Beckham Lecturer Professor Devin Knighton Draws on Abraham Lincoln, Steve Jobs and Ed Adams to Teach Discernment in Leadership
In 1995, Raymond E. Beckham, a longtime leader in education and communications at Brigham Young University, established the Beckham Lecture in honor of his late wife, Ida Lee Beckham. Decades later, the lecture continues to inspire, drawing leaders and students together to explore the profound power of communication.
This semester’s featured speaker was BYU public relations professor Devin Knighton. With more than a decade of experience in global tech public relations, Knighton brings real-world insight and a passion for teaching to his work as he prepares the next generation of communicators. In his lecture, he highlighted discernment as a vital but often overlooked skill in leadership communication.
“We have a big problem today,” Knighton told the audience. “The United States is facing a leadership crisis.”
Citing a 2025 survey reported in U.S. News & World Report, he noted that 85% of Americans believe government officials and community leaders care more about their own power than the people they serve. Distrust extends beyond politics, he added, with 73% expressing distrust in healthcare leaders, 72% in business and 68% in education.
“In a moment like ours, it can seem that the most effective leaders are the ones who speak the fastest, post the most on social media or project the most certainty,” Knighton said. “But I want to suggest something different. The most consequential leaders often demonstrate something quieter and much more demanding: they show discernment.”
Knighton described how the concept of leadership has changed over time, moving from an emphasis on power and authority to a focus on individual qualities, and ultimately to a modern understanding of leadership as relationship-centered.
“If leadership is mainly a matter of traits, then leadership belongs naturally to a gifted few. Some leaders simply have it, and others do not,” Knighton said. “That is a seductive idea, but it is not a very useful one. It flatters some people, and it excuses others from the responsibility of leadership, leaving very little room for learning, growth and moral responsibility.”
From this perspective, discernment becomes essential. Rather than relying on force or certainty alone, leaders must understand people.
“We can also see why the Lord teaches that influence cannot rightly be maintained by compulsion, but by persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness and love,” Knighton said. “In other words, righteous leadership is not about force. It is about influence, and that is why discernment matters so much.”
To illustrate discernment in action, Knighton turned first to President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.
“When people think about Lincoln and slavery, they often compress the story — they assume the moral issue was obvious, the Union was united and once Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, the outcome was basically settled,” Knighton said. “But it was not. The Emancipation Proclamation, issued on January 1, 1863, was a major moral and political step, but it did not abolish slavery.”
Knighton explored Lincoln’s approach of navigating a complex political and social landscape that required him to balance what was right with what could realistically be achieved.
“Lincoln understood that a wartime Proclamation was not the same thing as a permanent constitutional settlement,” Knighton continued. “In other words, Lincoln was not simply trying to do what was right; he was trying to secure enough support to make what was right endure.”
Knighton then turned to a more modern example to explore discernment in leadership: Steve Jobs’ 2007 launch of the iPhone. Apple was already successful with the iPod, but the challenge was helping people understand why they needed an entirely new device in a crowded market.
“When people face something genuinely new, they usually do not need more information,” Knighton said. “First, they need a bridge. They need someone to start with what is familiar, then help them make sense of what they are seeing and guide them toward what they do not yet understand.”
Knighton uses Jobs as an example because instead of just revealing the new product, he guided the audience through each piece of it. He spoke about them as if they were three separate products: an iPod, a mobile phone and an internet communication device. Jobs paused to let people absorb each step before revealing that these were not three separate inventions, but a single, groundbreaking device.
“Sometimes leaders fail because they announce the destination before they build the bridge,” Knighton said. “They are right about where people need to go, but they have not done the communicative work to bring them along. Steve Jobs teaches us that discernment requires building the bridge. He simply met people where they were and led them to where they had never been.”
For his third example, Knighton turned to Ed Adams, a beloved higher education leader who served in multiple roles, including founding director of the School of Communications and later dean of the College of Fine Arts and Communications.
Knighton highlighted Adams as a model of someone who led not from authority or ego, but from curiosity and thoughtful attention to others.
“When Ed came into your office, you did not feel managed. You felt seen, you felt heard,” Knighton said. “Some leaders walk into a conversation trying to prove that they already understand. But discernment often requires you to admit that you do not know something. It begins with questions, listening and the humility to let another person expand your view of the world.”
Through Adams, Knighton illustrated that effective leadership is less about having all the answers and more about the ability to listen.
Knighton summarized his examples of discernment in leadership with three key principles: strategic patience, as taught by Lincoln; building the bridge, as demonstrated by Jobs; and curious presence, embodied by Adams.
He concluded his lecture by pointing to Jesus Christ as the perfect embodiment of these qualities.
“Jesus always knew what truth required, but he also knew what people could bear,” Knighton said. “He knew when to speak and when to remain silent, when to invite, when to correct, when to comfort and when to call people higher. Jesus was never careless with truth, and he was never careless with people.”
Building on that example, Knighton challenged the audience to apply the same principles in their own leadership.
“My hope is that we will become more discerning communicators, not just so we can be more effective, but so we can lead in ways that are more like the Savior, Jesus Christ,” Knighton said. “In a world that rewards speed, certainty and visibility, some of the most consequential leaders, including the Son of God, demonstrate something quieter and far more demanding: they show discernment.”
