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Servant Leadership That Drives Results: How Great Leaders Build Trust, Retain Teams & Scale Success · Unstoppable Success Podcast

• 0:02
  Jaclyn Strominger: Hello, everybody, and welcome to Unstoppable Success Podcast, the show where we where extraordinary leaders pull back the curtain on what it really takes to build a legacy, lead with purpose, and create impact that outlasts a title.
• 0:21
  Jaclyn Strominger: I'm your host, Jaclyn Strominger leadership strategist, executive coach, keynote speaker, and your partner in building the one asset that compounds faster than any investment you'll ever make, and that's relationship capital.
• 0:33
  Jaclyn Strominger: So every episode, I bring you real conversations with leaders who have done the work, not just the theory, but the decisions, the pivots, and the hard, hard-won wisdom that separates leaders who survive from those who are truly transformed.
• 0:47
  Jaclyn Strominger: And today's guest, he's the real deal.
• 0:49
  Jaclyn Strominger: We have Kevin Wayne Johnson.
• 0:51
  Jaclyn Strominger: He is the founder and CEO of the Johnson Leadership Group, best-selling author of 21 books.
• 0:57
  Jaclyn Strominger: God, it would take a lifetime to write all those in general, including an award-winning leadership.
• 1:02
  Jaclyn Strominger: I'm time tried this morning.
• 1:04
  Jaclyn Strominger: I'm like overwhelmed.
• 1:05
  Jaclyn Strominger: Including the award-winning leadership with a Servant Heart series, which has earned 16 literary awards.
• 1:12
  Jaclyn Strominger: He's a John Maxwell certified coach, trainer, and speaker, an ordained minister, and a man who spent 34 years inside government and corporate America before making it his life's mission to close the leadership gap that is costing organizations every single day.
• 1:28
  Jaclyn Strominger: His philosophy is simple and powerful: know better, do better, leave better.
• 1:33
  Jaclyn Strominger: So, Kevin, welcome to Unstoppable Success.
• 1:37
  Jaclyn Strominger: I am so glad you are here.
• 1:40
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Thank you.
• 1:41
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Thank you for the invitation.
• 1:42
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: It's a joy to be here with you, Jaclyn.
• 1:44
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Looking forward to a great show.
• 1:46
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yeah, you know, it's uh yeah.
• 1:47
  Jaclyn Strominger: I was so excited to have you on.
• 1:50
  Jaclyn Strominger: So, all right, so I always like to kind of start with a little bit of that origin story because your mission is sort of deeply personal.
• 1:58
  Jaclyn Strominger: And you said your own story molded your passion for preparing today's, you know, workforce for leadership.
• 2:04
  Jaclyn Strominger: So without giving everything away, what was the main defining moment that you said this is what I'm here to do?
• 2:11
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Well, everything starts at home.
• 2:13
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So I'm the son, I'm the son of a U.S.
• 2:15
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Marine, and my mom worked for the federal government briefly.
• 2:20
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: She didn't make a career out of it.
• 2:21
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I don't have any sisters.
• 2:23
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I have one brother.
• 2:24
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: He's about three and a half years younger than I, and he was born with a mental disability.
• 2:29
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So when I was a child, even before I started kindergarten, I was at home with mom helping to support, raise, advocate for, fight for, and love my younger brother who could not necessarily advocate for himself.
• 2:47
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Dad was away fighting in America's wars, Vietnam twice and Okinawa, Japan once.
• 2:53
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I learned a few things, and it stayed with me.
• 2:57
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Fast forward, I get to high school and then I matriculate to Virginia Commonwealth University, right there in my hometown of Richmond, Virginia.
• 3:05
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I study business and I start to learn something fascinating about leadership, strategies, and principles that make a difference.
• 3:14
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I sort of adopted what I learned, and I and I call them tools that I would add to my toolbox that I could take out when needed.
• 3:23
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: One year after graduating from Virginia Commonwealth, I entered into the federal government.
