Lattes and Leaders with Dr. Brad Johnson

Intro [Music] good morning and welcome to lattes and Leaders with Dr Brad Johnson best-selling author and accomplished public speaker specializing in education and educational leadership I am your co-host Jeremy Johnson organizational psychology consultant specializing in career coaching training and development meet us here each week to discuss topics in Education and Leadership and meet with some of the top education talent and thought Partners from across the globe so grab your latte sit back and enjoy a relaxed conversation that will leave you informed and encouraged Robert glad to have you today you'll be the first one with us um obviously um from Las Vegas which you know I love being in Vegas but um how I don't know how much you love it right now it's 120 out you know it's it's 100 here and 100 humidity so uh but yeah it's but anyway I wanted to have you on and kind of kick off this latte with Leaders with you because we met a couple of years ago when I came to your school and I was just I tried to inspire but I left inspired because just all the great things that you do and the ideas that you have and everything so as I told Jeremy I wanted to have you on so you could just kind of break the ice and let other leaders know what some of the the cool amazing things you do like the red carpet and you know I brag on the the Teachers Lounge and stuff but I'll let you just explain all that and then we'll go from there well yeah I appreciate it very much and thank you for having me as always it's always good to talk to you um yeah when you came a couple years ago it was it was fun to take a tour around the school and and you were blown away with the teachers Lounge I remember that um so Tyrone Thompson in Las Vegas I was blessed to open the school uh with the staff in 2020 right in the middle of the pandemic I mean talk about a challenge you have 440 kids getting sent online to a bunch of teachers they don't know they don't trust parents don't trust anybody during that time that was a challenge but really my idea behind starting the school was to make it Innovative and to take care of the people within it so for example one of the ideas that I had was to create a Teachers Lounge that's truly a Teachers Lounge and you know you watch walk in and the first thing everybody sees is the massage chairs and and you know that was just an idea I got really during Co I'm like let's let's buy some massage chairs and they have feet massagers we use um student generated funds to pay for snacks the teachers do not have to pay for snacks we get them donated or we find ways for them to be free uh I just don't want teachers to or Educators staff to have to worry about finding a dollar for a vending machine and then finding out that it doesn't have water so we really really take the approach here to take care of the staff and they take care of the clients it's kind of like um the whole Richard Branson um virgon hotels concept where if you take care of the people the people will take care of the clients and that's kind of the whole idea with the thinky behind Tyrone Thompson we do have the red carpet when the teachers show up the first day they get to walk the red carpet this year we're adding you know some Paparazzi we had the cheerleaders come out but again for us it's really just celebrating the Educators who are in the trenches doing the work and uh that's really really big here absolutely yeah and it it is and you know I often say things like when you walk into a school you can tell what's going on you you can tell how that school's LED um you know it's just palpable the either the excitement or not or you know if it's boring and you know just a hard place to work um you you can literally feel it when you walk in and so yeah I remember walking in and just the staff and everything wow I was just I was blown away um well thank you that and that was the first day back and I I always say I think the teachers as and the Educators as a whole the first day back is the happiest they're going to be all year because by the second by the second day there's a copy machine that might be broken or a parent that's already you know causing them some issues but that first morning back is as happy as we're going to be collectively until the last day when we're having lunch and getting ready to leave so I really try to capitalize on that enthusiasm and joy that's a that's a a good perspective and you're exactly right so um question how do you um how Leading from the front do you keep that excitement moving throughout the year it's it's a challenge but I think you have to lead from the front um we you know we do a lot here the teachers that have remained with me for the four years and the ones that come on board they know that it's it's a lot in terms of all of the things we do with the community and with our house system but I think honestly it just starts with me I try to be on most days not all not all but most days I try to Le with enthusiasm and uh we try to do we try to do Innovative items that just bring joy education's hard teaching is hard um it's it's getting more and more difficult so I really think by just keeping keeping the people in the trenches at the Forefront of our mind and trying to make sure the kids have relationships with everybody uh and trying to make school a fun place to be for the most part is really um really important really important you know we do things where we have so many people out in front of the school every morning giving high fives fist bumps we have music on we want it to be a welcoming fun place where kids want to go and where staff wants to work and and that's really our Mantra is just taking care of the people who are in the building like I was talking about earlier so I think when you lead with that scope of a mindset it it makes it a lot easier for me at least to lead it and make