"As a decision-maker, he was unmatched. Sometimes after decisions are made and commitments are made, I've seen some of his colleagues want to reopen the issues. His usual answer to such questions was, 'We have already covered that ground. We have communicated our decision, and we've given our word to others. The decision has been made, now let's move on toward other issues."'

Brady has extensive experience with executives; he's served many years with Deseret Management, has run large companies and departments of government, and has been president of Weber State University, Ogden. In his years with DMC, he saw President Hinckley in many business and financial situations.

"In all those roles I've seen a lot of fine executives, but Gordon Hinckley is the best of all."

Hundreds of lessons came from his association with President Hinckley, and Brady cited a few. One lesson he learned, he said, is that great power comes from clear, long-term vision and well-articulated short-term goals. "That is, he could see the big picture, but could also manage the details."

Also, "Great results are obtained from learning how to transfer vision and goals into action and implementation."

To illustrate that, Brady mentioned that he grew up in Utah and also spent time away from the state. "When I was here, I would oftentimes hear people say, 'We need a larger Tabernacle,' but we never had a larger Tabernacle. 'Someday we're going to rebuild the Nauvoo Temple,' but we never did rebuild that temple — until President Hinckley became president of the church."

Within months of becoming president, Brady said, President Hinckley announced construction of the new LDS Conference Center and the Nauvoo Temple.

Another lesson is, "Advanced age is no excuse for a person to slow down. Rather, age is an invitation to accelerate one's pace in the service of one's fellow man and the service of one's God."

President Hinckley would often say, "We need to stand firmly on higher ground," he said. That is, ground that is solid, where a person can reach down and lift up another person.

Once Brady and President Hinckley had flown from Salt Lake City to Seattle for a meeting, he recalled.

"Late in the day he decided on his way back to Salt Lake he would like to stop in Portland to check on the building of a temple there," he said. "And so he asked me to arrange for a private plane that could take us on this route."

They boarded a plane for the trip and "immediately ran into a fierce thunderstorm. It was the most frightening flight I'd ever been on. We were just being tossed about like a feather in the wind.

"President Hinckley and I looked at each other, and I indicated, 'Well, I can take great comfort in knowing whom I am with — nothing's going to happen to us that shouldn't. But at the same time, you can look at me, and I don't think you can get that same comfort."

President Hinckley related wonderfully to people both in and out of the church, he added. "His interview with (veteran CBS newsman) Mike Wallace was really an extraordinary piece of broadcast journalism, I thought. ... He really captured Mike Wallace's admiration."

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E-mail: bau@desnews.com