• 3:28
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: My mother is the one that really encouraged me to do it.
• 3:31
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I didn't know anything about the federal government.
• 3:33
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I ended up staying 34 years.
• 3:35
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Interesting.
• 3:36
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I served as a frontline, mid-level, and senior level leader.
• 3:40
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Well, during that same time, Jaclyn, I met this young lady, and we started to date, and we fell in love and got married.
• 3:49
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And from our union, we had three sons.
• 3:51
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And interestingly enough, the third son, when he was born, we noticed something really, really different about him.
• 3:59
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And that he didn't speak.
• 4:02
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: He didn't say a word.
• 4:03
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: He would laugh and cry and run and jump and skip and swing on the swing set and ride in the wagon and play ball, but he never said a word.
• 4:12
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And we thought that was really odd.
• 4:14
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So, right around 24 months of age, we had him diagnosed and we kind of thought something was going on, but the doctors came back and he was diagnosed with autism.
• 4:25
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Very similar to my younger brother.
• 4:28
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So here we go again, right?
• 4:30
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Do I get angry and get upset and ask why me?
• 4:33
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Or do I step into my role as a father and advocate for my son and again love him, support him, fight for him, and be his representative in the earth to kind of help him along?
• 4:44
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Because these neurological challenges are no joke.
• 4:48
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: They're a big deal.
• 4:49
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And so again, I'm applying leadership principles right at home as a child with my brother, and then as an adult, as a father to my son.
• 5:00
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I carried that into the marketplace.
• 5:03
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I found out that it works.
• 5:05
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I saw it up close and personal.
• 5:06
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I saw how people respond when they're led well.
• 5:10
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I saw how people respond when they're not led well.
• 5:13
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And there's a huge gap.
• 5:15
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And so I started the company so that we can narrow that gap.
• 5:20
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yeah, I truly love this.
• 5:22
  Jaclyn Strominger: And so one thing that I want to pick out, and listeners, I think this is really, really important to just like a nugget that just came into my brain.
• 5:29
  Jaclyn Strominger: You, you know, it's not it's not that it's a concept, because we should do this in general, but it's like love him, fight for him, advocate.
• 5:37
  Jaclyn Strominger: Right.
• 5:38
  Jaclyn Strominger: So those those words, it's like love your team, fight for your team, advocate for your team, just as you would do, as you said, like with your son and for your brother.
• 5:53
  Jaclyn Strominger: And so listeners, I I want you to really take that nugget because that is something that to embody, you know, for unstoppable success.
• 6:07
  Jaclyn Strominger: So, how can you think about people that you can love on, fight for, and advocate for?
• 6:18
  Jaclyn Strominger: Anyway, so Yeah.
• 6:21
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So in doing all of the above, Jaclyn, and everyone who's watching and listening, here's something that's really dynamic and really core to human behavior.
• 6:30
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: This is across the board with all eight plus billion people on the planet.
• 6:35
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: When you and I show up as the leader, or when someone new comes onto our team and our organization and we're already the established leader, what they're really looking for, but they never say it, is number one, will we help them?
• 6:53
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Number two, will we usher in some hope?
• 6:57
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And then number three, is this leader going to advocate for me, i.e., share resources, provide information, grant me opportunities, and develop me for the next level.
• 7:10
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Now, that's what people are thinking.
• 7:12
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: They don't say it, but that's what they're thinking.
• 7:15
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: That's part of human behavior.
• 7:17
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I submit to you that unstoppable success is tied to yes to all of those questions.
• 7:28
  Jaclyn Strominger: 100% agree.
• 7:31
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yep.
• 7:31
  Jaclyn Strominger: You know, and I I think I think that, you know, again, listeners, if you are running a team, or think about I, as I always say, each and every one of you has to be the CEO of you.
• 7:42
  Jaclyn Strominger: So you need to fight for yourself, love yourself, and advocate for yourself too.
• 7:46
  Jaclyn Strominger: But it's finding those people around you that can be that advocate, someone that, and as you said, develop.