it make it enjoyable for everybody everybody has Who was your teacher that one teacher that they can you know think back on that just left an impact on them um you know whether it be you know performance-wise in school or character development who is who was that person and how did they influence you you know it's funny you say that because one of the books I have out right now is called more than just teaching and uh it's just that I got the idea when I was walking with a teacher here who had gone to a baseball game the night before and I had seen the pictures of the excitement of the kid's face when he saw his teacher and I came up with the idea to write a book called more than just teaching because it's more than math it's more than writing it's relationships and the fact that you say who was the teacher in your life that that meant a lot to you actually when I present right now I talk about Mr Beasley Mr Beasley uh he passed away God love him but I wish I could tell him how much he meant to be but Mr Beasley was the guy that did not care who you were he expected the best out of you at all times and I was I'm from a small small town I played Sports I probably got away with more than I should have but Mr Beasley didn't care he didn't care who you were you were going to do the work and you were going to do it the correct way and I am so thankful that he took the time to challenge all of my classmates but me and make sure that I did the best I could I'm so grateful to Mr Beasley uh just for you know for not not letting me slip a little bit not letting me get away with things and just just showing me this is the way to do what you do and uh you know if you're G to do something do it do it the best you can and do it the right way so when I think of my teacher I think of Mr Beasley Relationships yeah I think that's interesting because I I think you know everyone has a different teacher and a different story but it's almost always the same story it not that they were just like your friend and or they were just like funny or had a you know it may be those things it could be part personality but I really think they they see in students the potential that they have and they work to help get that out of them which is what education really is you know is is seeing what potential they have in helping get that out of them and I think those are the teachers that you know we all remember that teacher mine was a seventh grade life science teacher like that that just you know she was fun I enjoyed it um she made learning fun which I think's important but she just had those expectations and you know really wanted the best from you and and the thing is you know and you and I have talked about this before when when you build that relationship it's almost like having your child when your child wants to please you they want to do their best for you when you have that good relationship even as a parent and so it's kind of the same thing with teaching you know they build that relationship first but then they have those high expectations but because of that relationship you you really do try to to push and and live up to it for them yeah you know in the in the book that I wrote is 25 Educators and 50 stories about why relationships matter most in education and if you read through it there's so many instances of where a teacher took a moment to find out something about the student or find a way to make that student feel important and basically change their life and it was just so fun to read all these stories about Educators who made such a great impact on humans and I think also at times we as Educators forget the impact we've had upon people and you know you talk about relationships that's really how you and I kind of came to meet is our theme that year you came was relationships over everything yeah and you post about relationships a lot and so I think unfortunately people don't understand just how important they are I think we get a little bit too uh too much focused on compliance and things of that nature uh rather than finding out about the human that you're dealing with or working with and taking that road so relationships are so so important and uh and I just cannot express that enough well and I think it's important what you said too is that you know a lot of times you want as a teacher you won't know you impacted their life even though you do and so that's the whole key is you know I I tell teachers all the time and there like with those stories Teaching is generational there's that one person or two that you know you kind of remember those stories but you really impact them all whether they ever tell you or let you know you know you're you're impacting every student and some of them you're probably you know when you talk about th those stories and we talk about you know like my teacher that impacted me that she probably impacted you know another student or other students even more that you know that story's never told and so I think that's an encouragement for teachers to understand is you know these students may not ever express what you meant to them but you you were that to them and you do you are Difference Maker you are you know and then like I said within the book I I took a moment to find some of the teachers of the teachers in the book and it was so powerful when they when the teachers found out how much they were revered by people who are in the educational word today world today it basically made their whole day I mean it was like oh I matter and what I did matter and I didn't waste my career or anything like that so and and and you know teaching is generational when you think about it not so much in the family but Mr Beasley impacted me and I impacted students kind of the way he did so it's a generational thing um within the scope of our profession and I just you know I think there's so many great teachers out there that just don't