1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:04,160 that's been, you'd be passive about it. So you've been to how many Olympics? You've 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:08,800 gone to watch how many Olympics? We started in 96 in Atlanta, so it's every four 3 00:00:08,800 --> 00:00:13,440 years. So there's been probably about eight in between and it's absolutely 4 00:00:13,440 --> 00:00:16,760 phenomenal. What's your favorite? Because you mentioned that the 5 00:00:16,760 --> 00:00:20,120 12 different events and the free events that you go to as well when you're there. 6 00:00:20,120 --> 00:00:24,760 What's your favorite part of it all? Well I tell you what, my favorite part really, 7 00:00:24,760 --> 00:00:30,520 because I'm a very observant person, I like to watch the millions of people that 8 00:00:30,520 --> 00:00:35,960 come, the spectators including myself, to just observe these state-of-the-art and 9 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:41,080 these best-in-class athletes compete. And we don't speak the same language. We're 10 00:00:41,080 --> 00:00:44,520 from all different parts of the globe and everybody just kind of gets along. 11 00:00:44,520 --> 00:00:48,320 And even though we don't speak the same language, we communicate with each other 12 00:00:48,320 --> 00:00:53,040 and we kind of know what we're saying and it's phenomenal. In terms of events, I 13 00:00:53,040 --> 00:00:58,620 really love weightlifting. I love table tennis and I love cycling because I was 14 00:00:58,620 --> 00:01:02,200 when I was a young guy I did a lot of cycling. So whether it's the time trials 15 00:01:02,200 --> 00:01:06,040 or the actual bike races, you just line up along the roads. If it's a sunny day 16 00:01:06,040 --> 00:01:10,280 you get some really, really good pictures. But I mean I could go on and on. There's 17 00:01:10,280 --> 00:01:15,320 33 different events. Archery is pretty cool. People don't know this, but 18 00:01:15,320 --> 00:01:23,160 the archer is 77 yards away from the target. That's almost the length of a 19 00:01:23,160 --> 00:01:28,160 football field. It's really incredible. And when you're watching it up 20 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:31,440 close and personal, you just have a totally different perspective on just 21 00:01:31,440 --> 00:01:37,560 how gifted they are. So yeah, we love it. The restaurants, the sightseeing, going to 22 00:01:37,560 --> 00:01:41,520 the museums, taking in the culture, the different restaurants. It's just so 23 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:46,340 really, and we stay the full two weeks. Absolutely. Talk about levels of 24 00:01:46,340 --> 00:01:52,000 excellence. Yeah. So that gives me a whole new perspective in parallel. One 25 00:01:52,000 --> 00:01:57,600 of my best friends growing up, his older brother, second in nation in archery. Nice. 26 00:01:57,600 --> 00:02:02,560 So now I know. I remember him shooting in the backyard. That thing was 27 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:07,200 10 yards away. I can't tell you how many arrows we probably shot over 28 00:02:07,200 --> 00:02:13,680 the fence and almost hit somebody. But he, yeah, 70 yards. That is so 29 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:18,400 far. That's like, that's two or three blocks in the neighborhoods that I 30 00:02:18,400 --> 00:02:24,600 walk around. That's crazy. Okay. So you've been around the block, chief of 31 00:02:24,600 --> 00:02:30,960 staff, department of defense, 30 plus years. What's your favorite three 32 00:02:30,960 --> 00:02:38,560 books on either leadership, self development or a topic similar, a genre 33 00:02:38,560 --> 00:02:44,200 similar that you'd recommend people pay attention to? Well, number one is 34 00:02:44,200 --> 00:02:51,160 understanding your potential. Uh, that was written by the late great Dr. Miles 35 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:57,520 Monroe. He was one of the five founders of faith. Bahamas Ministries 36 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:02,640 International and NASA Bahamas. The reason that's number one on my list. And 37 00:03:02,640 --> 00:03:07,780 by the way, that's 1993 is because I read that book at a very, very important 38 00:03:07,780 --> 00:03:13,000 time in my life and I was better able to understand if I tap into my potential, 39 00:03:13,480 --> 00:03:18,000 there's some unlimited opportunities out there at a time where I was in a state 40 00:03:18,000 --> 00:03:22,080 of self doubt. So that was number one. Number two would be anything written by 41 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:26,560 John Maxwell. And the reason the reason I say anything is because he has a 42 00:03:26,560 --> 00:03:32,320 portfolio of books. He sold close to 30 million over the years. But one I really 43 00:03:32,320 --> 00:03:35,640 like would be the 21 irrefutable. 44 00:03:35,640 --> 00:03:40,400 All right. Welcome in to vision pros live with Jackson Calame. I'm your show 45 00:03:40,400 --> 00:03:44,120 host. We'll be doing interviews for visionary entrepreneurs and guest 46 00:03:44,120 --> 00:03:46,920 leaders who are building fantastic visions out there. 47 00:03:46,920 --> 00:03:51,120 What is up and welcome into vision pros live. I'm your show host, Jackson Calame, 48 00:03:51,120 --> 00:03:56,800 founder and CEO of first class business. I am so honored, privileged, excited to 49 00:03:56,800 --> 00:04:01,880 have Kevin Wayne Johnson on the show today. His background and depth of 50 00:04:01,880 --> 00:04:07,920 leadership is admirable from any walks of life. The experiences that he's had, 51 00:04:07,920 --> 00:04:11,880 the types of life he's had, the types of experiences he's had, the types of 52 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:17,080 leaders he's gotten to work with, events he's gotten to go see, Olympics is what 53 00:04:17,080 --> 00:04:21,560 we were talking about earlier. He's studious in nature. There's a profound 54 00:04:21,560 --> 00:04:26,200 depth of knowledge. I'm going to be very short on the intro today so that we 55 00:04:26,200 --> 00:04:31,400 maximize the time we have to gather what's not available publicly. So if you 56 00:04:31,400 --> 00:04:35,080 go through his profile, you look at his experience, you get to see that depth on 57 00:04:35,080 --> 00:04:40,440 LinkedIn itself. Before we get into the introduction, I want to talk about 58 00:04:40,440 --> 00:04:42,440 the 59 00:04:43,440 --> 00:04:48,440 business side of it. Before we dive too far into Kevin, I want to make sure I'm 60 00:04:48,440 --> 00:04:53,440 giving a hand up in terms of tools and leaders I'm connected with in the form of 61 00:04:53,440 --> 00:05:00,440 our sponsors. The wellness shop, 365. This is a program run by Sean and Julianne 62 00:05:00,440 --> 00:05:05,440 Lechuga. They're clients of ours and their centeredness as leaders as well is 63 00:05:05,440 --> 00:05:10,440 a profound blessing. The way these two work together as husband and wife and 64 00:05:10,440 --> 00:05:14,440 their dedication towards building up their programs, you can see on the screen 65 00:05:14,440 --> 00:05:19,440 right now what their program looks like. As Cynthia scrolls through that, it's 66 00:05:19,440 --> 00:05:25,440 going to come to this wheel of life. And while certainly there's opportunities to 67 00:05:25,440 --> 00:05:29,440 optimize the branding of that and they're familiar with it, the concept 68 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:33,440 behind it is what caught my attention. I said right here, that 360 Harmony of 69 00:05:33,440 --> 00:05:38,440 Life Wheel, the fact that they're paying attention to joy, spirituality, holistic 70 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:42,440 well-being, they got good kids. I've enjoyed thoroughly working with them 71 00:05:42,440 --> 00:05:46,440 over the last three months. And I know that what they're up to in terms of 72 00:05:46,440 --> 00:05:50,440 building, based on naturopathic principles, the ability to guide and help 73 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:54,440 people with their health, like sign me up. That's my type of person that I want 74 00:05:54,440 --> 00:05:58,440 to be involved with. If I'm going to be taking advice from somebody about health, 75 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:02,440 I want it to be from somebody who understands the holistic nature of 76 00:06:02,440 --> 00:06:07,440 building out a life as well and not losing sight of the other people in your 77 00:06:07,440 --> 00:06:12,440 family in the process. So with the LawSpot next to, you'll notice that little 78 00:06:12,440 --> 00:06:18,440 logo next to it, thelawspot.com, Melissa Gray, also one of our clients, she is on 79 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:22,440 a mission to help entrepreneurs and business owners and the small business 80 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:26,440 and medium business sectors get the security to know that they're legally, 81 00:06:26,440 --> 00:06:31,440 they're protected. They know who to go to as far as, you know, building out 82 00:06:31,440 --> 00:06:35,440 retainers and things like that. You know, there's, when you're in a position 83 00:06:35,440 --> 00:06:41,440 where you need a lawyer, I have, I've been there before, you end up paying very 84 00:06:41,440 --> 00:06:46,440 high fees and you might end up launching with the wrong law entity as well. 85 00:06:46,440 --> 00:06:50,440 One example on that with Restaurant Connect, we got in a trademark lawsuit. 