• 7:56
  Jaclyn Strominger: That's a key word.
• 7:58
  Jaclyn Strominger: And if anybody knows my story, one of the things that I've always said is I spend years in magazine publishing and I was searching for the person to develop me, like to help, like, and it was missing.
• 8:08
  Jaclyn Strominger: So, okay, I have to do it, you have to do it yourself.
• 8:11
  Jaclyn Strominger: But wow, when you, you know, you you not to compare because it's not about comparing, but when I saw other people, and even when I have people on my podcast, and I see the impact that that one person could have on their life.
• 8:29
  Jaclyn Strominger: That one person, it is like, wow.
• 8:32
  Jaclyn Strominger: So lead listeners, be the one person for everybody else and yourself.
• 8:36
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Okay, absolutely.
• 8:37
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I also use interchangeably with develop, I also use the words prepare and equip.
• 8:44
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yes, right.
• 8:45
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: They're interchangeable.
• 8:46
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: You can kind of switch them back and forth because we are always in a position as a leader to pour into others and to help them because one day they're going to move on.
• 8:57
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Oh, so people have opinions and they're not shy.
• 9:14
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: But as we move up in any organization, we're going to be more visible.
• 9:19
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Yes.
• 9:20
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And so we've got to be prepared.
• 9:21
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: You know, I always tell leaders, I tell everyone in the workforce as a part of workforce development, it's always better to be prepared and not have an opportunity than it is to have an opportunity and not be prepared.
• 9:36
  Jaclyn Strominger: Right.
• 9:36
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I've done both.
• 9:37
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I tell you, it's a big difference.
• 9:40
  Jaclyn Strominger: You know, it it really is.
• 9:41
  Jaclyn Strominger: And so this brings me to something that I that I really want to bring up because it's it's come up in quite a few conversations actually this week, and I'm glad that you actually have a whole book, you know, series on it.
• 9:53
  Jaclyn Strominger: You know, this is the you know, developer, pair, equip, that's serving others.
• 9:59
  Jaclyn Strominger: So your series, you know, leadership with the servants heart, you know, it's obviously it's got is or earned a bunch of awards.
• 10:08
  Jaclyn Strominger: But how do you help, you know, executives and other people get into that servant mindset when when sometimes people resist that word servant?
• 10:23
  Jaclyn Strominger: Or and and I don't I don't want to also, I guess I also want to say sometimes I feel like the word almost is overused.
• 10:29
  Jaclyn Strominger: We talk about serving, but do we do it?
• 10:34
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Yeah, the actual concept hit the marketplace back in 1970 around servant leadership.
• 10:41
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I think it was pretty well explained in terms of what it means, but I add a little extra explanation to help leaders to help to help frontline, mid-level, and senior level leaders understand with an emphasis on the heart.
• 10:58
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Leadership with a servant's heart is different than servant leadership.
• 11:03
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And here's why.
• 11:05
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Many of us have been trained over a series of years of career that it's all about intellect, acumen, and subject matter expertise.
• 11:18
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And in part, that's true.
• 11:19
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: That's how we get to those positions because we've demonstrated that we have the subject matter expertise to get it done.
• 11:26
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: We've we've rolled up our sleeves and we've been proficient.
• 11:29
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: The annual performance rating is good, two thumbs up, and we kind of move up to the next level.
• 11:35
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: But there's less emphasis on the heart.
• 11:38
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And so we want leaders to align the mind with the heart.
• 11:45
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Well, Kevin, what's the heart got to do with anything?
• 11:48
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: The heart is where the emotions come.
• 11:51
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: That's where the care, the respect, the honor, and the value for other people come.
• 11:58
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: That's where empathy and compassion reside.
• 12:02
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And by the way, being an empathetic and compassionate leader does not make you weak.
• 12:10
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: It makes you human.
• 12:12
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And that's what people are looking for in their leader: someone who's genuine and authentic and real, someone I can count on who respects me so I can respect them, because respect isn't given, it's earned.