know how big of an impact they have but they need to remember that they did for at least one or maybe many students right absolutely that's a good point too yeah we're it is generational you know you're inspiring and in all Fields really you know one of the things I say is not every student you in Inspire may be a teacher but whatever role they go into they're going to carry you know your relationship your wisdom those things that you instilled in them you know to whatever field or career it is so like you said it's just generational then they impact people and they impact so it's powerful like you said it's a hard job but man it is such a rewarding job when we think of it in that that F absolutely you're changeing the future and very very few people get to do that every day our last couple of books Brad and I have discussed personality a lot we you know we've talked about it and mainly like a agreeableness to disagreeableness Spectrum is kind of where we've focused so um which of your personal qualities do you think have um helped you become the the successful leader that you are today Dealing with conflict I I am highly agreeable I know that I don't like I don't well I'm inag gr too I don't know we talked about inag GRS I think one night at dinner but um you know I don't like conflict but of course that that comes with the job uh I'm a peacemaker like let's just talk about it talk it out um but I think I think that helps me in the fact that um I come off as supportive and I want to listen and I want to find the best answer I feel like some people who maybe aren't highly agreeable they aren't as willing to maybe listen to all sides uh and and I think that's one thing that's that's been very helpful in my career is you know like I said my whole thing is perspective so I will tend to listen to All perspectives and kind of put my opinion in there and hope that we can come to a realization that this is the best answer so I think using my highly agreeableness and listening to all sides and finding kind of a compromise on situations has helped there's been times of course where you know uh I have a saying you know everybody wants you to be honest with them but then when you are you're the a-hole and so you know there's times when we just have to say things and people don't like it and so that's when that's when you know the highly agreeable kind of goes out the door and you got to find find your way but I think I think just you know I try to be positive every every day my kids my kids say that I'm optimistic every day until something doesn't go right then I then I kind of go off the rails but I wake up every day just trying to be optimistic that today is our day and you know we're going to find the answers and we're going to change the world and I think you know those are the two things that just pop into my head is the the traits that I can use to kind of um just just move us forward yeah lots of people um that are highly agreeable you know have Highly agreeable people difficulties in their role um especially in leadership rool so um it's really good that you found a way to leverage that into strengths and that's you know pretty ideal and that's really all that we can ask for is people is to be able to you know kind of Leverage that you know we always work on the skills um you know that we're kind of lacking but you know being able to leverage what we do well um our talents into um into strengths is is huge yeah I think you know one thing I think I also do very well is uh I look at each situation as a different situation there's no uh there's no blanket answer there's no hard and fast rule there's no predetermined outcome if at all possible you know you have highly agreeable teachers they they're going to cry if you talk to them about something they don't want to talk about and then you have you know then you have teachers that are not highly agreeable and it's just like uh you know it's just a battle uh and so I think as Leaders we have to know our people or the people we work withut and you have to kind of adjust to who you're talking to some people will cry at the drop of a hat and some will just be like just tell it to me straight and you've got to know which one you're working with because I think that helps you get to the outcome that you both want to get to and that's you know and you're exactly right with that and it's Know your people one of the reasons because everybody's you know always oh you talk about relationships you know and and I do but the key to that especially with leadership is you you know I always ask the question to leaders how can you lead your people if you don't know them and so just like you said the better you know them the better you can dial in on what you need to address a situation or to encourage them or to praise them whatever it is being aware of each person you know as a person and then as a professional man it makes your job so it takes a little bit more work but overall long term it actually makes your job easier because you can be more effective I think just knowing people better too it gives you you know it give you some Lanes to kind of go down I use Sports analogies a lot and we have the golden nights and if a teacher likes the golden nights I can bring that into our conversation and say well you know let's think about the the people on this team how would they do that or you know if someone I don't know someone likes dogs or whatever if you know that it gives you kind of a a space a happy medium to work from and you have to know your people they're not robots I don't I don't like that at all they are humans in the trenches doing a hard job so our job is to help them as much as possible through knowing them as humans that's really that's really my focus and and what I you know what I just focus on daily is just making sure they're okay what do you need how can I help you okay now let's work