The Part I Don't Put on a Resume

I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It's not background noise in my life, it's closer to the operating system. Most of what shows up elsewhere on this site, wanting to build things that help people, caring about the people actually in front of me, believing that everyone is worth listening to, traces back to it.

It wasn't really tested until my two-year mission in Manchester, England. Before that, it was inherited. After, it was mine.

What Manchester Taught Me

Two years of knocking on doors that mostly didn't open will either make you bitter or teach you how to actually listen. I learned to lead with love before I'd earned the right to be heard, to communicate with compassion even when I disagreed, and to lift people by paying attention to them, not by having the better argument.

Those aren't abstract values I picked up from a book. They're the specific, practical habits I still use when I'm leading a team, teaching someone something new, or just trying to be decent to a stranger.