86 00:06:50,440 --> 00:06:54,440 We had the name first. They tried to file the trademark before us after they 87 00:06:54,440 --> 00:06:59,440 learned about us at a trade show. And my business partner spent over $20,000 on 88 00:06:59,440 --> 00:07:04,440 that lawsuit to win that battle and we won. But as a startup, spending $20,000 89 00:07:04,440 --> 00:07:09,440 you don't have on that trademark lawsuit, did we really win? I don't know. 90 00:07:09,440 --> 00:07:13,440 You'd be the judge of that. So Melissa, when I found out what she was up to, I 91 00:07:13,440 --> 00:07:16,440 hosted her on the show a couple episodes ago. I saw her vision of how she's 92 00:07:16,440 --> 00:07:20,440 bridging the gap and she comes in with this nurturing heart, but the ability to 93 00:07:20,440 --> 00:07:23,440 also be a strong warrior as an attorney where I needed. I was like, wow, like 94 00:07:23,440 --> 00:07:28,440 this, she's got an amazing vision. All business owners that I know, I would say 95 00:07:28,440 --> 00:07:33,440 90% of them do not have legal counsel in mind for who would represent them in the 96 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:37,440 worst case scenarios. And without driving fear, she comes in and helps people 97 00:07:37,440 --> 00:07:41,440 understand what these topics look like and why, what types of materials you 98 00:07:41,440 --> 00:07:45,440 should have in place as a business owner. So very big fan of her. And then there's 99 00:07:45,440 --> 00:07:49,440 the water project. If you and I are in a position where we don't have to think 100 00:07:49,440 --> 00:07:53,440 about where we're going to get our next glass of water, I hope that you think of 101 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:57,440 entities like this that are helping the millions of people who don't have access 102 00:07:57,440 --> 00:08:01,440 to clean drinking water. It's our opportunity to give back. And what I love 103 00:08:01,440 --> 00:08:04,440 seeing about the way that the water project goes about this is they show you 104 00:08:04,440 --> 00:08:07,440 the impact you're having on the community and the fulfillment of the 105 00:08:07,440 --> 00:08:12,440 projects that are taking place. And when I see this picture that's coming up of 106 00:08:12,440 --> 00:08:16,440 these children celebrating water, like it's Christmas, you know, it kind of 107 00:08:16,440 --> 00:08:22,440 partially breaks my heart as much as it does help me feel grateful for them. But 108 00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:26,440 I don't ever want my kids to be in that situation. So why would I want other 109 00:08:26,440 --> 00:08:30,440 kids to be in that situation when there's billions of people on this earth who 110 00:08:30,440 --> 00:08:33,440 need our help? So if you're not in a position financially to contribute back 111 00:08:33,440 --> 00:08:36,440 to that, then my request would be to share it with somebody because you never 112 00:08:36,440 --> 00:08:40,440 know who might be in a position to make that happen. And you then become the 113 00:08:40,440 --> 00:08:45,440 catalyst for that good. If you can think of a nonprofit or an opportunity, a 114 00:08:45,440 --> 00:08:48,440 cause that needs to be supported and you'd like to see us talk about that, just 115 00:08:48,440 --> 00:08:51,440 drop it in the comments. I'd be happy to take a look and see how we can support 116 00:08:51,440 --> 00:08:55,440 it. So without further ado, let's dive in. Kevin Wayne Johnson, welcome to 117 00:08:55,440 --> 00:09:00,440 Vision Pros Live. Well, thank you, Jackson. It's an absolute pleasure to be 118 00:09:00,440 --> 00:09:07,440 here. I appreciate the invitation. Yes, sir. All right. Diving in right away, 119 00:09:07,440 --> 00:09:10,440 I'm going to skip the first question. I think everybody should be listening to 120 00:09:10,440 --> 00:09:14,440 this episode. I think they got the great opportunity to learn from so much wisdom 121 00:09:14,440 --> 00:09:18,440 that's behind you and through your experience. What is your vision for those 122 00:09:18,440 --> 00:09:24,440 that you're serving currently? Well, my vision in a nutshell is to create 123 00:09:24,440 --> 00:09:29,440 leaders of excellence at all levels. And the reason we put an emphasis on all 124 00:09:29,440 --> 00:09:34,440 levels is because there are men and women within our sphere of influence who 125 00:09:34,440 --> 00:09:38,440 are aspiring leaders. They haven't actually moved into a leadership role or 126 00:09:38,440 --> 00:09:43,440 position yet, but they aspire to. And the more that they're prepared before they 127 00:09:43,440 --> 00:09:47,440 get there, the better. We also have men and women that are at the front line 128 00:09:47,440 --> 00:09:51,440 level. They've been in a leadership position for just a short while, and 129 00:09:51,440 --> 00:09:55,440 they're still learning the ropes. They're still maybe struggling a little bit, 130 00:09:55,440 --> 00:10:00,440 hungry for some more principles and strategies to help them to do better, to 131 00:10:00,440 --> 00:10:04,440 know better, and ultimately lead better. And then we have another group of men 132 00:10:04,440 --> 00:10:08,440 and women who are at what we call the mid-level. They've been at it now for 133 00:10:08,440 --> 00:10:12,440 maybe 10, 15 years, and they're on the fence. If you've been in a leadership 134 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:18,440 role for about 10 or 15 years, you either like it and you want to continue on that 135 00:10:18,440 --> 00:10:25,440 trajectory, or you don't like it. People are driving you crazy. And listen, the 136 00:10:25,440 --> 00:10:29,440 responsibility and the visibility and the accountability that comes with it 137 00:10:29,440 --> 00:10:33,440 can be a bit challenging. So I've seen people continue on the journey, and I've 138 00:10:33,440 --> 00:10:38,440 seen people get off the fence and say, okay, enough. And then last but not least, 139 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:42,440 you have men and women at the senior level. They've been at it for a while, but 140 00:10:42,440 --> 00:10:47,440 we all need a refresher. We all need to periodically recalibrate, reroute, 141 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:54,440 rethink, re-strategize, and kind of rethink our posture and our position in 142 00:10:54,440 --> 00:10:58,440 terms of what we're doing. So that's why we say at all levels, because we're not 143 00:10:58,440 --> 00:11:02,440 just talking about one group of individuals, but people are on a 144 00:11:02,440 --> 00:11:07,440 different journey and perhaps on a different road as they're leading people 145 00:11:07,440 --> 00:11:10,440 within their organizations and within their teams. 146 00:11:10,440 --> 00:11:14,440 There's so much value to comment on from that. I've got a comment on the photo we 147 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:19,440 just saw of you shaking hands with John Maxwell, the legendary leader himself. 148 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:24,440 And it was in Relationships 101, and I was reading that where he has this list 149 00:11:24,440 --> 00:11:30,440 that I want to memorize someday of no matter what happens, do good anyway. 150 00:11:30,440 --> 00:11:34,440 You're going to have a bad day. Do good anyway. People are going to kick you in 151 00:11:34,440 --> 00:11:38,440 the teeth. Do good anyway. And he has a very articulate way of going through. 152 00:11:38,440 --> 00:11:43,440 It's very poetic. And I was like, man, that would be something that's worth 153 00:11:43,440 --> 00:11:48,440 reading every day if you're the type of person who's getting bogged down, too, 154 00:11:48,440 --> 00:11:51,440 especially if you're getting bogged down by the role of leadership and the toll 155 00:11:51,440 --> 00:11:55,440 that it can take. So well said on that. I want to rewind to one more thing you 156 00:11:55,440 --> 00:12:00,440 said, though, and that's about this concept of all levels. We live in a very 157 00:12:00,440 --> 00:12:06,440 divisive society based on how we choose to feel about words that are used. 158 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:10,440 And so when you come to levels and a staircase, let's use that. You can talk 159 00:12:10,440 --> 00:12:14,440 about levels of a building. You can talk about levels in many senses. But is 160 00:12:14,440 --> 00:12:20,440 stair step number two any more valuable or less valuable than stair step number 161 00:12:20,440 --> 00:12:29,440 13 in a 15-step staircase? Absolutely not. But can you number them from 1 to 162 00:12:29,440 --> 00:12:34,440 15? Yes, you can. My concept with that, my hope for those who are listening is 163 00:12:34,440 --> 00:12:40,440 to realize that whatever level you're on is just as equal and valuable as any 164 00:12:40,440 --> 00:12:46,440 other level that's out there. And if you let go of the comparison and look for, 165 00:12:46,440 --> 00:12:51,440 well, great, I can, the confine is to help us understand where you're at so that 166 00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:56,440 we know what types of leadership development to provide at said stage. What 167 00:12:56,440 --> 00:12:59,440 do you think about that? I love your thoughts. Yeah, I'm in agreement with you. 168 00:12:59,440 --> 00:13:03,440 I'm in alignment with you. I'll just say it a slightly different way. And I 169 00:13:03,440 --> 00:13:09,440 did, I understood thoroughly exactly what you said. Everything that we do in our 170 00:13:09,440 --> 00:13:16,440 leadership journey is a process and it's a building block. So what we learned 171 00:13:16,440 --> 00:13:23,440 last week should be a building block for how we can get better or see things 172 00:13:23,440 --> 00:13:29,440 differently the following week, much like the step ladder example, because 173 00:13:29,440 --> 00:13:34,440 when you walk up that step ladder or whether it's a tall 30-foot ladder, as 174 00:13:34,440 --> 00:13:38,440 you get higher and higher and higher, guess what? There's more visibility and 175 00:13:38,440 --> 00:13:43,440 there's more responsibility. And so going through that preparation and that 176 00:13:43,440 --> 00:13:49,440 process prepares us for when that visibility comes and when that 177 00:13:49,440 --> 00:13:55,440 additional responsibility comes. And then in parallel with that, there's also a 178 00:13:55,440 --> 00:14:03,440 third ability and that is accountability. So as we are seen by more people and as 179 00:14:03,440 --> 00:14:08,440 our impact reaches more people, there's much more accountability that goes along 180 00:14:08,440 --> 00:14:14,440 with that and responsibility. And what better way to handle it than to be 181 00:14:14,440 --> 00:14:20,440 prepared? So each step on that step ladder or that tall ladder is a part of 182 00:14:20,440 --> 00:14:24,440 our preparation so that we're going to be ready. Because you know, it's not an 183 00:14:24,440 --> 00:14:29,440 easy journey. You never hear me say it's easy. It's definitely doable. But it 184 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:33,440 makes a big difference. And we want all of the men and women that we come in 185 00:14:33,440 --> 00:14:37,440 contact with, we want them to be prepared because leading people is such an 186 00:14:37,440 --> 00:14:41,440 awesome and privileged responsibility that we have. 187 00:14:41,440 --> 00:14:47,440 Oh, man, I love that. So one thing I catch about you, I mean, I've interviewed a 188 00:14:47,440 --> 00:14:52,440 lot of people in my life, even off the camera, right? Trying to learn, trying to 189 00:14:52,440 --> 00:14:56,440 see things, trying to understand leaders and people. And I've also found myself 190 00:14:56,440 --> 00:15:00,440 stressed with the amount of people that are coming my way and, you know, trying 191 00:15:00,440 --> 00:15:07,440 to center myself. But I've never been at the level of chief of staff of the 192 00:15:07,440 --> 00:15:11,440 Department of Defense. And the network that you've created, the amount of people 193 00:15:11,440 --> 00:15:15,440 that you interact with on a daily, weekly or monthly basis, I'm sure it's seasons 194 00:15:15,440 --> 00:15:19,440 of your life. There's been peaks and valleys of how many you're working with. 195 00:15:19,440 --> 00:15:24,440 You have a poise and a patience about you. There is a poise and a patience 196 00:15:24,440 --> 00:15:31,440 where you're able to stay centered, listen thoroughly, and know that you're 197 00:15:31,440 --> 00:15:35,440 still going to get value, you're still going to gain out of this. How do you do 198 00:15:35,440 --> 00:15:44,440 that? Your second descriptor is on point. Listen. Because when you listen to 199 00:15:44,440 --> 00:15:51,440 people, you send them a subliminal message that I care what it is you have 200 00:15:51,440 --> 00:15:56,440 to say. I value your perspective. And when it's all said and done, when it comes 201 00:15:56,440 --> 00:16:01,440 to leadership, that's really the heart and soul of what people are looking for. 202 00:16:01,440 --> 00:16:06,440 People generally give you and I the benefit of the doubt. When we have the 203 00:16:06,440 --> 00:16:12,440 title and we have the position, whatever it might be, VP of Finance, Top Chef, 204 00:16:12,440 --> 00:16:18,440 CEO, Head Nurse, I could go on and on and on with these titles. People generally 205 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:23,440 give us the benefit of the doubt that we have the subject matter expertise and 206 00:16:23,440 --> 00:16:28,440 that we're there because we know our stuff. Now, I know there are exceptions. 207 00:16:28,440 --> 00:16:34,440 We know people in positions that we're wondering how in the world did they get 208 00:16:34,440 --> 00:16:39,440 there. But what people really want and they won't say it, they want to know that 209 00:16:39,440 --> 00:16:44,440 their leader, this person that's been assigned for my development and to 210 00:16:44,440 --> 00:16:49,440 provide resources and opportunities for me to get better and do better, they 211 00:16:49,440 --> 00:16:54,440 want to know are you going to listen to what I have to say? Are you going to 212 00:16:54,440 --> 00:17:00,440 value my contributions? Are you going to take into consideration my opinion and 213 00:17:00,440 --> 00:17:05,440 my perspective on how to solve this problem and how to make this decision? 214 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:09,440 And when they find out that they are now under the leadership of a person that 215 00:17:09,440 --> 00:17:14,440 does, that's the difference maker. It makes a huge difference in the lives of 216 00:17:14,440 --> 00:17:19,440 these men and women that were entrusted lead. It makes a big, big difference. 217 00:17:19,440 --> 00:17:23,440 There's so much depth I'm gaining for that, mostly because my audience of 218 00:17:23,440 --> 00:17:29,440 people, Kevin, usually come from a background where the social proof of 219 00:17:29,440 --> 00:17:36,440 their value is a little harder to see. And so let's look at that under a 220 00:17:36,440 --> 00:17:39,440 microscope with what you said because I want people to pick up what I just 221 00:17:39,440 --> 00:17:44,440 picked up, which is, okay, doctors, right, when they speak with authority, the 222 00:17:44,440 --> 00:17:50,440 amount of people generally are going to believe in what they say and accept what 223 00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:56,440 they say. That's been tainted a little bit by the chaos and confusion of 2020. 224 00:17:56,440 --> 00:18:00,440 I'm going to leave it at that. The chaos and confusion has had people open their 225 00:18:00,440 --> 00:18:05,440 minds up a little bit more. I'm not putting the blame on anybody in particular 226 00:18:05,440 --> 00:18:10,440 just saying as a paradigm shift, we've shifted a little bit. But even more so, 227 00:18:10,440 --> 00:18:14,440 I'm still going to value the opinion and authority of a doctor more than a 228 00:18:14,440 --> 00:18:20,440 registered nurse, right? And then you've got your LVNs who are not registered 229 00:18:20,440 --> 00:18:24,440 nurses. And our understanding as a society of those levels helps 230 00:18:24,440 --> 00:18:31,440 precondition our mind, right, to what is being shared unless said registered 231 00:18:31,440 --> 00:18:36,440 nurse has limiting beliefs and self-doubts and exposes those and is 232 00:18:36,440 --> 00:18:40,440 constantly saying, well, I'm not a doctor, but I'm not a doctor, but, you 233 00:18:40,440 --> 00:18:43,440 know, I don't really, you know, I'm pretty sure as a registered, when we lose 234 00:18:43,440 --> 00:18:48,440 that centeredness of confidence that we are the subject expert or we act like 235 00:18:48,440 --> 00:18:53,440 that or portray that with our words or our behaviors, we're self-fulfilled 236 00:18:53,440 --> 00:18:58,440 prophecy. We're already destroying our opportunity to influence. So we've got 237 00:18:58,440 --> 00:19:04,440 to, and so in other words, the coaches, the marketers out there, you are not 238 00:19:04,440 --> 00:19:09,440 registered nurses. You are not doctors. The marketing has a notorious 239 00:19:09,440 --> 00:19:13,440 reputation and many people will say, well, that's just marketing. No, no, no. 240 00:19:13,440 --> 00:19:20,440 That lie is a lie and it has no place in marketing. We have to do ourselves the 241 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:26,440 service of defining what our principles are, sticking to those, and owning the 242 00:19:26,440 --> 00:19:31,440 fact that we're subject matters, even though less people understand our 243 00:19:31,440 --> 00:19:36,440 authority than if we had a title such as doctor. Any further thoughts on that 244 00:19:36,440 --> 00:19:41,440 before we go into your personal vision? Well, I think that's very important for 245 00:19:41,440 --> 00:19:45,440 everyone that's listening to really understand when you talk about that 246 00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:50,440 self-doubt because even though we may hear it in the example that you gave with 247 00:19:50,440 --> 00:19:54,440 the registered nurse, we can also send that message by way of our body language 248 00:19:54,440 --> 00:20:01,440 and our tone as well. Yes. For example, many people have been under the voice of 249 00:20:01,440 --> 00:20:05,440 a man or a woman that's on the stage behind a podium with a microphone and 250 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:11,440 they're given a keynote in front of maybe 500,000 people or maybe even less. And 251 00:20:11,440 --> 00:20:18,440 their message is diluted. Why? Because they look nervous and they don't look 252 00:20:18,440 --> 00:20:25,440 confident and we hear what they say, but we don't necessarily find it believable. 