on Dealing with cultural diversity things so going back to being in Vegas which again I love uh but I'm assuming there's a lot of cultural diversity there not just because people come from all over the world there but probably a lot of people come there to work or stay or whatever or you know even in the entertainment business you have you know with the plays and you know we'll throw it out there um you know like with cir tole you have people from all over the world coming and bringing their families and such how do you um how do you deal with that because it it's not just about like race or anything but you're talking about just you know purely different cultures from around the world that you know are trying to really be that Melting Pot there in Vegas well yeah I mean Vegas is a Melting Pot our school even though it's out in the suburbs is a Melting Pot um we are very very um very very diverse which is great I love it because you get so many different perspectives um I think it just comes down again to treating people as humans and getting to know them and you know their background and where they come from and what struggles they might be going through uh we have students who you know move here from um you know South America they don't speak English okay no problem let's figure it out let's find out what you do know are you literate in your native language are you not and I think you start to just peel that onion back on on that student or that family and find out what their needs are and meet them where they're at that's really the goal we really focus on differentiating for students as much as possible I am not uh I struggle greatly with programs I might I might uh I might get in trouble for that but it's you know I just think we need to differentiate as much as we possibly can which is again it goes back to time and you know teaching is difficult but we are such a Melting Pot we have to differentiate we can't treat all students as the same type of student and um I think in Vegas you know there's there's many different schools there's you know there's schools that are low sces to schools that are very high sces but ultimately if every school can differentiate for the human the person that needs help and meet them where they're at that's really the goal I always say you know I don't care if Marvin the Martian lands a spaceship at the in the parking lot when the student walks in we're going to welcome them we're going to find out what they know and we're going to meet them where they're at and then we're g to help the family if we can so again I just think again for me it all comes back to relationships and knowing the people that you're working with so we talk a Taking care of yourself lot about um taking care of yourself um you know a lots of Educators and um those in educational leadership you know they they give until they're you know they've almost given out um so how do you take care of yourself how do you treat yourself I am one of those people I I work way too much um my wife had to basically tell me I couldn't go upstairs and write books anymore as much as I want um and I think that's just the challenge I think we you know I know I know Dr Johnson's like this you know we work we work hard and we're always thinking and we're always trying to make an impact and we're always thinking how can we help the next person and it's a struggle for me personally because I don't want to slow down I want to I want to make as much impact as I can in the years that I have left so honestly I spend time with my wife and my girls as much as possible um I write that's kind of my Escape I write I get an idea and I write a book and and uh we go with that but for me it's just as much as just sitting down and watching a television show and just trying to escape but honestly I do a terrible job of that uh some some principles you know you see they they do a great job they're off into Europe on a vacation or whatever I can't do that I think I'm partially ADHD but it just comes from always wanting to do better and improve and thinking about the next thing and how can we how can we make this better and um it's it's probably not healthy but for me I try to just Escape by watching a Yankees game or you just hanging out with the kids or talking to my wife for a little bit and if I if I can do that and get away it it helps but honestly it's a struggle I think it's a struggle for teachers too you have some who can do it some who you know like June comes and I'm out of here I'll see you in August but you have teachers who are always looking at something you think how can I use that in my classroom how can I use that to help kids well maybe this is a good resource to have education I think is just one of those professions where if you if you're devoted and dedicated it's hard to step away from because the teacher in you just never quits or the admin in you never quits when you want to get better and you want to constantly improve that's a good point ab and and with the teachers too you're right um High expectations You know cuz they're always like you know I they want administrators to push kind of the selfcare on them and I'm like well you've got to take control of it yourself you know if you're always doing or looking and you know you you've got to learn how to shut it off or at least shut it down uh so that you can take care of yourself as well so I think one of the things that you know probably is not my best quality I would say is I just have high expectations uh for the school and so you know I have the statement like second sucks second's the first loser I don't want to be second and I try to For Better or Worse make the staff understand that like why are we here if we don't want to be second if you want to be second this is the wrong school so in a way I probably don't Foster the whole concept of stepping away because I want to be great and again I