Leadership MISTAKES You're Making and How to Fix Them FAST with Kevin Wayne Johnson

Unlock the secrets to living a life filled with purpose and influence as we welcome Kevin Wayne Johnson, a devoted coach, and speaker, to our show. Learn how to break down the barriers that stunt growth and set intentional goals that lead to lasting success. Discover the delicate balance between influence and authority, and understand why integrity is the cornerstone of effective leadership in today's demanding world. Through Kevin's inspiring personal journey, we highlight the transformative power of resilience and mentorship, illustrating how adopting the principles of servant leadership can elevate both personal and professional interactions.

Explore the life-shaping moments that contribute to our growth and how authentic communication serves as the foundation for genuine relationships. We dive into the challenges men face in meeting societal expectations and discuss the importance of blending personal and professional identities for consistent leadership. With Kevin's insights, we encourage openness and authenticity, inspiring listeners to foster meaningful connections in every area of their lives. Authentic conversations are more than just exchanges; they are the bridges that connect us and help us grow together.

Integrity stands as the pillar in enhancing one's influence, and we draw inspiration from the legacy of Pastor Miles Monroe, whose life and teachings continue to impact leaders globally. Kevin shares his passion for nurturing future leaders by drawing from insightful works like Stephen Covey's "The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People" and Pastor Monroe's "God's Big Idea." This episode is a call to action for anyone eager to align themselves for greatness by embracing a principled, revolutionary approach to leadership. Join us on this enlightening journey and begin your path to becoming the leader you were destined to be.

Key moments in this episode:
03:49 Kevin's Hero's Journey
08:58 Common Barriers to Personal Growth
16:14 Servant Leadership and Influence
24:36 The Importance of Integrity and Faith in Leadership
29:10 Kevin's Career and Personal Growth Insights
37:43 Final Thoughts and Contact Information

How to Reach Kevin:
Website: http://www.thejohnsonleadershipgroup.com/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevinwaynejohnsonpage
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/writingforthelord
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8QdXWDOB889u5XKqazk6Hg
X: https://www.twitter.com/writing4thelord
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kevinwaynejohnson 

Chapters

• 0:00 Living a Principled Life
• 6:48 Authentic Communication and Consistent Leadership
• 21:22 Increasing Influence Through Integrity
• 26:01 Keys to Leadership and Influence
• 38:36 Empowering Men Through Conversation

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I would like to think that I'm living a principled life, as I'm sure you would as well, but defining and measuring our lives comes down to having a few fundamental principles that can propel us forward in both our personal and our professional lives, and it is through these fundamentals where we can become a person of influence. So I want you to stick around today, because my guest is going to share us with a few secrets of overcoming common barriers to growth and setting intentional goals that lead to sustained success. And we're going to discuss strategies for balancing influence with authority and the critical role of integrity in leadership and boy don't we need that in today's environment. And finally, we're going to look into ways to integrate servant leadership principles into our daily interaction. So I can't wait to get into our conversation Now. Before to get into our conversation Now, before we get into today's episode, just like, come to grips about one other thing, and that is inevitably there will come a time in your life when you will hit a wall.

Speaker 1: 0:57

You know whether that's a marriage that's not working, or a career or business that's stagnated, or maybe your personal life is just flatlined. So if you're dealing with any of these, or a combination of them and are finally fed up with where your life's at, then allow me to help you get clear on what needs to be done and how to go about getting your life back on track so you can live the life you were meant to live. And so I want you to go to awakenmannet and download a free setting, the compass exercise, to get you in alignment with what it is to me in a purposeful life. And with that, let's get on with today's episode.

Speaker 2: 1:30

The average man today is sleepwalking through life, many never reaching their true potential, let alone ever crossing the finish line to living a purposeful life. Yet the hunger still exists, albeit buried amidst his cluttered mind. Yet the hunger still exists, albeit buried amidst his cluttered mind, misguided beliefs and values that no longer serve him. It's time to align yourself for greatness. It's time to become a revolutionary man. Stay strong, my brother.