253 00:20:25,440 --> 00:20:30,440 That's no different than the registered nurse example where she actually or he 254 00:20:30,440 --> 00:20:35,440 actually comes right out and says, well, I know I'm not a doctor, but so we have 255 00:20:35,440 --> 00:20:41,440 to be very careful. That's a leadership attribute that we help these 256 00:20:41,440 --> 00:20:45,440 aspiring leaders and current leaders to be very careful about. We have to 257 00:20:45,440 --> 00:20:50,440 demonstrate that we are very confident in who we are and what we do. That's part 258 00:20:50,440 --> 00:20:55,440 of good leadership and understanding our craft, having the subject matter 259 00:20:55,440 --> 00:21:01,440 expertise, but at the same time being able to maneuver through all the 260 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:05,440 different roads that different people bring in our path. And we'll talk a 261 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:09,440 little bit more about that as well. I like that. And it's one of my favorite 262 00:21:09,440 --> 00:21:13,440 topics. One of the frameworks that I found helpful for that was our 263 00:21:13,440 --> 00:21:19,440 posturing of three different postures, superior, equal, and inferior. And if we 264 00:21:19,440 --> 00:21:22,440 do the opposite of what you said too, where we're trying to control the 265 00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:25,440 audience and force them to believe everything that we're saying, we're 266 00:21:25,440 --> 00:21:30,440 telling them too often what to do, the people who are willing to be subordinate 267 00:21:30,440 --> 00:21:34,440 to us will follow us. But the people who are not willing to be subordinate in 268 00:21:34,440 --> 00:21:38,440 nature, they want to be respected for their own views, will say, whoa, this 269 00:21:38,440 --> 00:21:43,440 person's exerting their authority with too much force. Right? So that's not my 270 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:46,440 expertise. It's just some of the details where I'm like, man, I'm going to be 271 00:21:46,440 --> 00:21:49,440 talking to you after this show about this stuff. 272 00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:52,440 But see, that's actually a good point that you make, Jackson, and I want to 273 00:21:52,440 --> 00:21:57,440 piggyback very, very quickly. See, adult, this is part of human behavior. 274 00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:04,440 Adults do not like to be lectured to. And as an extension of lecturing without 275 00:22:04,440 --> 00:22:09,440 many leaders realizing it, that's where the micromanagement piece comes into 276 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:15,440 play and turns people off. Because sometimes it's inadvertent, but sometimes 277 00:22:15,440 --> 00:22:20,440 it's just a person just being overbearing. What you're showing and what 278 00:22:20,440 --> 00:22:25,440 you're telling without saying it when you micromanage someone is that I don't 279 00:22:25,440 --> 00:22:31,440 trust you. That's really, you don't say the words, but that's how they feel. And 280 00:22:31,440 --> 00:22:35,440 they're sitting there and they're wondering, well, why did you hire me or 281 00:22:35,440 --> 00:22:40,440 why did you assign me this project or task or action or initiative if you don't 282 00:22:40,440 --> 00:22:45,440 trust that I have what it takes to make it happen? If I have any questions, I'll 283 00:22:45,440 --> 00:22:49,440 come to you. But I don't need you checking in every three hours. I've got 284 00:22:49,440 --> 00:22:54,440 this. Trust me. I'll make it happen. And so that's why I wanted to just briefly 285 00:22:54,440 --> 00:22:59,440 expand on that. Oh, I love it. We're going to keep expanding this because this 286 00:22:59,440 --> 00:23:03,440 well of this is a depth of value that everybody's going to benefit from that 287 00:23:03,440 --> 00:23:08,440 really hears it and understands it. So piggybacking on that to another book, 288 00:23:08,440 --> 00:23:13,440 The E-Myth by Michael Gerber, a book that came across my desk and eight years 289 00:23:13,440 --> 00:23:18,440 later I read it and it is the reading source that I regret not reading the 290 00:23:18,440 --> 00:23:23,440 moment it came across my desk. I should have listened to that book on an audible. 291 00:23:23,440 --> 00:23:27,440 And so as I dove into it, it taught me a very similar concept to this. You're 292 00:23:27,440 --> 00:23:33,440 right. When we it's micro management can be, I don't trust you. What Michael 293 00:23:33,440 --> 00:23:38,440 teaches is the reason why most businesses in his opinion are failing is 294 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:42,440 because they themselves, they've delegated by abdication as a business 295 00:23:42,440 --> 00:23:46,440 owner. They did not set up a proper process or system for that person to 296 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:52,440 succeed. And so therefore it's not that I don't trust you, John, as a person 297 00:23:52,440 --> 00:23:56,440 who's working, it's that I don't trust that I set the right system up for you 298 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:01,440 to succeed in. And that's a humble pie that is so hard for entrepreneurs to 299 00:24:01,440 --> 00:24:05,440 eat. But if we don't, if I don't have the system in place and I have some 300 00:24:05,440 --> 00:24:08,440 rockstar comes in, Oh, I'll take it, man. I'll take care of your advertising. 301 00:24:08,440 --> 00:24:11,440 I know everything about advertising. I can do this. The grant I'm going to the 302 00:24:11,440 --> 00:24:17,440 extreme, right? But the world of advertising, you know, as somebody who's 303 00:24:17,440 --> 00:24:22,440 an expert in that field, 99% of advertisers are doing it wrong. And so I 304 00:24:22,440 --> 00:24:26,440 don't care if you think you have it down. I need somebody who's coachable and 305 00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:30,440 who's willing to learn a new system and bring in the disciplines of patience, 306 00:24:30,440 --> 00:24:34,440 persistence, consistency, reliability, and is willing to look at the equation 307 00:24:34,440 --> 00:24:38,440 and say, you know what? Yeah, we're going to fail that calculus test. Not because 308 00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:43,440 I'm bad at math, because I got this one tiny piece off and no matter what, if I 309 00:24:43,440 --> 00:24:47,440 miss this part portion of the formula, the whole thing's going to collapse upon 310 00:24:47,440 --> 00:24:52,440 itself. So another layer there for entrepreneurs. If you find yourself in a 311 00:24:52,440 --> 00:24:55,440 position where somebody tells you, Hey, why don't you trust me? Or they're 312 00:24:55,440 --> 00:25:00,440 giving you those vibes. It can be helpful to own that, pull it back and say it's 313 00:25:00,440 --> 00:25:06,440 not you. It's me. It's what I need to understand so that I can fully support 314 00:25:06,440 --> 00:25:09,440 you. We need to get on the same page. And it goes back to what you said, being 315 00:25:09,440 --> 00:25:14,440 able to listen well. Listen well. That's it right there. And I tell you, in the 316 00:25:14,440 --> 00:25:20,440 spirit of the conversation that we're having, another powerful tool that some 317 00:25:20,440 --> 00:25:26,440 leaders miss out on, and you've heard this word many, many times, is delegation. 318 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,440 Two things happen. I think it's one of the top three most powerful tools in the 319 00:25:30,440 --> 00:25:37,440 leaders toolbox. Here's why. Number one, when we delegate, if you do it in this 320 00:25:37,440 --> 00:25:42,440 spirit, what you're doing is you're using it as an opportunity to develop your 321 00:25:42,440 --> 00:25:48,440 team, to provide them additional resources, insight, build up their 322 00:25:48,440 --> 00:25:52,440 confidence, have them to be bold, to step out and utilize their gifts and their 323 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:56,440 potential that they probably think they didn't have. That's the power of 324 00:25:56,440 --> 00:26:01,440 delegation if you use it in that spirit. But here's the other reason that it's so 325 00:26:01,440 --> 00:26:06,440 important. It does get work off of your plate. And it can free you up as a leader 326 00:26:06,440 --> 00:26:14,440 now to be more visionary than tactical. But you have to think of it from that 327 00:26:14,440 --> 00:26:19,440 perspective. I am delegating a lot of this responsibility to different men and 328 00:26:19,440 --> 00:26:24,440 women on my team as a means of developing them and getting them ready for the 329 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:31,440 next level. And a lot of leaders miss it. And we spend a full day just unpacking 330 00:26:31,440 --> 00:26:38,440 the power of delegation. Because the primary motivation should not be I need 331 00:26:38,440 --> 00:26:41,440 to get stuff off my plate and I'm going to just give it to this person or that 332 00:26:41,440 --> 00:26:46,440 person. No, you use it as a tool to develop them and you really focus on that 333 00:26:46,440 --> 00:26:51,440 and it will transform your team and transform your organization. 