• 12:26
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Just like trust, it's not given, it's earned over time.
• 12:30
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So when we can align what's in the heart with what's in the mind, now we're leading with a servant's heart.
• 12:38
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: That's a step beyond just being a servant leader.
• 12:41
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: It unpacks it even more.
• 12:43
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And then we have an opportunity to help our leaders to really, really understand it and make sure they put the proper tools in their toolbox so they can pull those tools out when they need it.
• 12:53
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: No different than a roofer and a car mechanic and a carpenter, right?
• 12:58
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: They all have a toolbox, but they have slightly different tools, but they go into that toolbox when needed.
• 13:04
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Leaders are the same thing.
• 13:06
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So that that's my that's how I go about explaining it.
• 13:10
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Sometimes it's over a full day.
• 13:13
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Sometimes I'm with a team or an organization for a whole week.
• 13:17
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And sometimes we're just together just for a few hours, but we spend some time helping them to understand it.
• 13:22
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I see eyes open and I see mouths open.
• 13:26
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Oh, now I get it.
• 13:28
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I've never heard that before.
• 13:30
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I said that's that's why we're here.
• 13:31
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: You're not going to get this in business school.
• 13:33
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: You're just not.
• 13:35
  Jaclyn Strominger: Well, okay, so a couple things here.
• 13:36
  Jaclyn Strominger: So, first of all, I love what you're saying because it's like it's like music to my ears.
• 13:40
  Jaclyn Strominger: I, you know, aligning, aligning, you know, alignment is so important in general.
• 13:46
  Jaclyn Strominger: So if you're not aligned and values are so important, but the hard part of it is what really helps the leader connect with the the team member because they're gonna get to know the team member and understand, like I, you know, get to know Kevin, where do you want to go?
• 14:04
  Jaclyn Strominger: Where's what are your goals?
• 14:07
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I I yeah, I love that word, Jaclyn, connect.
• 14:11
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yeah.
• 14:12
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Because when we connect with others, a couple of other things are happening as well.
• 14:16
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: In addition to connecting with another person, we're also building bridges and we're also finding common ground.
• 14:23
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yes.
• 14:24
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And guess what that does?
• 14:26
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: That equates to effective communication.
• 14:29
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So leading with a servant's heart also helps us to be much more efficient and effective with our communication because what we're doing is we're opening ourselves up as a leader so that our people get to know us, but at the same time, we're getting to know our people.
• 14:48
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Now we're on our way to doing some really, really good thing.
• 14:51
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: That's unstoppable success.
• 14:54
  Jaclyn Strominger: That is, and you know what's so funny is like how many times have you seen the leader who's like, who's, you know, and those of you who are listening to this, I'm showing, you know, a level field, and then the the pyramid up, the leaders wants to be at the top, and they don't understand that they need to be with the team.
• 15:15
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Yep.
• 15:16
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Absolutely, absolutely.
• 15:18
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And when that revelation hits, things start to happen, performance increases, productivity goes up out of the roof, and guess what?
• 15:27
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: People want to do what you ask them to do.
• 15:32
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: They don't feel like there's a resistance because you're no longer dictating, demanding, and mandating.
• 15:40
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: You're now asking because you have a good working relationship.
• 15:45
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: We're not talking about being friends, quote unquote, but we're talking about having good, meaningful relationships where everybody wants to get things done.
• 15:56
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And you don't have to threaten people and you don't have to dictate to people.
• 16:00
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I tell you, that culture makes a difference between people voting with their feet and people staying and becoming productive and having a great career right where they are.
• 16:12
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So leadership with a servant's heart distinguishes itself for all of those reasons and many others from just servant leadership.
• 16:23
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And that's the difference.
• 16:24
  Jaclyn Strominger: Okay, so here's a here's a sort of a thought that's going through my brain as we're as we're talking, because so many people right now, you know, at least when I first got out of college, right?