Speaker 1: 1:59

Welcome everyone to the Revolutionary man Podcast. I'm the founder of the Awakened man Movement and your host, alan DeMonsoul, you know, as you're listening to today's episode, I'd like you to consider this what steps can you take to become a more effective leader in your personal and your professional life? And then I'd like you to reflect on your own journey of growth and influence, and how can embracing the principles of servant leadership transform the way you interact with others? I know those are two big things for you to consider, but we're going to do some work here today, and so I started this conversation by talking about living a principled life. And so, as fathers and husbands and leaders, it is our duty to ensure we show up as a powerful and intentional man.

Speaker 1: 2:41

God, our families and our communities are calling us to be, and so some days that can be a pretty tall order, and if we're not really careful, we may find ourselves leading in ways of not and not having others come to follow us. So today, my guest intends to lay a few breadcrumbs on the trail of living a principled life. So allow me to introduce my guest. Kevin Wayne Johnson has taken up the task of developing individual and organizational operating excellence as his life's mission. He coaches and coax audiences to live out their gifts and awaken their potential. Kevin also provides organizations and people who work within them the tools to forge effective personal and intercommercial communications, and he delivers these trainings on the elements of dynamic relationships, so these teams can be equipped with attributes needing to develop individuals into leaders, and so I'm looking forward to this conversation Welcome to the show today.

Speaker 3: 3:38

Kevin, thanks for going well. Alan, thank you so much for this wonderful invitation. Looking forward to it and, by the way, you're doing an excellent job there.

Speaker 1: 3:51

Thank you so much. My job there. Thank you so much, my friend, thank you so much. You know, here at the revolutionary man podcast, we always started our conversations off with really talking about your hero's journey, and we're all on our own journey, so I wanted to like you to tell us about a time in your life when you knew things had to change. What did you do about that and how did it shape that? How did that experience?

Speaker 3: 4:06

That's an excellent question and I know we're going to talk a little bit about leadership, but part of my leadership journey has everything to do with the fact that my brother and I were sons of a US Marine, and anyone who's listening and anyone who's watching your podcast know if you happen to have grown up in a military household, you move around a lot. It's hard to stay stationary and to stay put, meet some really good friends and cultivate good relationships, because as soon as you do, it's time to pack up again. So my dad served 20 years in the United States Marine. He went in enlisted. He was very fortunate to earn a commission halfway through his career.

Speaker 3: 4:47

And he retired as a junior officer. He retired the year that I was transitioning from 10th grade to 11th grade in high school. What a bad time. And as a part of that retirement, of course we're living away from home and he wants to get back home to be with his siblings and to be with his parents. I understand that and although I tried to negotiate and tried to get him to think otherwise he's a Marine he made up his mind. We're going.

Speaker 3: 5:20

I was doing well on the junior varsity football team where we were, and now I have to start over again. Lo and behold, my 11th grade English one-on-one teacher, miss Atkins Ellen Atkins. I'll never forget it. She saw my body language, she picked up on my countenance, she saw that I wasn't really myself because I had been in her class long enough to master English. But she saw something and she intervened at the perfect time because I was feeling really down, trying to gain new friends. And she came to me one day and she said Kevin, I want you to approach the varsity basketball coach and let him know that you're available to work side by side with him, the assistant coaches and the basketball team to announce the games, all of the home games. They need a voice behind the microphone to introduce the players both home and away, and do play-by-play at the basketball games. Our gymnasium holds about 350 students and parents and friends and I think you would do well Guess what?

Speaker 3: 6:33

Alan? Unbeknownst to me, a 16-year-old 11th grader, she had already paved the way behind the scenes with the basketball coach. All I had to do was follow up and approach and he said yes. That was a very monumental shift in my life, because one thing I want to share with everyone is that not only was the timing perfect, but other people see things in us that we can't see ourselves, and the rest is history. I've been speaking behind mics ever since I was a 16-year-old in the 11th grade. Had no idea what that would mean at the time, but that was a monumental moment in my life.

Speaker 1: 7:18

Absolutely Thrown right into it. Just think about how many fear the fear of public speaking. Basically, that's what you're doing for most people on this planet and being thrown in that at 16. I commend you, and following through and listening to your story, kevin, reminds me very close to my heart, to my personal journey.

Speaker 1: 7:39

My father worked in the mines.

Speaker 1: 7:41

We have lots of potash up here in Canada and he was working in a potash mine and he was tired for years of driving 40 minutes one way all the time, and so we moved from this one small town to where the town that actually had the mine at and that was a transition for me was grade nine into grade 10.

