Leadership Lessons From Mission Presidency

Davis Smith is the founder, chairman, and emeritus CEO of Cotopaxi, a Salt Lake City–based outdoor gear brand dedicated to poverty alleviation. Raised throughout Latin America, he developed a lifelong commitment to social impact after witnessing economic inequality firsthand. A serial e-commerce entrepreneur, Davis founded several successful ventures, including Brazil’s 2012 “Startup of the Year,” before building Cotopaxi into a global brand that has assisted millions living in poverty. He has served as a Presidential Leadership Scholar and a member of the United Nations Foundation’s Global Leadership Council.

Alongside his career in social business, Davis is a Senior Fellow at Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs, where he teaches courses on leadership and social entrepreneurship. Davis and his wife, Asialene, are the parents of four children and have served extensively in Church leadership, including as mission leaders in the Brazil Recife North Mission (2023–2026) and in a stake presidency. He holds degrees from BYU and the Wharton School and is the author of The Next Ten Years.

Links

The Next Ten Years: A Returned Missionary’s Guide to the Decade That Shapes Your Life
Weaving a Vision into Your Service | An Interview with Davis Smith
Watch the video and share your thoughts in the Zion Lab community
Transcript available with the video in the Zion Lab community

Highlights

In this YouTube livestream conversation, Kurt and Davis talk about navigating post-mission transitions, applying practical life skills, and developing lifelong discipleship centered on Jesus Christ.

00:01:27 – Davis Smith’s Mission Experience
00:02:14 – Missionary Statistics and Diversity
00:03:02 – Background in Brazil
00:04:42 – Overview of the Book Project
00:05:08 – Life Lessons from Zone Conferences
00:07:21 – Importance of Lifelong Discipleship
00:09:02 – Connecting Mission Skills to Life Skills
00:10:34 – Preparing Missionaries for Post-Mission Life
00:11:05 – Sending Off Missionaries
00:12:49 – The Contract for Return Missionaries
00:14:44 – The Significance of Marco Zero
00:15:15 – Maintaining Relationships with Returned Missionaries
00:15:46 – Intimate Compassion and the Good Samaritan
00:18:57 – Selecting Principles for the Book
00:21:00 – Book Release and Formats
00:21:54 – The Importance of the Next 10 Years
00:23:45 – Critical Times for Return Missionaries
00:26:27 – Spiritual Growth After the Mission
00:28:51 – Finding Purpose After a Mission
00:30:38 – Supporting Return Missionaries
00:32:13 – Advice for Parents of Return Missionaries

Key Insights

• Connecting Mission Skills to Real-Life Success: The competencies developed on a mission—such as goal setting, communication, team coordination, and networking—directly translate into professional, financial, and relational success when returned missionaries learn to connect those dots.
• Intimate Compassion (Oil Before Wine): Drawing from the parable of the Good Samaritan, effective leadership and personal correction require establishing love and empathy (“oil”) before offering invitation, counsel, or direction (“wine”).
• Aiming for Continuous Growth, Not Maintenance: A spiritual peak reached during dedicated service should serve as a baseline for future growth rather than a status to merely maintain.
• Immediate Post-Mission Focus & Purpose: The initial three to six months after full-time service are the most critical for establishing daily habits, securing church callings, avoiding technology distractions, and redirecting focus outward toward community service.
• Financial Stewardship Early in Life: Establishing foundational financial habits—such as paying tithing first, saving consistently, and utilizing simple long-term investment vehicles like index funds—early in adulthood creates long-term independence and security.

Leadership Applications

• Ask Intentional, Reflective Questions: Rather than asking for casual stories, leaders and parents can help returned missionaries process their service by asking targeted questions about spiritual gifts discovered, personal habits to keep, and lessons learned from mission leaders.
• Provide Clear Purpose and Responsibility: Local leaders can ease tough life transitions by extending meaningful callings or mentoring assignments early on, helping individuals shift their focus away from self-centered anxiety and toward serving others.
• Support Alternate & Service Mission Paths: Leaders should exercise empathy and avoid judgment when a mission ends unexpectedly or transitions to a service mission, recognizing that God’s plan and approval apply to all sincere efforts to serve.

The award-winning Leading Saints Podcast is one of the top independent Latter-day Saints podcasts as part of nonprofit Leading Saints’ mission to help Latter-day Saints be better prepared to lead. Find Leadership Tools, Courses, and Community for Latter-day Saint leaders in the Zion Lab community. Learn more and listen to any of the past episodes for free at LeadingSaints.org.

Past guests include Emily Belle Freeman, David Butler, Hank Smith, John Bytheway, Reyna and Elena Aburto, Liz Wiseman, Stephen M. R. Covey, Benjamin Hardy, Elder Alvin F. Meredith III, Julie Beck, Brad Wilcox, Jody Moore, Tony Overbay, John H. Groberg, Elaine Dalton, Tad R. Callister, Lynn G. Robbins, J. Devn Cornish, Bonnie Oscarson, Dennis B. Neuenschwander, Kirby Heyborne, Taysom Hill, Coaches Jennifer Rockwood and Brandon Doman, Anthony Sweat, John Hilton III, Barbara Morgan Gardner, Blair Hodges, Whitney Johnson, Ryan Gottfredson, Greg McKeown, Ganel-Lyn Condie, Michael Goodman, Wendy Ulrich, Richard Ostler, and many more in over 800 episodes.

Discover podcasts, articles, virtual conferences, and live events related to callings such as the bishopric, Relief Society, elders quorum, Primary, youth leadership, stake leadership, ward mission, ward council, young adults, ministering, and teaching.