334 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:59,440 Amen. Let's use a live example from Friday. Okay. So my team, two new team 335 00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:05,440 members, they both speak Spanish. They do not speak English. And before coming up 336 00:27:05,440 --> 00:27:10,440 with my own plan of hey, let's make you learn English, right, first off asking 337 00:27:10,440 --> 00:27:14,440 one to ten, one you never want to learn English, ten, it's the most important 338 00:27:14,440 --> 00:27:18,440 priority in your life. Where do you rest on this? They jump to a ten out of ten, 339 00:27:18,440 --> 00:27:24,440 both of them. Okay. In that case, then moving forward with your permission, I'd 340 00:27:24,440 --> 00:27:31,440 like you to dedicate 30 minutes minimum per day to your English, to training, 341 00:27:31,440 --> 00:27:36,440 learning English. You're now going to be paid to learn English. And with a 342 00:27:36,440 --> 00:27:42,440 maximum of 60 minutes. And because you said ten out of ten, you also need to 343 00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:47,440 come up with a plan for how you're going to study outside of your work life. 344 00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:51,440 Otherwise, this is not a ten and it's a self-awareness exercise, right, of them 345 00:27:51,440 --> 00:27:55,440 understanding where they truly add on this commitment so that we can hold them 346 00:27:55,440 --> 00:27:59,440 accountable, support them, make sure we put the right framework in place. So I 347 00:27:59,440 --> 00:28:04,440 ask them to go build that plan. Next step. During your work time, the way that 348 00:28:04,440 --> 00:28:07,440 you're going to study, let me give you the path for it. Here's how. You're going 349 00:28:07,440 --> 00:28:12,440 to go to YouTube. You're going to find shorts related to how do I say such and 350 00:28:12,440 --> 00:28:17,440 such word in English, right? Como se dice, perro, dog, in English. You're going to 351 00:28:17,440 --> 00:28:21,440 find the shorts. You're going to go to the video, like it, subscribe, and then 352 00:28:21,440 --> 00:28:27,440 you're going to comment on these individuals channels how grateful you are 353 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:31,440 for what it is that they taught you. And they're following me on this. They're 354 00:28:31,440 --> 00:28:34,440 going to comment up grateful and you're going to invite them to come into our 355 00:28:34,440 --> 00:28:38,440 Facebook group, O Portunidades de Trabajo Para Latinos, Opportunities for Work for 356 00:28:38,440 --> 00:28:45,440 Latinos, and come and teach our 650 members what and be interviewed by us 357 00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,440 about why they're such a great teacher and et cetera. I said we're going to do 358 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:53,440 this for 40 days. It takes seven minutes to do this process. We're going to do 359 00:28:53,440 --> 00:28:57,440 this for 40 days. Maybe you get in front of 10, maybe you get in front of three 360 00:28:57,440 --> 00:29:01,440 people, but we're going to gather the world's best teachers in this incubation 361 00:29:01,440 --> 00:29:06,440 process so that you guys have the best capacity of learning accordingly. And so 362 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:13,440 they came in today to work and they asked about, I said, Jackson, how do I 363 00:29:13,440 --> 00:29:21,440 write this plan? And I said, well, before I give that to you, I said, I want you 364 00:29:21,440 --> 00:29:26,440 to create your own plans. If we had plans to gather fish today, Jackson might 365 00:29:26,440 --> 00:29:33,440 get three fish, maybe Cynthia gets five fish, maybe Ramona gets 50 fish. So we 366 00:29:33,440 --> 00:29:38,440 find out Jackson went with a stick to the river. We find out that Cynthia went 367 00:29:38,440 --> 00:29:42,440 with a fishing pole. We found out that Ramona went to the market and asked for 368 00:29:42,440 --> 00:29:46,440 fish and they gave her a big discount and she got 50 fish for $10. It didn't 369 00:29:46,440 --> 00:29:50,440 waste her time. There's all sorts of different plans that can come out, but if 370 00:29:50,440 --> 00:29:55,440 I guide you right now, I'm going to box you in. I want them to go think for 371 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:59,440 themselves and they might influence my plan and come up with something better. 372 00:29:59,440 --> 00:30:02,440 That's the power of delegation. That's why we wouldn't have a podcast without 373 00:30:02,440 --> 00:30:08,440 that. I went live one day, I called it a podcast, and my team built it. I had no 374 00:30:08,440 --> 00:30:13,440 ambitions of launching this. That's good. That's good. That's an excellent 375 00:30:13,440 --> 00:30:18,440 example there, Jackson, because people don't know what they don't know until 376 00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:23,440 what? The leader gives them the opportunity, but it's bigger than that. We 377 00:30:23,440 --> 00:30:28,440 make ourselves available and we create an environment such that when they have 378 00:30:28,440 --> 00:30:33,440 questions, not if, but when they have questions, we are available to answer 379 00:30:33,440 --> 00:30:37,440 those questions and help them along the way. So that's a great story. The only 380 00:30:37,440 --> 00:30:41,440 way I know all of that is because of all the leaders who've guided me throughout 381 00:30:41,440 --> 00:30:45,440 the process to get there, the ones who are willing to help me learn my plan 382 00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:50,440 along the way. So let's dive into your personal vision. Outside of work, what's 383 00:30:50,440 --> 00:30:53,440 your vision for your... Oh, and it can be worked too. Don't let me push you out, 384 00:30:53,440 --> 00:30:58,440 but Kevin Wayne Johnson, what's your vision for yourself? So my personal 385 00:30:58,440 --> 00:31:04,440 vision as well as my professional vision, they align. It's all about what 386 00:31:04,440 --> 00:31:08,440 can Kevin Johnson do? So let's start with the end in mind. Dr. Stephen Covey 387 00:31:08,440 --> 00:31:15,440 taught me that. That's the fourth area of the seven habits of highly 388 00:31:15,440 --> 00:31:19,440 effective people. This is the fourth habit. Begin with the end in mind. I 389 00:31:19,440 --> 00:31:27,440 would love Jackson and everybody listening to see a much better world. Now, 390 00:31:27,440 --> 00:31:32,440 that means a lot, but specifically in my lane and my path, the street that I 391 00:31:32,440 --> 00:31:41,440 watch, I think it has a lot to do with building a good cadre of good, 392 00:31:41,440 --> 00:31:49,440 respectable, empathetic, compassionate, yet knowledgeable leaders, because 393 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:54,440 leaders lead people. And we have more people in the world who are looking to a 394 00:31:54,440 --> 00:32:02,440 leader to lead them. We have more followers than we have leaders. That's 395 00:32:02,440 --> 00:32:07,440 just the way the system is designed. So more people are looking for someone to 396 00:32:07,440 --> 00:32:12,440 lead them as opposed to them stepping out. So for those of us that are blessed 397 00:32:12,440 --> 00:32:17,440 and have the awesome responsibility of leading people, I want them to 398 00:32:17,440 --> 00:32:22,440 understand at a very high level what it means to go beyond just subject matter 399 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:28,440 expertise and tap into the heart and treat people more like humans than 400 00:32:28,440 --> 00:32:34,440 workers. We can do it. We can do it. In my journey with the federal government 401 00:32:34,440 --> 00:32:38,440 over 34 years, I have a 34-year career with the federal government. I retired 402 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:45,440 six years ago. I had a chance to work with civilians, with contractors, and 403 00:32:45,440 --> 00:32:50,440 with military personnel. That would be enlisted junior officers, flag officers, 404 00:32:50,440 --> 00:32:55,440 and general officers. I was always navigating through three different 405 00:32:55,440 --> 00:33:01,440 cultures on any given day for 34 years. And what was interesting about that 406 00:33:01,440 --> 00:33:07,440 journey is that it taught me so much about what it means to be able to move 407 00:33:07,440 --> 00:33:12,440 people, to motivate people, to inspire them, and to encourage them to get the 408 00:33:12,440 --> 00:33:18,440 best out of them, because when we do, that's exactly what we do. And now 409 00:33:18,440 --> 00:33:23,440 people are very comfortable with tapping into their potential. So this personal 410 00:33:23,440 --> 00:33:28,440 and professional vision that I have around making the world a much better 411 00:33:28,440 --> 00:33:32,440 place has everything to do with just pouring into the current and next 412 00:33:32,440 --> 00:33:37,440 generation of leaders to teach them that because we spend so much time at work, 413 00:33:37,440 --> 00:33:43,440 so much time at work, with people sometimes for a very short period of time 414 00:33:43,440 --> 00:33:48,440 and sometimes for much longer periods of time, then I believe that we can do it 415 00:33:48,440 --> 00:33:56,440 in a way where people are respected and valued and included, and we send 416 00:33:56,440 --> 00:34:00,440 messages that their contributions are valued. I believe we can do it. That does 417 00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:06,440 not make you weak as a leader. It makes you human as a leader. And when it's all 418 00:34:06,440 --> 00:34:10,440 said and done, that's what people are looking for. So that's really the journey 419 00:34:10,440 --> 00:34:14,440 that I've been on for a very long time, and I knew once I retired that I wanted 420 00:34:14,440 --> 00:34:19,440 to step into that lane in this season of my life, and that's what we're doing. 