Speaker 1: 8:01

And in my experience was, you know, being the new kid in town I had to really fight my way through. I can remember, you know, guys coming up and picking on me and I use sports similar to what you're talking about. I use basketball and volleyball and badminton to get me into a place where I didn't have to feel like I had to run for my life every day going to school, because I won many fights by at least a block and a half, I'm happy to say, and so hearing your story really resonates with me about you know how, that transition as a young man, the things we have to deal with, and there was a decision my father had to make as well and it was both financially important for us as well as really educationally, because we were in a really small family.

Speaker 3: 8:50

Thank you for your story as well. Thank you so much for sharing that.

Speaker 1: 8:56

You know we're going to talk a lot about leadership here today, and one of the things that I mentioned in the opening is really about some common barriers that we have to personal growth, and so in your work, what are you finding that are most prevalent in some of these common barriers and what are we doing to help doing to teach?

Speaker 3: 9:12

Yeah, that's a really good way to start the conversation, because you said common barriers. That leads me right to the proverbial communication. We all communicate different ways, we listen different ways, but, as you reference common barriers, one of the keys to having a great conversation with someone is to find common ground, because that is a way that we can connect with people, because the attempt is always to build bridges, to always find some common ground, and when we do that, we're going to find similarities. And when it's all said and done, alan, because of human behavior, it's difficult to not like somebody that you know. Now we know people that we don't like, but it's not easy to just dislike someone when you get to know them. It's not easy to just dislike someone when you get to know them. And we get to know them by way of communication, talking, having dialogue, initiating a conversation, and that's a very key component both in our personal and our professional development. So we encourage leaders, through a number of different strategies and principles, to get comfortable in initiating informal as well as formal conversations with others within our sphere of influence Because, again, it ties into human behavior.

Speaker 3: 10:38

All of us are created to be relational.

Speaker 3: 10:42

To be relational, all 8 billion people on the planet crave genuine, authentic, healthy relationships, and what happens is when that does not happen, we act out, because that's what we're looking for and no one's perfect, so we don't do. We don't do things perfectly, but if we can be the catalyst and if we can initiate these conversations which now lead to helping us get to know others better, them getting to know us better, now we're on our way to fulfilling that gap that everyone's looking for, and that is a good relationship. So, when you mentioned that common barrier, the first common barrier I always think about is our ability, or lack thereof, to just have a conversation with people. It can be very informal, it can be very short and sweet. We're not trying to get into your business. We just want you to know that we give a care and that's part of the leadership journey that people are looking for from their leaders and that leaders need to understand and get comfortable with to make sure that we're touching base with those that we have been entrusted to lead.

Speaker 1: 11:59

Yeah, I completely agree with you. I think that's you know, especially for men, and that we need to become more comfortable. And, you know, I think we get the idea that's you know, especially for for men, and that we need to become more comfortable. And you know, I think we get the idea that, you know, to be successful, right, we may have to have lots of bravado and lots of confidence, and while some of that is true, on the other side of that coin, not everyone is going to necessarily, you know, lead a company or, you know, run their own, start their own business.

Speaker 1: 12:22

But we still need to have the ability to engage in conversation, and even, you know, especially the most intimate ones, those with our spouses, with our children and all that. And so I'd like that we're starting this today's conversation about, you know, being able to have authentic communications. I think that is so key. And so, how does your work go? You know, bridge that gap between personal and professional and having that as being a complete leader. Because I think you know, I think, in looking at the work that we do here, I do see that sometimes, I think, as men, we have two different personas. We have the work, al, and then there's the private Al.

Speaker 3: 13:00

Yeah, just doing our best, Alan, to be consistent wherever we are. Yeah, just doing our best, alan, to be consistent wherever we are. I have this phrase and I'm not sure if somebody else should get credit for it or not. I don't know if it's anonymous, I don't know if maybe I should trademark it, but I tell people all the time, wherever you go, there you are. So, whether you're at home, at your neighborhood, meeting, at work, your social and civic organization if you happen to be a member, your church, wherever you go, just putting forth that extra effort to just be consistent. Be the same person wherever you go. Just be consistent, be the same person wherever you go, and that way you don't have to try to imitate or be less than genuine when you're in one environment and then try to be somewhere one else, in a different environment. So just trying to stay true. The same way that I lead people in the workplace is the same way I raise my three sons. It's the same way I am at church. It's the same way I am when I go to the different activities that are taking place in the social and civic organizations that my wife or I belong to. Just being consistent.