• 16:35
  Jaclyn Strominger: And now too, I think you don't necessarily see people staying at a company for very long.
• 16:43
  Jaclyn Strominger: Maybe it's two years and then they're gonna go up and they're you know, it's like two years, I need to get that jump to the next level.
• 16:50
  Jaclyn Strominger: Two years.
• 16:51
  Jaclyn Strominger: So do you feel that with what you're bringing, that that maybe it's also creating longevity within the company?
• 17:01
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Yeah, yeah, because the one thing we haven't talked about yet, and I'll just kind of dive in, yeah, is is this is also a division of succession planning.
• 17:10
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yes.
• 17:11
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And so if the person that's at the C-suite can really keep his or her his or her eye open for those that are at the mid-level and even at the front level in their career and start that process of preparing, equipping, and developing, even then, you're doing succession planning, you're leading with a servant's heart, and you're helping them to make sure that they'll be ready once they get to that next level.
• 17:41
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: There's a very, very higher probability that that person will stay at that organization or at that company versus no one ever reaching out and offering a helping hand.
• 17:55
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And that's all part of what we help leaders to understand.
• 17:59
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Because listen, Jaclyn, time goes by so fast.
• 18:02
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I worked 34 years with the federal government.
• 18:06
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I don't know where the time went.
• 18:08
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I just looked up one day and people looked younger than me, and I said, it's time to go.
• 18:13
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: But I don't know where the time went.
• 18:16
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: That's almost three and a half decades, and it's gone.
• 18:20
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And it's time to move on to the next season of life.
• 18:24
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And if if we can get more of our leaders to understand that across the landscape, deep into the marketplace, more people will stay and you'll have more longevity.
• 18:36
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Our HR professionals are not constantly reaching out, trying to find new candidates to bring in because the retention rates will be higher, and you'll start to see a big difference in terms of culture and uh overall performance for the company and for the organization.
• 18:54
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: In my case, it was the federal government, which is different because the federal government is so gigantic.
• 18:59
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And so I would transition from Department of Defense, for example, to from the department level, I could go and work for one of the agencies, Defense Logistics Agency, Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, or many of the agencies under that umbrella, and my overall service would continue.
• 19:20
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Likewise, I also went to work for the Department of Treasury.
• 19:24
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And they had different agencies that I could work at, and my overall federal service would continue.
• 19:29
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So that's a little bit different.
• 19:31
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: But when it comes to corporations and maybe academic institutions and some of the nonprofits, if you want people to stay longer and increase your retention rates and do a big favor to our HR professionals, then start to do the secession planning much sooner.
• 19:48
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And you'll see people stay because they appreciate that.
• 19:52
  Jaclyn Strominger: You know, and I'm so glad that you brought that up.
• 19:53
  Jaclyn Strominger: Because, you know, I'm thinking about this and I think how great.
• 19:56
  Jaclyn Strominger: I mean, this is one of the reasons why I love doing this, this, this podcast, because it's the ultimate goal, which is to have people walk in and, you know, maybe it's not your first position out of college, but maybe it's your second or whatever, maybe it's the second company.
• 20:12
  Jaclyn Strominger: But you walk into that company and that person know gets to know you, the leader, and you you begin to get not just somebody who is going to help guide you on your career, because that's a leader, is is a guide, right?
• 20:28
  Jaclyn Strominger: They are gonna lead, but you also then feel a sense of ownership and pride because you want to see the company succeed, and it's and it, and you don't want to leave because you want to be part of that success of the company, right?
• 20:44
  Jaclyn Strominger: And it it it's and it's so important, but also a lot of that takes part of what you just said, clear communication.
• 20:53
  Jaclyn Strominger: Because if the if the CEO doesn't communicate, you know, where the company's going and talk about and get to know people and share it, you know, share the good, the bad, and the ugly, people, you know, people want to know what's going on, but they also want to have a path.
• 21:09
  Jaclyn Strominger: So I don't mean I just I love that that so I you know I'm I'm I'm curious, you know, a lot of it, you know, there's uh you know, the whole part of the ROI of the company, and it's it's a huge cost.