421 00:34:19,440 --> 00:34:24,440 So here throughout the United States and strategically in regions around the 422 00:34:24,440 --> 00:34:29,440 globe, we teach these principles and these strategies. A lot of it has to do 423 00:34:29,440 --> 00:34:33,440 with my connection with John Maxwell team, but a lot of it has to do with just 424 00:34:33,440 --> 00:34:39,440 my own personal stories and my own personal journey. That all makes sense now. 425 00:34:39,440 --> 00:34:44,440 From the time I was a little boy to where I am now, it all kind of makes sense 426 00:34:44,440 --> 00:34:48,440 that the journey that I've been on has prepared me for a time such as this. 427 00:34:48,440 --> 00:34:51,440 So that's sort of a long-winded answer to your question. 428 00:34:51,440 --> 00:34:53,440 That's a beautiful answer. 429 00:34:53,440 --> 00:34:57,440 But that's it right there in a nutshell. That's it. And I'm going to be at it 430 00:34:57,440 --> 00:35:01,440 for, I know for at least another 15 years because I love what I do. 431 00:35:01,440 --> 00:35:06,440 I have 100% support for exactly what you're doing. We are, and I'm glad you 432 00:35:06,440 --> 00:35:10,440 pulled it full circles. I was interested to see if you would. For a while there 433 00:35:10,440 --> 00:35:14,440 you were using the word, we can do this and we can, and that's inclusive of those 434 00:35:14,440 --> 00:35:19,440 who aren't necessarily bought into that yet. And then you said, we are doing this. 435 00:35:19,440 --> 00:35:23,440 And that's what I want to do. You are doing this. We are doing this. 436 00:35:23,440 --> 00:35:29,440 That's the entire purpose of visionproselive.com is to help people. 437 00:35:29,440 --> 00:35:35,440 And it's funny, I'm going to call him out in the best of ways. And it's to honor 438 00:35:35,440 --> 00:35:41,440 the fact that he's not alone in realizing this. The first time I admitted the 439 00:35:41,440 --> 00:35:46,440 full scope behind visionproselive on live show was Justin Breen. 440 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:53,440 And Justin, as soon as I said, I believe that everybody is a visionary. 441 00:35:53,440 --> 00:35:58,440 He said, no, they're not. He came at me about that. And I loved it. 442 00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:01,440 I was like, good, good. I'm glad I don't have a Kool-Aid drinker here. 443 00:36:01,440 --> 00:36:06,440 I got somebody who wants to talk about this. On the flip side, I feel so blessed 444 00:36:06,440 --> 00:36:11,440 from my perspective in paradigm to know and recognize that every single person 445 00:36:11,440 --> 00:36:16,440 on this earth has the capacity to be a visionary for their life without a doubt. 446 00:36:16,440 --> 00:36:26,440 I know that. And if Justin, in that sense, if Justin continues to tell people 447 00:36:26,440 --> 00:36:30,440 they do not have visions, if that was what the world led with, was everybody 448 00:36:30,440 --> 00:36:34,440 telling the world, everybody else that you don't have the capacity, then I think 449 00:36:34,440 --> 00:36:37,440 the world would be a little bit of a darker place. That's not his subject matter, 450 00:36:37,440 --> 00:36:42,440 though. He talks about other areas of light. He just doesn't have my vision for 451 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:46,440 how I see things. So his can coexist. He can keep building the wonderful 452 00:36:46,440 --> 00:36:52,440 connections that he does while I continue to inspire and see people unlock 453 00:36:52,440 --> 00:36:57,440 their own visions, because I believe we can empower people to be a visionary 454 00:36:57,440 --> 00:37:01,440 for their own life, and they will unlock their true value and purpose when they 455 00:37:01,440 --> 00:37:07,440 honor their personal visions. Well said. Absolutely. I can't add to it. I can't 456 00:37:07,440 --> 00:37:11,440 take away anything from it. I certainly agree with that. You already did. I'm 457 00:37:11,440 --> 00:37:16,440 just following in your tracks, Kevin. I love it, man. All right. Let's talk about 458 00:37:16,440 --> 00:37:21,440 a darker subject, speaking of. What's the worst leadership experience you've ever 459 00:37:21,440 --> 00:37:26,440 had? So my worst leadership experience takes me back to a time where I was 460 00:37:26,440 --> 00:37:32,440 working in Midtown Manhattan. I had briefly stepped away from the government 461 00:37:32,440 --> 00:37:36,440 and worked in corporate America. I just wanted to give it a shot, give it a try, 462 00:37:36,440 --> 00:37:41,440 see how it would work. I tasted the Kool-Aid. It didn't taste good. I spit it 463 00:37:41,440 --> 00:37:46,440 out, and I came back to the federal government. But I was working for a 464 00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:53,440 company, and the company itself was treating me well until it got to a point 465 00:37:53,440 --> 00:37:59,440 where it was time for an M&A. That's a merger and acquisition. This company 466 00:37:59,440 --> 00:38:04,440 decided it wanted to acquire a smaller company, interestingly enough, that was 467 00:38:04,440 --> 00:38:09,440 right there in the same building, and they were in the information technology 468 00:38:09,440 --> 00:38:13,440 space. And there was a gentleman. I call him a gentleman now because there's no 469 00:38:13,440 --> 00:38:20,440 hard feelings, but he was the person that ultimately, because of the M&A, came 470 00:38:20,440 --> 00:38:26,440 into our organization as the senior vice president to replace the guy that hired 471 00:38:26,440 --> 00:38:33,440 most of us that we liked. He was a good guy. He was kind and gentle, but the 472 00:38:33,440 --> 00:38:39,440 company at that level was pretty brutal, and they mistook his kindness as a 473 00:38:39,440 --> 00:38:45,440 weakness. He hired us, and he was a good guy. He trusted us. He delegated good 474 00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:49,440 work to us. He prepared us. He developed us, but they let him go, and here comes 475 00:38:49,440 --> 00:38:55,440 this dude from this other company that we are acquiring, and he let it be known 476 00:38:55,440 --> 00:39:01,440 right up front, Jackson, in front of everybody that he didn't respect any of 477 00:39:01,440 --> 00:39:08,440 us on the team that he was about to inherit, and he wanted to replace us all. 478 00:39:08,440 --> 00:39:17,440 Now, I think that's very, very, what's the right word? That's a very, very 479 00:39:17,440 --> 00:39:24,440 calculated and unwise thing to do because he didn't know us. Now, he had 480 00:39:24,440 --> 00:39:28,440 been in a couple of meetings with us. He maybe heard us give a presentation or 481 00:39:28,440 --> 00:39:33,440 briefing. He may have saw some of our products, but he didn't really know us. 482 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:38,440 He didn't know us as people, but he came in as the inbound senior vice president 483 00:39:38,440 --> 00:39:45,440 replacing the guy that hired us, and he let it be known right out the gate. Now, 484 00:39:45,440 --> 00:39:50,440 I want you and your listeners to just think for a minute. How do you think that 485 00:39:50,440 --> 00:39:51,440 made us feel? 486 00:39:51,440 --> 00:39:57,440 Yeah. Well, if I was, if you were going to run a coup d'etat, and you tell your 487 00:39:57,440 --> 00:40:00,440 entire army, you're all worthless. 488 00:40:00,440 --> 00:40:01,440 Right. 489 00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:02,440 You know, don't call it. 490 00:40:02,440 --> 00:40:05,440 Publicly. Publicly. He didn't call us into a room and have a separate meeting. 491 00:40:05,440 --> 00:40:11,440 He did it publicly. So, long story short, four of my colleagues were dismissed. 492 00:40:11,440 --> 00:40:16,440 They called it laying them off, but they were dismissed. It was a Friday morning. 493 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:20,440 Security showed up and just escorted them out and then told them, we'll mail 494 00:40:20,440 --> 00:40:25,440 your stuff to, I mean, it was just, it was just very bad. A couple of us, a couple 495 00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:31,440 of us survived, and then we had to take, we had to take the brunt of his dislike. 