Speaker 3: 14:19

I was at a school this morning, first day of school in the city of Baltimore, a school for young men from first grade up to eighth grade, preparing them for high school and beyond, and there were 60 men that showed up with these 350 students just to stand in line and shake their hand and give them a good word of encouragement as they went into their school this morning.

Speaker 3: 14:48

We do that every year and the message is from me when I shake their hand is just be true to yourself, young man, do your best. And then I shake the next hand and what? It is just a message and helping them to be what I want them to be. I want them to see in me what I want them to be. And that's just one environment. But I do the same when I'm at home, I do the same when I'm at church, I do the same when I'm at work, even as a trainer and a teacher and a coach and a mentor and a speaker on the topic of leadership, just being consistent, regardless of what environment or what venue that I'm in. Again, I always remind us no one's perfect. So we're not asking for perfection, but we're asking everyone to do their best and if you do that, then we're well on our way to having good teams and good organizations.

Speaker 1: 15:47

Yeah, I completely agree with that sentiment as well. I really love that story. You just talked about having 60 men and coming up with that idea, and what a great way to model true, healthy masculinity and leadership in such a simple yet profound way. And we need to do more of that across North America and really help these young men in becoming truly the men that they're meant to be. You know, I really like that. Your topic is in your book, the leadership with a servant's heart, and one of our 12 principles is servant leadership here at the Awakened man and we practice that every once a year and for an entire month. We focus on a core virtue and that was one of them. And so tell me a little bit about you know the book has received lots of acclaim. It's done phenomenally well for you, but tell me how would you describe servant leadership.

Speaker 3: 16:43

Servant leadership to me, is much different than the original 1970 version when it was first introduced. I'm thinking about leadership from the whole person mind, body and spirit. So it's very true, alan, that when a leader shows up, he or she does need to demonstrate in order to get the credibility that they earned. They do need to demonstrate that they are a subject matter expert and that they have the acumen and the intelligence to get the job done. They know the work role. They could probably read on the back of their hand the words and the job description. They probably have done it and they've probably done well. That brings us credibility. That's the mind.

Speaker 3: 17:28

But as it relates to the heart, now we're making a and we're leading people for the people, that they are not just workers. People don't just show up to get a job done although that is the mandate so that they can earn their benefits and earn their pay. But people really want to know and they never ask. It's what we call the pink elephant in the room. They never ask. They really want to know how this person that has the trust to lead this team and this organization or to lead me, they want to know am I going to be provided with some developmental opportunities? Is this leader going to share resources and am I going to be recommended for and approved to go to training? Is this leader going to give a care that I have opinions and I have thoughts and I have perspectives.

Speaker 3: 18:29

Are they going to listen to me, are they going to give me valuable and meaningful feedback as a part of my developmental journey or not? That's what people really want to know, alan, those are matters of the heart. Leadership with a servant's heart demonstrates that we value and that we care, we honor and respect those that we are entrusted to lead. But, equally important, because we all have issues and challenges that we're dealing with in life in general, how about some empathy and some compassion from time to time? Because a leader that's compassionate and empathetic is not weak, even though that may be the perception by some. But it demonstrates that we're human.

Speaker 3: 19:19

And that's the difference from the original 1970 version of servant leadership and how I define it and how I see it. And that's why I titled my books Leadership with a Servant's Heart, because the heart and the mind, when they're in alignment now we're able to lead the total person mind, body and spirit. And it's more than just what we know. People expect us to know our stuff, but it's all of the other intangibles that help people in their career progression or not, and that's what people are really interested in, but they never say it.

Speaker 1: 20:03

Yeah, I completely agree. And I just think back to your opening story and talking about, you know, miss atkins, right, really, she was leaving leading with a servant's heart for you. What a great demonstration all those years ago. And then I think about, and I completely agree with your sentiment. I think you know, as, as leaders, you know, people don't care how much you know until they know how much you care.