think that's just you know that's just me recognizing some of the struggles I have as a leader um and and knowing that and then accepting when people don't text me back or don't email me back and no hey they have the right to walk away for a little bit it's okay I like that that's good that's good they know that yeah so were you a coffee guy latte guy an espresso guy I don't drink coffee although I do enjoy a mocha Frappuccino uh my daughter works at a place in town and they've got me hooked on um something I probably shouldn't be drinking in my age um but I I don't like hot especially in Vegas you know where it's already boiling yeah already but yeah I'm I'm I'm not a huge coffee guy but I'll have a you know um I'll have a mocha frap which is basically milkshake if I can get one Mirage closing I've got one more question for you I don't know if Jeremy does or if we're done I guess we're about wrapped up but no problem I'm I'm good are you as sad about the Mirage closing as I [Laughter] am you know it's it's interesting when when you live in Vegas you don't go downtown really unless you have to or you want to so you know I'll go down for a nights game occasionally or to see a show um but I think that probably the tourists are more sad about it than the locals that's my opinion I could be wrong you know the people that work there of course might have a different uh different perspective on that but you know I mean the great thing about Vegas is that it kind of Rises From the Ashes it does not it does not stand Pat it's it's always trying to get better it's always trying to improve it's always come up with better ideas uh which is kind of a great you know model foration yeah absolutely philosophy is you know Vegas doesn't settle and there's so many hotels that were here when I got here that no longer exist they are always upgrading always improving always trying to find a way to get more tourists in to make things better and I think that's probably a really great uh philosophy to have I like that yeah that's a good point that makes me feel a little better about it there's plenty of cir shows for you to uh to go to that's right yeah okay well we really appreciate you um coming out and and hanging out with us online here and um we hope to have you back soon and um uh you want to plug any products or or books while you have a second you know it's funny I'm not I I I am a terrible salesman uh you're highly agreeable I'm highly agreeable yeah um but no I mean if people want to go to my website it's Robert hinchliff dcom there's links to all my books link uh perspective Inc but you know the ones that I have dream themes right now is out U judging by the sales people love dream themes which is the concept of using a theme for your school the entire year and just focusing on one main thing I always say you know like when I present I'll ask people sometimes how many of you know the mission statement nobody knows it very few people know it I should say so I've for years have done themes you know when Brad was out our theme was relationships over everything which I mentioned the teachers and the staff can tell you what the theme is and the kids in the community are starting to be able to but anyways I think that's caught on a lot with the book dream themes and people using this whole idea of you know having a having a mantra for the year as a staff and then of course more than just teaching which I talked about Brad and I of course have a book he was nice enough to let me let me be a part of which was great um and then I have a book about house systems as well out with Angie Brown so lots of books and lots of ideas in this his head unfortunately um which may or may not be a good thing um but yeah and then also I'm trying to like when Brad was out here too I said you have the best job in the world you get to fly around and Inspire Educators that's like the dream job so I'm trying to get into that I get to go to some schools this fall and start that and uh that's fun so if people need me to come and kick something off as well let me know but I man do I hate that last segment talking about myself Outro but you did a good job and you do yeah man your books are great just run it your school fantastic like I said that that's the um you know just walking into that school I could tell that and your passion for your staff which I think a teacher or that a leader has to have you know you you're you're you're the one that influences the morale of your staff you know leaders do whether they think they do or not whether they want to accept that responsibility or not it's it's there and man you can really tell a difference when you walk into a school like yours where you're passionate about education passionate about your students and passionate about your staff so yeah we appreciate you being on and uh I look forward to seeing you again very soon in Vegas I hope I I still owe you dinner so whenever you get out here we're gonna go but I appreciate you guys you guys I mean you've always been fantastic for me and to me and I appreciate everything uh you know that I've told you that but uh you know best of luck on the podcast uh I think it's going to be great it's going to be very inspiring and you know so many great leaders out there that can help other leaders so basically you're you know you're more than just a teacher as well you know you're you're a guru and you're helping so many people and I think it's great so thank you for all you do as [Music] well this has been lattes and Leaders with Dr Brad Johnson we hope that you leave today feeling informed and inspired for more educational content be sure to add this podcast to your list and follow Dr Johnson on any and all social media platforms for more information on Dr Johnson Jeremy Johnson and special guest check out Dr Brad johnson.com that is d o c t r Brad johnson.com hope to have you back soon [Music]