496 00:40:31,440 --> 00:40:37,440 Here's the reason why I was unwise. He didn't know and didn't even think to ask 497 00:40:37,440 --> 00:40:42,440 that I had a relationship with the executive vice president of human 498 00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:47,440 resources. I could go to her office through her administrative assistant and 499 00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:52,440 just kind of share how things are going, what's happening, et cetera. And I told 500 00:40:52,440 --> 00:40:58,440 her all about this guy. And she really needed to do something because he's 501 00:40:58,440 --> 00:41:04,440 bringing negative energy and negative energy deflates and it disrupts the 502 00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:08,440 morale. And you're not going to be able to get the best out of us because we 503 00:41:08,440 --> 00:41:11,440 don't want to work for this guy. I just want you to know that. That's a 504 00:41:11,440 --> 00:41:16,440 conversation that we had one on one. Long story short, Jackson, I ended up 505 00:41:16,440 --> 00:41:19,440 leaving the organization. I'm not quite sure about some of my other colleagues 506 00:41:19,440 --> 00:41:24,440 that survived, but I left the organization and I moved on. And I did 507 00:41:24,440 --> 00:41:27,440 find out a little bit later because I stay in touch with people. I found out a 508 00:41:27,440 --> 00:41:31,440 little bit later that eventually he was let go. His style was just a little bit 509 00:41:31,440 --> 00:41:36,440 too abrasive, a little bit too unprofessional for people to handle. And 510 00:41:36,440 --> 00:41:40,440 they found a way to get rid of them. But that's my worst. I don't have very 511 00:41:40,440 --> 00:41:44,440 many of these stories. I really don't. Over 34 years, I don't have very many of 512 00:41:44,440 --> 00:41:49,440 these stories. That was my worst leadership experience. And I made a 513 00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:55,440 promise to me and nobody else that I would never do that to anybody in the 514 00:41:55,440 --> 00:42:00,440 workplace. Just is this not going to happen? Not under my leadership. If I 515 00:42:00,440 --> 00:42:04,440 have a problem with you, whether it's personality or whether it's production, 516 00:42:04,440 --> 00:42:07,440 we're going to go behind closed doors and have a one on one and we're going to 517 00:42:07,440 --> 00:42:11,440 talk it out and figure out how to make this thing work. But I would never go 518 00:42:11,440 --> 00:42:17,440 into an organization and just publicly let everybody know that I don't want any 519 00:42:17,440 --> 00:42:22,440 of you. None of you are worth anything and I want to replace you all. I would 520 00:42:22,440 --> 00:42:28,440 never do that. That's just not wise to do. The diplomacy skills that you have, 521 00:42:28,440 --> 00:42:34,440 the talent and gift of that are very much on point right now. And it's 522 00:42:34,440 --> 00:42:39,440 something that in the small business world, we don't get to experience very 523 00:42:39,440 --> 00:42:45,440 often. And we find polarizing often too when you're so far down the totem pole 524 00:42:45,440 --> 00:42:49,440 of what the president says or somebody, you know, the governor says, you often 525 00:42:49,440 --> 00:42:53,440 feel spoken at. You know, and then you don't feel well represented, you don't 526 00:42:53,440 --> 00:42:56,440 feel like they're listening, et cetera. And well, naturally, how do they listen 527 00:42:56,440 --> 00:43:02,440 when they've got several million people to guide? But to go back to your story, 528 00:43:02,440 --> 00:43:07,440 that was probably the most powerful of all of the worst leadership experiences 529 00:43:07,440 --> 00:43:15,440 that anybody has yet shared out of 150 episodes. And your claim right after of 530 00:43:15,440 --> 00:43:22,440 I don't have many stories like that, once again, reminds me of you following the 531 00:43:22,440 --> 00:43:29,440 John Maxwell leadership reality, your care and concern, your nature of making 532 00:43:29,440 --> 00:43:34,440 space for people's mistakes. There's no way that you haven't been through 533 00:43:34,440 --> 00:43:39,440 thousands and thousands of what many of the leaders I've hosted and myself would 534 00:43:39,440 --> 00:43:43,440 call worst leadership experiences. There's no, we would call it that, but 535 00:43:43,440 --> 00:43:48,440 you've gravitated towards seeing the opportunities. And it's that patience 536 00:43:48,440 --> 00:43:53,440 and listening to understand that just blows my mind. Kevin, let's dive into your 537 00:43:53,440 --> 00:43:56,440 best leadership experience because we are running short on time, but I don't 538 00:43:56,440 --> 00:43:57,440 want to lose the chance. 539 00:43:57,440 --> 00:44:02,440 All right. So, so remember now I said I don't have very many of those stories. 540 00:44:02,440 --> 00:44:07,440 So the only the only other well, there are some other words, but the other one 541 00:44:07,440 --> 00:44:11,440 that kind of comes to mind, you mean the worst of the best. Yeah, from the worst 542 00:44:11,440 --> 00:44:16,440 to the best. So here's what happened to make it the best leadership experience. 543 00:44:16,440 --> 00:44:23,440 I was under the leadership of this time, a female, and for whatever reason, she 544 00:44:23,440 --> 00:44:27,440 never told me why. And I tried to figure it out and I couldn't. So I just moved 545 00:44:27,440 --> 00:44:33,440 on. My work product was never satisfactory, no matter what she gave me in terms of a 546 00:44:33,440 --> 00:44:38,440 project, a task, an action or an initiative. What I delivered back was just 547 00:44:38,440 --> 00:44:45,440 never, it never cut the mustard. So I ended up tapping into my network and I 548 00:44:45,440 --> 00:44:50,440 asked the people on my network, get me out of here. This is not working. So a 549 00:44:50,440 --> 00:44:56,440 couple of folks in that organization, but in a different unit, a different 550 00:44:56,440 --> 00:45:01,440 division said, Kevin, we would more than, we'd be more than happy to have you to 551 00:45:01,440 --> 00:45:06,440 come. We've seen your work product. We know who you are and your reputation 552 00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:11,440 based upon what other people have told us. We'd love to have you. And so showing 553 00:45:11,440 --> 00:45:16,440 off, I made that little transfer and I went into this team and this group of 554 00:45:16,440 --> 00:45:23,440 leaders, this group of supervisors embraced me and helped me and molded me 555 00:45:23,440 --> 00:45:30,440 and encouraged me to the point where I started to thrive and excel and I put in 556 00:45:30,440 --> 00:45:37,440 some paperwork. I was the first employee at that time in that organization to 557 00:45:37,440 --> 00:45:43,440 put forth some paperwork. It was a comprehensive package to participate in 558 00:45:43,440 --> 00:45:49,440 what the government at that time was hosting called the executive potential 559 00:45:49,440 --> 00:45:54,440 program. Now it's still around, but it was managed by a totally different 560 00:45:54,440 --> 00:45:59,440 government agency at the time. In my organization at that time, no one had 561 00:45:59,440 --> 00:46:04,440 ever submitted paperwork to do that and it had to go through five different 562 00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:09,440 layers. It had to go through a section chief, a branch chief, it had to go 563 00:46:09,440 --> 00:46:13,440 through an office chief, a deputy commissioner and then ultimately the 564 00:46:13,440 --> 00:46:19,440 commissioner for approval, five levels. And most people thought, oh, it's no way 565 00:46:19,440 --> 00:46:24,440 in the world. Everybody's not going to approve it. And they did. They did. And 566 00:46:24,440 --> 00:46:29,440 what they told me, Jackson, after it was a one year developmental program where I 567 00:46:29,440 --> 00:46:35,440 got a chance to go outside of my agency and do work all across the government 568 00:46:35,440 --> 00:46:40,440 and get some great experience. I met the secretary of the army. I had a chance to 569 00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:45,440 go to the office of federal procurement policy for a 90 day detail where I had a 570 00:46:45,440 --> 00:46:50,440 chance to testify before Congress. I could go on and on and on. It was a 571 00:46:50,440 --> 00:46:55,440 really phenomenal experience. But why? It was because some folks believed in me 572 00:46:55,440 --> 00:47:02,440 following this other supervisor who for whatever reason did not. So don't tell me 573 00:47:02,440 --> 00:47:08,440 that leadership doesn't make a difference. And that is my best leadership 574 00:47:08,440 --> 00:47:13,440 experience. Matter of fact, I'll just go ahead and share it. It was 1995. That's 575 00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:17,440 how long ago it was. But I still remember it like it was yesterday because it was 576 00:47:17,440 --> 00:47:24,440 so impactful. That's amazing. And your vulnerability, right, your willingness to 577 00:47:24,440 --> 00:47:28,440 share with them why you were looking for a change, maybe not the drama details, 578 00:47:28,440 --> 00:47:32,440 maybe didn't throw the laundry out there, but the fact that they knew then and 579 00:47:32,440 --> 00:47:37,440 respected you and they saw an opportunity to help you out. I bet that was a 580 00:47:37,440 --> 00:47:41,440 catalyst for bringing more energy to make you feel welcome and to help you 581 00:47:41,440 --> 00:47:45,440 understand the value that you were to that team. So it was mutual. And Jackson, 582 00:47:45,440 --> 00:47:50,440 that section chief and that branch chief, I'm still in contact with all these 583 00:47:50,440 --> 00:47:55,440 years later. We send each other Christmas cards. I give them call. One lives in 584 00:47:55,440 --> 00:47:59,440 Florida and one lives in North Carolina and we still stay in touch. That's how 585 00:47:59,440 --> 00:48:04,440 powerful that moment was. Knowing what you've displayed as a leader, I believe 586 00:48:04,440 --> 00:48:09,440 that doesn't surprise me one bit. You just pick it up, pick up what we're 587 00:48:09,440 --> 00:48:13,440 putting down. What if this was the last chance you had the last opportunity to 588 00:48:13,440 --> 00:48:17,440 share a powerful lesson with visionaries? What can we learn from your experience? 