Speaker 1: 20:26

I don't know who said that, but I like that idea because it truly is, because if you really want somebody to go through a wall for you you know they talk a lot about that in sports, right Well, that's a leader who cares about their people, who cares how well they do. Yes, it's a business and they're there to to win games, but in the end, are you, are they doing it because they care about each other and they want to, and they want to work together as a unit, or is it truly an individual outcome? And and that's I think, this is the work that really you know, as fathers as well, how we lead our, our family, our sons and our daughters really can can make the difference between a cohesive family and one that's not.

Speaker 3: 21:09

It's Maya Angelou who gets the credit for that quote. Others may have said it along the way, but she gets the credit.

Speaker 1: 21:20

Yeah, I love that quote. So you were talking about servant leadership. You know, and it's obvious to me already that you exemplify what servant leadership is, but if you think about the people in your life that you've come across, who would you determine would be a person that you would look to and say, wow, that's a good one, alan because there are really so many.

Speaker 3: 21:42

I'm going to go to a gentleman. He's no longer with us, but he started along with four of his colleagues. He started a church in Nassau, bahamas, called the Bahamas International Church Ministries, and you may know the name. Some of your listeners and viewers might know the name, but Pastor Miles Monroe was a brilliant pastor but also a business mind, and he traveled all around the world until his untimely passing back in 2014, always sharing and always pouring to entrepreneurs, business leaders, to entrepreneurs business leaders, ceos, coos of medium, small and large corporations. And he would do that in parallel with also being able to pastor the church and have great conversations and workshops with faith leaders, and he was able to bridge both audiences masterfully all of his adult life.

Speaker 3: 22:49

I still listen to him. He's been gone for 10 years, but I still listen to him and it's like he's right there in the room because at the heart of all of his messages was getting us to think about not just the acumen, but also how we go about caring and pouring into other people, and it just always made a big difference. So, way back in 1993, I read one of his books Understanding your Potential at a time in my life where I really needed it and it was a game changer. It's a very short paperback book, understanding your Potential, and it just really opened up my eyes Again. The timing just like with Ms Atkins the timing was right and it sent me on a trajectory to go even further than what just Ms Atkins could have done for me. That's the one gentleman that comes to mind, but there are so many others as well, but I would put him right up there.

Speaker 1: 23:55

Sure. Well, thank you so much for sharing that, and I hadn't heard of Pastor Miles Monroe before, so I'm going to take a look at some of his information. I'm always interested in learning to grow and get different perspectives, and so I always appreciate when my guests can share this kind of information. So I'd like to pivot a little bit. We've been talking about servant leadership, but the other thing about servant leadership that really some of the underlying stuff that we haven't quite brought forward and I want to make explicit now is really about having influence, and so we're starting. You've dropped a couple of breadcrumbs on how we can start to increase our influence, but what are some other ideas and ways that someone's interested in increasing their influence in their circle?

Speaker 3: 24:36

Yeah, there's a lot of different things that I could unpack, but what I would like to share is, first of all, just being a leader of integrity. Remember now, people are watching. They hear what we say, but they're really watching, and a leader is a role model and an example, and oftentimes people take their lead from just watching you, observing. They're sitting back and saying what is Alan going to do, what is Alan going to say, how is he going to respond? And so being a person with a high level of integrity again one more time, I didn't say a person, that's perfect, but have a person with high integrity will increase your influence with others, because your influence is really the ability to get people to show up. But once they show up now they're going to participate and, as a result of their participation, they're going to contribute and their contributions now add value to what it is that we're trying to do. Any given project, any contract, any task, any action, any initiative people's contributions adds value, but they can't contribute unless they participate and they won't participate unless they show up. So it's our influence. So people are apt to follow a leader that has a high degree of integrity.

Speaker 3: 26:01

Another thing I want you to think about is the word faith. We mentioned it earlier, but faith, from the context of just having a high degree of confidence and trust, has faith in them. And how do you know? By the assignments that you receive, by your ability to step in and attend a meeting that perhaps the leader was not able to go to, or tapping you on the shoulder to give that presentation in front of those hundreds of senior leaders. Trust and belief in you and confidence goes a very, very long way to increasing our influence. So those are just a couple of nuggets, a couple of tools that we can all add to our toolbox and take out as needed. There are many others as well, but these are just some of the nuggets and the tips that we share around that topic of influence.

