still like in that testing phase. We're just printing and using it in our own classes. But there's all these things that I didn't even know were part of the process. And so I think I just needed to be a little bit more humble in reaching out to people, saying, hey, you asked me to do this. I actually don't know what to do. Can you help me understand what you actually want me to do? That way I can work most effectively. And that's a lesson I've learned from now on is like it's better to ask questions early on than to get so far into something that you're then reworking things.

SPEAKER_02 23:48

Wow.

SPEAKER_00 23:49

Oh my gosh. I just have to say this just happened to me. So I was asked to write an article for the Leah, and it was on a topic, and we talked about it like two months ago. So I sit down finally to write this article and I've got it. It's great. I have a high-profile person who's edited, said it's fabulous, it's wonderful. So I sent it in to my colleague who is connected to them and said, okay, I'll send it in for you. And then she reads it, she goes, This is such a good article, but it's not on the topic that they asked for because I did not review my notes. I just re-cut one from memory and didn't take the time, just like you're saying, go through the notes. So I see this thread that runs through it, which is being meek. And that is one of the traits of the savior that is so beautiful. In fact, Elder Bednar has a whole talk on meekness and that that is one of the most important traits. And I love that both of you exhibit that in spades of that willingness to jump in and be willing to show up and then say, I don't know what I'm doing. So help me out here. Give me some guidance. So fantastic. Thanks for sharing those.

SPEAKER_04 24:43

Thank you both.

SPEAKER_00 24:44

So we want to ask people listening are probably going, wow, this Ballard Center is amazing, which it is. And what you're doing there is just life-changing. So, what do you see as hesitation for young adults to get into more of a leadership situation? I know when I'm talking with young adults, they're sort of like, well, that's so stressful, or there's a lot required, or I don't think I have enough skills, or whatever. There's a lot of reasons why they don't want to sort of be in charge or move a cause forward or do something. What do you see as some of the issues of why maybe young single adults don't want to be necessarily jump into leadership positions? And then what have you found has been a help to help them be able to overcome those, at least choose one, maybe each of you. And then what has been a help to help them that you would recommend that would help them be able to overcome it? So maybe a hesitation and what you would recommend to overcome that hesitation.

SPEAKER_03 25:36

Yeah, I in my mind was not bored to be a leader at all. That just like didn't feel like me for so long. Because I just did not feel capable. I was super shy for most of my life. Um, just didn't really think that I had a voice, and especially a voice worth listening to. And so I can totally relate with people who feel like that for sure. I I still do in a lot of ways. Um, and so I think like fair, like that's super fair to feel that way. Um, but I feel like my experience getting into the Valor Center was really interesting. I I took a class, and then there was somebody that came in um and gave like little spiel about how they were hiring for the labs into Valerie Center, and I was like, oh, that's super. So I like went and talked to someone and then like literally was hired and that had no idea what was happening. And so I just like kind of happened. I felt like a little bit thrown into it. And even then, like the labs have changed. They like completely redid the way that they ran. And so I was again thrown into this leadership role in the labs that I was not expecting, nor did I was I did I feel like I was like prepared for it at all. And so it just kind of like happened, but I feel like it's been really cool to see how God has created those spaces for me to grow into the leader that he needs. And so I think for people who have hesitation, I think it's okay to feel hesitant. Like I I did and still do in a lot of ways feel hesitant. But also I know that if you just look around you and engage in ways that serve because I think as in the Book of Mormon King Benjamin, his leadership was service. And so I think when we engage in service, that then turns us into a type of leader, a leader that that God can use in order to serve his children, I think that's the point of leaders is is to serve. And so I feel like if you just engage in ways to serve, and if you just like go with it, I think God can create so much more with you, which we hear all the time, but I just feel like it's so true. God can create more with me than you could ever imagine. And he's done that with me, and I know he continued, he will continue to do that with me, but I think just realizing that it's okay that you don't feel inadequate, but realize that when you rely on Christ, you will be. And he he will make that difference for you.

SPEAKER_00 27:43

That is the best. I love how you said just accept that you feel hesitant, right? Just accept that, yeah, I don't feel like I'm qualified. That's the first number one thing. I love that you said that. And then we always say you get it in the doing. You're just gonna have to take that Indiana Jones faith step, and you're just gonna have to trust that you're gonna get it in the doing. So that is so fantastic. Carson, you want to weigh in?