• 21:26
  Jaclyn Strominger: I mean, I think the cost of turnover in the United States alone is it's it's gotta be next to it in the dollar amount.
• 21:34
  Jaclyn Strominger: So that's really, really huge.
• 21:37
  Jaclyn Strominger: So besides that turnover cost, like when you see it, like what what other costs are we are we forgetting about that we need to let people know like do these things so your costs will be lower?
• 21:50
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: It's the cost on the human resource who's still there.
• 21:54
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yeah.
• 21:55
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So when people leave a team, they leave an organization, they leave A government agency, they leave a company, there's a void until that person can be replaced.
• 22:07
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: This is the burden that is on the shoulders of our HR professionals.
• 22:11
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Until they can get someone in the door, you and I and our teammates are left to pick up the slack.
• 22:18
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Uh-oh, you're going to get some complaints.
• 22:22
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: You're going to get some valid concerns.
• 22:25
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: You may even have some backlash.
• 22:29
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: You're going to have some opinions that are going to be stated publicly in the staff meetings.
• 22:35
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: You're going to have some folks not get along now because they will observe that perhaps I have a little bit more on my plate than my teammate.
• 22:44
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I may not appreciate that.
• 22:47
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And I might verbalize that.
• 22:48
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So above and beyond the financial cost that can be quantified and validated and verified is the cost on the human resource.
• 22:57
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And if it's too much of a cost, guess what?
• 23:00
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: They might end up voting with their feet and leaving.
• 23:04
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And you have to go through this whole problem, this revolving door is a cost that is not necessarily quantifiable, but you can observe it.
• 23:15
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And it starts to now play on people's mental, physical, and emotional health.
• 23:22
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So this is serious.
• 23:24
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: This conversation that we're having around unstoppable success, leadership as a profession, it's not just something casual that people should fall into, but there should be an element and a season of preparation and development because you're dealing with people.
• 23:45
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And the hardest aspect of leadership is people.
• 23:49
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Yeah.
• 23:52
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Personalities, hidden agendas, private agendas.
• 23:56
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: We should do it this way.
• 23:58
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Why are we doing it that way?
• 23:59
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I mean, there's all different types of factors that come into it.
• 24:03
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So we never say it's easy, but we do provide principles and strategies to help teams and organizations and individuals understand what it takes to really be good in this space.
• 24:14
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Because we're trying to get to that unstoppable, unstoppable success.
• 24:18
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And the way that we do it in part is leading well, right?
• 24:22
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So based upon what we know, now we do better.
• 24:26
  unknown: Right.
• 24:27
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And because we're doing better, we lead better.
• 24:29
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And that's the whole premise, and that's the whole theme that undergirds the Johnson Leadership Group.
• 24:35
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: We keep it simple because we want people to understand it, but we take our time and unpack it to make sure that now they can implement it.
• 24:42
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So we want to go from understanding to implementation.
• 24:46
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And that's the difference.
• 24:48
  Jaclyn Strominger: So I could talk to you for hours about this.
• 24:50
  Jaclyn Strominger: So you offer, correct me if I'm wrong, a complimentary 30-minute discovery session, because obviously that everything begins with you know rich insights.
• 24:59
  Jaclyn Strominger: So who, you know, for our listeners who are sitting here thinking, I might need that.
• 25:05
  Jaclyn Strominger: One sign, what's one sign that tells you a leader is ready to invest in their next level?
• 25:13
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Typically, people have had it up to here.
• 25:17
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: There's something going on on the team, in the workplace, in the culture that's ingrained.
• 25:26
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And that individual knows it's not right, but maybe struggling with what do I do?
• 25:33
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Because I'm not necessarily here to ruffle feathers.
• 25:35
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I am a team player, but someone has to do something or say something because there has to be a change.
• 25:43
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And you know that deep down inside, it's in your gut.