Speaker 1: 27:08

I love those ideas and that's great, and I see you're also part of a certified coach the John Maxwell team and I love John's ideas and concepts around integrity and influence and I see lots of similarities and resonance.

Speaker 3: 27:21

Yeah, almost 10 years.

Speaker 1: 27:22

Yeah, yes, Nice, nice, nice, nice.

Speaker 3: 27:28

Yeah, what an amazing another amazing pastor that decided to turn, change his career around and move from influencing a single church to influencing so many more people, absolutely, and he also travels the world has an opportunity to stand in front of heads of state, presidents, governors all around the world, not just here in the United States, governors all around the world, not just here in the United States taking a team of individuals with him and making a difference in an entire country, the entire country of Peru, bolivia I could go on and on because at the presidential level, then it filters down into the schools and the universities and into the businesses and the government agencies and it does make a difference if people choose to apply the principles that we learn, the principles that we teach, and start to really look at people as people and not just workers, I believe to make the world a much better place and that's why I'm so passionate about the work that we do, because I really believe in it.

Speaker 3: 28:32

And when we're teaching whether it's virtual or in person I see people's eyes light up because they're hearing things they don't normally hear, and I give examples to validate and to verify what I'm talking about, and the eyes get even bigger and it gives them the momentum and the courage to now apply what they've learned.

Speaker 3: 28:54

And then I can follow up in three months to see how things going, so we don't just drop nuggets and leave, but I like to stay in touch and see how things are going as a part of the journey. Yeah.

Speaker 1: 29:08

Absolutely, absolutely. Listen, kevin, you've had a pretty illustrious career yourself. You know you've authored many books, and so you know let's turn the table a little bit back on to yourself here. So what do you consider to be the most fundamental law of growth, and how can we, as men yeah, that's probably the easiest question you've asked me, alan.

Speaker 3: 29:28

So leaders are learners. Never allow your thirst to quench and never allow your hunger to be satisfied when it comes to learning. Listen, I finished a young man as a frontline leader, then in the middle ranks and then eventually as a senior leader. I stayed 34 years. I took about three months off and then I stood up the company. For a lot of different reasons, but my passion is around this theme of leadership development and pouring into the next generation of leaders, because I recognize that every organization needs to have a phenomenal bench of ready, equipped and prepared leaders to take over when the existing leadership transitions.

Speaker 3: 30:28

We have to have somebody to pass the baton to, and so that's what really motivates me, and that's what really keeps me going on this particular journey, and I'm loving it. That's why I smile so much.

Speaker 1: 30:44

I love it, my friend, I love it. I think you said leaders are readers as well, and so my next question for you is yeah, is there one? I have so many. So I'm right here in my home office.

Speaker 3: 30:57

You can see some of the books behind me, but I also have a bookcase in front of me as well. Speaking of Miles Monroe, again, he has a book that's titled I'm looking right at it. It's called God's Big Idea. It just gets into how he uses each and every one of us individually to make this world a much better place. That's just one of many. I have so many books. I love a book that probably everybody has heard of. I'm not sure if you read it. It's four decades old and it's still selling strong. It's simply titled Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, dr Steve Covey and my favorite habit is habit number four begin with the end in mind.

Speaker 3: 31:45

That book came out four decades ago and it's still powerful, just like who Moved my Cheese right around the same time. These are business books, but they apply to all areas of our personal as well as our professional lives, kind of come to mind. I'm an avid reader, though I read one or two books a month. I'm a nonfiction book reader, and when I'm flying on an airplane I always take about two or three books with me, and I have a library full of them. I have books all over the house.

Speaker 1: 32:24

Yeah, you and me both, my friend, I just think about. You know that Seven Habits was probably one of the first books that I read, you know, know, way back when, probably not long after it came out, to be honest, and I love the of the influence of that book and we use some of some of those, some of the lessons from there, in our current men's work and helping guys, you know, plan and be be more effective, and love the idea of the chunking your your off in the weeks. You know, focusing on the important stuff in our life. You know, using the Eisenhower matrix he had a little twist on it Just so many wonderful things to be a true leader. I just love that book. I'm glad you've mentioned it. You know you've mentioned this Miles Monroe and there's, you know, miss Atkins. But I want you to think back. You know the different, all the mentors you've had in your life and there must be a piece of advice that really has really stuck with you and resonated that is still serving you today.