SPEAKER_01 28:04

Yeah, I can I can weigh in. I would say the hesitation that I um relate to the most, at least, and I feel like a lot of people do, is the fear of not being enough, the fear of letting people down, and the fear of not living up to expectations. For me, I've never seen myself as a leader, but I've consistently been put in leadership roles growing up. And for a long time I never understood why. Um, people always seem to see more in myself than I saw in me. I think all you need to be to be a leader is you need to be a doer. You need to be a believer. That's all I'd been growing up, is I'm someone who is willing to go in, give my best, and work with those around me. And you can lead whether you have a position or not. You're a leader. If you're a doer, if you're a believer, if you're a connector, you are a leader. By example or by words or by deeds, you are leading the way. And I think the hesitation that I often face of not living up to expectations just needs to be, in a way, thrown out the window. Remembering that there's only one person that you need to impress. There's only one person that has an opinion that really matters, and that's Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. It matters what they think of you, and they understand you better than even you do. And so you have to recognize that the way you look at other people, the admiration you have for those around you, that's how they see you. I often focus on my my insecurities or my thoughts or the reasons why I shouldn't be leading. Whereas those who have trusted me to lead are focusing on either what I can do or what they believe I can do in the future, my potential. And I think it's important to remember it's your potential that qualifies you to be a leader. It's not your current state.

SPEAKER_04 30:01

I love what you just said about it's your potential. It's your potential, it's your identity. And that's what we teach at Born to Lead. It starts with knowing who we are and identifying that potential and then going with it. You two have shared some incredible things today. And we just want to wrap up with one final question. We ask all of our guests. What does being born to lead mean to you?

SPEAKER_03 30:27

This is a great question. I think it kind of relates to what we were just talking about of just doing. I think as we engage in things that we care about, that's where we can become a leader. And being born to lead. Being born with the identity that you are a child of God. And that gives you power. It gives you so much power to be a daughter or a son of someone who knows all and is all and cares about all, about everyone and about the things they need to care about. As we rely on Jesus Christ, as we rely on who we are and who we can become, like Kristen was talking about, that's where we realize that everyone was born to be a leader in their own way. And then there's a reason that we are built in communities. We're built in our family community, in our social community, in our world community. We need each other. And I just hope and pray that everyone can know that. Because everyone is vital and everyone plays a really big role in the ability to alleviate suffering.

SPEAKER_00 31:26

Good. I think about like a tapestry. It always makes me think of that with the different threads and colors, and we need all of them. Every stitch, every thread matters, so you're exactly right.

SPEAKER_01 31:37

Yeah. I guess answering that question for me, pretty similar to Hallie, but being born to lead, in a way, it means being born to follow. You're following Jesus Christ. You're trying your best to be like him, you're trying your best to live a life that you'd be proud of. And I think as you do that, you will innately inspire other people. We're all born to give it our all, to learn, to grow, to make mistakes. And that's what leading is. Leading is being the first person to try something, being the first person to admit that you're wrong, being the first person to reach out and grab someone's hand. That's what this life is all about. We're born here to experience mortality, to experience what it's like to choose a Christ-like life. And that's what it means to being born to leave.

SPEAKER_04 32:30

Wise burns both of you.

SPEAKER_00 32:32

Seriously, you are literally our 2.0. Like, what? This is amazing and love the things that you shared. I know people are going to want to know more about the Ballard Center. Where can they go to find out more or be a part of it?

SPEAKER_01 32:45

Yeah. Well, they can first just go onto their website. We have a website, just the Ballard Center. You can look that up. Um, has information on the class I teach of Do Good Better, um, on the research that we do, the projects we we have going on. And then also we have we have an Instagram, we have a newsletter, and so everything can really be found on our website. Or you can just come, come to BYU, come to the Tanner Building, Tanner Building Room 360, and we always have someone here ready to talk, ready to introduce what we do to those coming and wanting to learn.

SPEAKER_00 33:17

So good. Any last thought, Hallie, on connecting?

SPEAKER_03 33:20

Um, yeah, I would say just stay engaged. There's so the ballot center is very broad. We do a lot of things. We have classes that we teach, but we also have the labs are a way to really take the ideas that we teach in the class and put it into practice. Um, so taking real, real world things and creating real interventions to to help real people. And so there's so many ways to be of service in that way. And so, yeah, I would say come, come visit us. It's super fun in there. Um, and then also we have a lot of online resources. If you're not just like here in person.

SPEAKER_01 33:49

One more thing. Feel free, anyone listening, if you want to ask questions or learn more, um, feel free to connect with me on LinkedIn. I'm gonna volunteer Hallie too if she has a LinkedIn. But I'm there, active. Feel free to reach out.

SPEAKER_00 34:02

So good. I'm just feeling on fire for you guys.

SPEAKER_04 34:04

This is fantastic. Two are so amazing, and I'm sure that you are great leaders to the peers around you in such a light. So continue doing what you're doing. Be that leader, be that example, be that light because you're doing a great work. Until next time, knowing that you are born to lead, how will you live as leaders for him?