• 25:47
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I would encourage you to be bold enough, but also to be very diplomatic and tactful in how you go about doing it.
• 25:55
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: That's that's very, very key for all of us as professionals.
• 25:58
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: You know, are always advised to always be tactical and always be diplomatic in how you approach things, because unfortunately, it doesn't take much to offend people.
• 26:08
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And that's never the intent.
• 26:10
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: I don't believe it's ever our intent to offend another person.
• 26:14
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: But because you don't walk in their shoes and you don't know their story, just about anything you say or do could potentially offend them.
• 26:22
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So you have to be really careful.
• 26:23
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: But don't just sit there because you're given the green light for it to continue if you say if you don't say anything or if you don't do anything.
• 26:32
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: So these are the types of coaching sessions that I provide just to give some tips on what to do and how to do it, and to know that you have somebody on your side and confident that you can have a conversation with.
• 26:46
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: And oftentimes that's the difference maker.
• 26:49
  Jaclyn Strominger: Yeah, that's actually huge.
• 26:51
  Jaclyn Strominger: Kevin, I could talk to you forever, and this conversation has been everything I knew would be rich, real, and full of the kind of insights that basically people can take take this information and put it to work absolutely immediately.
• 27:06
  Jaclyn Strominger: And I hope everyone listening that you do.
• 27:09
  Jaclyn Strominger: But also, if something Kevin's has said today, and there's a lot that has been said, has landed for you, don't let it just stop here.
• 27:19
  Jaclyn Strominger: Take an insight and write it down, and then do something that I think is really important, and that is connect with Kevin.
• 27:27
  Jaclyn Strominger: Reach out to him directly at his website, which is share your website.
• 27:31
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: Yeah, it's www.thejohnsonleadershipgroup.com.
• 27:36
  Kevin Wayne Johnson: The name of the company is the Johnson Leadership Group and the website, the Johnson Leadership Group.com.
• 27:42
  Jaclyn Strominger: Awesome.
• 27:42
  Jaclyn Strominger: And do me a favor, take him up on his complimentary 30-minute discovery session.
• 27:48
  Jaclyn Strominger: The conversation I know will will give you clarity and a next step.
• 27:54
  Jaclyn Strominger: And it's really important.
• 27:56
  Jaclyn Strominger: And also, again, reach out to him, go to his website, make that connection.
• 28:00
  Jaclyn Strominger: So let's make that happen.
• 28:02
  Jaclyn Strominger: Now, if today's episode has reminded you that leadership is not a solo sport, and you want to personally want to personally invite you into a brand new community, the Unstoppable Success Community on School, this is a curated space for driven executives and leaders who are have really said uncle and they're done playing small and ready to lead to the highest level.
• 28:25
  Jaclyn Strominger: You'll be networking with great people.
• 28:27
  Jaclyn Strominger: There's insight leaders to open doors, create opportunities, and you'll build real real relationship capital.
• 28:34
  Jaclyn Strominger: So you'll get training, leadership frameworks, and a community that challenges you, challenges you and celebrates you.
• 28:39
  Jaclyn Strominger: So it's for you to get started, and it's open to the first 100 people for free.
• 28:44
  Jaclyn Strominger: So again, join us at school, and I'll leave the link in the show notes.
• 28:48
  Jaclyn Strominger: And if you're not yet a subscriber to this podcast, please do me for the favor and hit the follow button so you never miss an episode.
• 28:54
  Jaclyn Strominger: And every week, actually twice a week, we bring you conversations and strategies and the leadership insights that help you build your legacy.
• 29:02
  Jaclyn Strominger: Kevin, thank you for being an amazing guest.
• 29:05
  Jaclyn Strominger: Thank you.
• 29:06
  Jaclyn Strominger: And being on Unstoppable Success.
• 29:08
  Jaclyn Strominger: I'm Jaclyn Strominger, and this has been Unstoppable Success.
• 29:12
  Jaclyn Strominger: We help you keep leaping to your greatest success.