589 00:48:17,440 --> 00:48:24,440 Well, I believe that leaders are readers. And what I mean by that is all the 590 00:48:24,440 --> 00:48:31,440 evidence is in the higher our literary, our literacy rate, the better our mental 591 00:48:31,440 --> 00:48:37,440 health, the better our physical health, the more self confidence and self 592 00:48:37,440 --> 00:48:42,440 esteem that we have. And it just really propels us and puts us on a trajectory 593 00:48:42,440 --> 00:48:47,440 to do good. I encourage everybody under the sound of my voice as best you can, 594 00:48:47,440 --> 00:48:53,440 read one book a month and you'll start to find out that you can get through it 595 00:48:53,440 --> 00:48:58,440 relatively quickly. Step it up to two books a month. It doesn't matter if you 596 00:48:58,440 --> 00:49:04,440 like to read novels or if you like to read nonfiction. But I would encourage 597 00:49:04,440 --> 00:49:09,440 you to do that. It's good for the mind, it's good for the soul, it's good for the 598 00:49:09,440 --> 00:49:15,440 spirit. But equally important, it always puts us in the in the posture that we're 599 00:49:15,440 --> 00:49:19,440 hungry and we're thirsty for more information and more knowledge. And I 600 00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:25,440 think that's powerful. Now that we're back doing a lot of in person events and 601 00:49:25,440 --> 00:49:30,440 I'm back on airplanes again, depending on the book that I choose, and depending 602 00:49:30,440 --> 00:49:36,440 on where I'm traveling, sometimes I can read an entire book just on that 603 00:49:36,440 --> 00:49:42,440 airplane ride from going one way, not round trip. It just depends on the book 604 00:49:42,440 --> 00:49:46,440 and it depends on if I've gotten enough sleep or not. But I would encourage 605 00:49:46,440 --> 00:49:50,440 people to do that because it does make a difference. I do a lot of work in the 606 00:49:50,440 --> 00:49:56,440 area of literacy and promoting it with not only boys and girls but also men and 607 00:49:56,440 --> 00:50:02,440 women because people don't realize how many fellow Americans are actually below 608 00:50:02,440 --> 00:50:07,440 the literacy rate. And if we can get people reading more, I believe that we're 609 00:50:07,440 --> 00:50:13,440 on our way to, again, better mental health, higher levels of self-confidence, 610 00:50:13,440 --> 00:50:19,440 more self-esteem, and then guess what? We also have less time now to be nasty to 611 00:50:19,440 --> 00:50:24,440 other people. And so that's very, very important in terms of where we are in 612 00:50:24,440 --> 00:50:28,440 America these days. We're so divided. I think that'll be a step toward helping us 613 00:50:28,440 --> 00:50:35,440 to unite as well. Huge. I believe 100% that that's the case because my mission 614 00:50:35,440 --> 00:50:40,440 president a long time ago told me, Jackson, your mind is like a bookshelf. 615 00:50:40,440 --> 00:50:44,440 And with limited capacity, even though you've got infinite capacities in other 616 00:50:44,440 --> 00:50:49,440 senses, if you put great books on your shelf at all times, you're going to have 617 00:50:49,440 --> 00:50:52,440 to start taking off some of the bad books in order to do that. And if you keep 618 00:50:52,440 --> 00:50:55,440 putting more and more good books on your shelf, there's going to be less and less 619 00:50:55,440 --> 00:51:01,440 space for those bad books until they're gone. And the same is true. I love that 620 00:51:01,440 --> 00:51:06,440 you said that. Start with one book, you know, then maybe go into two. There's an 621 00:51:06,440 --> 00:51:10,440 exercise process that's part of this. And for my generation, let me age you a 622 00:51:10,440 --> 00:51:16,440 little bit there, Kevin, the younger generations and the ones below me too, 623 00:51:16,440 --> 00:51:23,440 those books can come in the form of social media platforms. They can. However, 624 00:51:23,440 --> 00:51:28,440 that doesn't substitute the opportunity to also exercise your muscles of reading 625 00:51:28,440 --> 00:51:33,440 a physical book or listening to an audible. And as you pointed out so wisely, 626 00:51:33,440 --> 00:51:40,440 if you're not reading, but you're spending six hours a day just consuming random 627 00:51:40,440 --> 00:51:45,440 content on social media, what does it hurt you to lose one of those hours, 628 00:51:45,440 --> 00:51:49,440 maybe being nasty in your tweets, roasting people or whatever else, to shift that 629 00:51:49,440 --> 00:51:56,440 one hour of negativity to learning something out of the normal screen that 630 00:51:56,440 --> 00:52:01,440 you may spend some time on? But I want to be clear too, I'm also of the mindset 631 00:52:01,440 --> 00:52:05,440 that some of the more powerful opportunities you have to learn come in 632 00:52:05,440 --> 00:52:10,440 the form of a course or in the form of a mentor or in the form of an activity 633 00:52:10,440 --> 00:52:15,440 that you get up and do with others. But I would never, ever sacrifice my reading 634 00:52:15,440 --> 00:52:21,440 time. It's sacred to me. I don't do all read all of the books that are on my 635 00:52:21,440 --> 00:52:25,440 exercise level right now. I need to get back on track with it. I can't justify 636 00:52:25,440 --> 00:52:29,440 and say my YouTube time makes up for my podcast listening time. It does never, 637 00:52:29,440 --> 00:52:34,440 it will never replace my reading time. Yeah. And then also what it does, 638 00:52:34,440 --> 00:52:38,440 it helps us to now be laser focused. So that's always a good attribute as well. 639 00:52:38,440 --> 00:52:43,440 Just being focused on what needs to take place. How do I prioritize the things 640 00:52:43,440 --> 00:52:48,440 that are before me today? And I encourage everyone to prioritize reading. 641 00:52:48,440 --> 00:52:52,440 It makes a difference. Yes, it does. It makes a huge difference. Kevin, 642 00:52:52,440 --> 00:52:57,440 this was awesome. I will have all the links of what you can do to follow 643 00:52:57,440 --> 00:53:02,440 Kevin beyond the podcast today. Those will be on the landing page. And if you 644 00:53:02,440 --> 00:53:07,440 want to apply to Beyond Vision Pros Live, it's not a scary process. Just submit 645 00:53:07,440 --> 00:53:09,440 your application, submit your vision. Your vision doesn't have to be 646 00:53:09,440 --> 00:53:12,440 entrepreneurial. It doesn't have to be save the world. It could be save your 647 00:53:12,440 --> 00:53:17,440 neighborhood. It could be about being the best mom or the best dad for your 648 00:53:17,440 --> 00:53:21,440 children as well. That may be your vision. I honor and respect that. 649 00:53:21,440 --> 00:53:26,440 The principles of virtues that we can share, debate, philosophize about, 650 00:53:26,440 --> 00:53:30,440 teach each other. That's really what this whole program is about. So feel free 651 00:53:30,440 --> 00:53:35,440 to do that. And anything you'd like to add to end this, Kevin? Any other topic 652 00:53:35,440 --> 00:53:39,440 you want to dive into real quick? Well, I would just encourage everyone, 653 00:53:39,440 --> 00:53:45,440 if you have a desire to learn more and to hear more, to feel free to reach out 654 00:53:45,440 --> 00:53:50,440 and touch. We have a standard here at the Johnson Leadership Group. We do our 655 00:53:50,440 --> 00:53:55,440 best to get back with everybody within 48 hours, whether it's a phone call or an 656 00:53:55,440 --> 00:53:59,440 email. I'd be interested to know how I can serve you and your team and your 657 00:53:59,440 --> 00:54:05,440 organization to help your leaders to become that much better. Absolutely. 658 00:54:05,440 --> 00:54:09,440 Vision Pros have an excellent... Oh, let's dive in real quick. Cynthia billed me 659 00:54:09,440 --> 00:54:15,440 out here. She pulled it up. So we've got Kevin's page about leadership courses, 660 00:54:15,440 --> 00:54:19,440 who they are, pulled up so you can see it on your screen, the ability to register 661 00:54:19,440 --> 00:54:24,440 for these leadership courses, and opt in, of course. I'm constantly, anytime I 662 00:54:24,440 --> 00:54:28,440 come across a leader that I want to follow, I opt into their materials. I told 663 00:54:28,440 --> 00:54:32,440 them they're a podcaster. I don't go consume everybody's everything, but I 664 00:54:32,440 --> 00:54:37,440 want opted in kind of like a news feed for my inbox to know which leader has 665 00:54:37,440 --> 00:54:41,440 come out with what, because if it's relevant to where I'm at that day or 666 00:54:41,440 --> 00:54:45,440 where I'm at that month, the challenges I'm facing or the opportunities, it's if 667 00:54:45,440 --> 00:54:48,440 I'm connected into their network and what they're publishing and putting out in 668 00:54:48,440 --> 00:54:52,440 the world, then I have the opportunity for them to be the person who's able to 669 00:54:52,440 --> 00:54:57,440 guide me through the experiences that I don't know myself how to overcome. 670 00:54:57,440 --> 00:55:01,440 Kevin Wayne Johnson, I'll be opted in and subscribed to all your materials. 671 00:55:01,440 --> 00:55:05,440 Vision Pros, we will see you on the next episode. Take care, everybody. Bye. 672 00:55:05,440 --> 00:55:08,440 Thank you for being here today. I'm really happy that you tuned in to 673 00:55:08,440 --> 00:55:12,440 Vision Pros Live. I'm looking forward to seeing your reactions as these 674 00:55:12,440 --> 00:55:16,440 episodes continue to move forward. This is going to get more and more fun. 675 00:55:16,440 --> 00:55:19,440 We'll have more and more engagement as well. We'll invite people to participate 676 00:55:19,440 --> 00:55:22,440 in the show, and thank you for giving us your time and attention. Have an 677 00:55:22,440 --> 00:55:32,440 excellent day.