Speaker 3: 33:16

So that's the second easiest question my dad. I mentioned my dad right out front. We have a great relationship. He's 87 years young and I'm the oldest of his two sons.

Speaker 3: 33:27

Dad always told me, long before I had a clue about what he was talking about, just two words Be prepared. That's a lesson. I was probably ankle high and then all through elementary school, all through middle school, high school and even college, and even as a young adult, as I started my career, he would always tell me be prepared. And I never really questioned what he meant, but I always remember hearing it. So I did my best to pay close attention to my academics when I'm in school, when I'm playing sports, be a good teammate, exercise good sportsmanship all of that in terms of being prepared. But I found out much later in life. I was already in my thirties before one day it just hit and what dad was telling me was that it's always better to be prepared and not have an opportunity than to have an opportunity and not be prepared. That's what he was telling me. He just didn't say it that way, and so that's how I transitioned it.

Speaker 3: 34:43

That's how I interpreted it and that's how I applied it. I know because I've had opportunities where I was prepared and things went well. And I've had opportunities and I took it and I was not prepared and things didn't go well. I'm able to now share it with others as a food for thought, as a part of what we do to prepare leaders to think about it.

Speaker 3: 35:13

Preparation is key, and so from the time I was a little guy, he always told me just those two words be prepared. And it's really amazing. So now I've raised three sons, and, as their grandfather, he would tell them that as well. I'm not sure if they ever really knew what he was talking about, but they did their best to do what was right, and that's all we asked of them to do, absolutely and what a great piece of advice.

Speaker 1: 35:44

It's one of my favorite questions to ask my guests. It's always curious to see the thing that resonates with them and has served them, because there are things that we need to hear ourselves and things that we can implement in our lives. So thank you so much, kevin, for sharing that. You know of everything we spoke about today, and maybe there was something we didn't get a chance to touch on. What would be the one takeaway?

Speaker 3: 36:03

Well, I think in this life and we all know this, but oftentimes when you hear it from a different voice, it has a different ring. Life is short. It goes by so quickly and I always leave messages to all audiences that do your best based on what you know. And this life is truly fulfilling when you and I make a determination beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are going to serve others when we serve others. That's where the true fulfillment in this life comes. The question is, in what capacity will you serve? Because we all have different talents, we all have different gifts. Because we all have different talents, we all have different gifts.

Speaker 3: 36:53

We all have different abilities, so we're not going to do the same thing the same way, but I would like for everyone in your audience to think of how you can serve others. That's where you're going to really enjoy fulfillment, and that's really what this life is all about, because it goes by so quickly. Just yesterday, I was raising little babies, and now they're 28, 27 and 26. Where in the world did the time go? So exactly yeah no kidding.

Speaker 1: 37:26

Yeah, no kidding. I feel you. I feel you. I have 32 and a 29 year old.

Speaker 3: 37:34

I'm not I don't feel that old. But the good news is you don't feel that old, so that's good.

Speaker 1: 37:42

That's right. That's right. I just want to say thank you so much, kevin, for spending time with us today and, you know, showing us what leading a principled life is really simple. It's not easy to do at all times and so, but it is possible for us.

Speaker 3: 38:01

And so if men are interested in getting a hold of you, participating in your work, getting your website is named after the company, so the Johnson Leadership Group dot com, wwwthejohnsonleadershipgroupcom, and my email address is Kevin, excuse me. Me, kevin at thejohnsonleadershipgroupcom, send us a note embedded into the website. If you're interested is a 20 minute complimentary coaching session if anyone is interested in that. But on the website you see all of the different activities that we have going on our certifications, the customers that we work with in the marketplace. It's one of those self-contained I tell people. The website is. Our electronic brochure is what it is, and so anything you need to know about what we're doing. More than happy to have a conversation with you and work with you and we'll see where it goes.

Speaker 1: 38:52

Love it. Well, I'll make sure that information as well as anywhere you're, you're on social media and we'll get that in there as well. Thank you so much, kevin, really enjoyed today's conversation.

Speaker 2: 39:01

I really appreciate having you on the show. Thank you for listening to the Revolutionary man podcast. Are you ready to own your destiny, to become more the man you were destined to be? Join the brotherhood that is the Awakened man at theawakendmannet and start forging a new destiny today.