In this episode, I sit down with Coach Jim Johnson, a long-time educator, championship basketball coach, and inspirational speaker who has spent decades helping people see what’s possible for them. Right away, I could see how closely Jim’s leadership style reflects what I’ve witnessed firsthand, with my husband. (He was a lifelong high school basketball coach too.) Leading with belief, care, and encouragement, and understanding that the words we choose can stay with someone for life.

Jim shares honest lessons from early in his career, including a humbling season that forced him to rethink what leadership really requires. We talk about why “caring” and “challenging” are not opposites, and how the best leaders hold high standards while still building trust. Jim also explains how he became more intentional with communication, including a shift from “having the agenda” to becoming what he calls the Chief Question Asker.

We also talk about the unforgettable J-Mac story, a moment that captured the world’s attention and still stands as a powerful reminder of what happens when a team chooses “we over me.” It’s a conversation about trust, team culture, resilience under pressure, and how relationships and words shape performance, confidence, and lives.

Takeaways

1. Words last. The things we say as leaders can become part of someone’s confidence for years.
2. Caring and challenging can live together. High standards work best when people also feel seen and supported.
3. Relationships are the foundation. Trust doesn’t happen by accident. It takes intention, time, and knowing your people.
4. Teams unite when leaders listen. Asking better questions and creating space for real input builds ownership.
5. Clarity is kindness. Even hard feedback lands better when it’s clear, respectful, and explained.

Jim can be reached at: https://coachjimjohnson.com/

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A LinkedIn Checklist for setting up your fully optimized Profile:

An opportunity to test drive the Follow Up system I recommend by checking this presentation page - you won’t regret it.

AND … Don’t forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and be eligible for my complimentary LinkedIn profile audit – I do one each month for a lucky listener!

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http://JanicePorter.com

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Hello. Hello and welcome to this week's episode

of relationships rule. Today I'm going to have a conversation

with Coach Jim Johnson, a longtime educator, championship

basketball coach and inspirational speaker, who has

spent decades helping young people and leaders see what's

possible for them. As I learned more about Jim's approach to

coaching when we had our first conversation, I was struck by

how closely it mirrors what I watched my own husband do for

years, leading with care as a basketball coach. I should, I

should add, because he also was a basketball coach forever. I

watched him as well, leading with care, belief and

encouragement. So today I want to explore, you know, start with

why the words that we choose can stay with people for a lifetime,

and how showing that you care can build long, lasting

relationships and truly change or influence people's lives, cuz

I've seen it. I've seen it with my husband as well. So welcome

to the show.

Coach, Jim, thanks, Janice, I'm looking forward to

it. Should have some fun.

Yeah, absolutely. So when you look back on your

coaching career, what first taught you that your words could

shape a young person's confidence for life?

Well, I was fortunate because my dad was my

high school basketball I always admired him. He passed over just

over a year ago, so we had him for 90 years. So very blessed,

and he was a great model for me, and I learned a lot from him.

And I really aspired. I mean, I got to admit, when I was a kid,

I wanted to play in the NBA, but when I actually got to college

and transferred and got cut from my college team, I realized

probably the NBA wasn't going to be calling, but then I realized

that I just wanted to follow in his footsteps. I, you know, I

wanted to teach Physical Education, because I was into,

you know, fitness and also all kinds of sports, but basketball

was my number one love and and that was my dream. When I got

out of college, I wanted to be a full time teacher, and I wanted

I coached various sports, but basketball, I wanted to be a

head coach, and I became a head coach at 25 so I was pretty

young,

yeah, exactly like my husband. So bizarre.

Okay, but here's a little switch up that now just made me think

what you said about your dad. So my husband coached our daughter.

Okay, your dad coached you. Was there any nepotism, positive or

negative that came into that because I saw it with my

husband. It's very difficult. He would not play her as much

because he would feel as though the parents would think that

he would, yeah, we had some challenges, but I think

my dad was so well respected. He was such a caring man, and he

really because I think he was so well respected. I can't say it

wasn't like that. You know, there was some jealousies and

all that. Because I did play three years of RC, so I had a

chance, but I played off the bench my first year, and then my

last two years, I started, and yeah, interesting, because I

went to different levels. I was off the bench. As a sophomore, I

started, but was not the top player. And then my senior year,

I was our best player. So yeah, you know, I think that helped me

immensely in coaching, because I I got cut from a team in middle

school. I was one of the last guys in the team in high school.

I went from like, you know, like the seventh or eighth man to a

starter, but not the best player, and then being the best

player. So I hit a lot of different roles, which helped me

immensely as a leader. You know, when trying to lead young men,

coaching, interesting, yeah, no, I know it

was hard as a mom, sitting on sitting in the stands, saying,

Why aren't you playing her? Why aren't you playing her, and but

she was a good player, and he did, you know, same thing, she

kind of progressed, which was great. So, and you've seen

former players remember very specific things you've said

years later. I'm sure. Why do you think certain words stick

while others fade? What stays with them? Or why does it stay

with them? I think is even more important.

That's a really good, good question, because,

you know, I early in my career, I didn't realize how much power

you have with your words. And so I said some things younger my

career that I wish I did ahead, yeah. So I think that that was a

journey for me is, you know, I do tell you a quick story. So I

became a head coach. Is 25 and I took over a program that wasn't

very good, but I, you know, I had coached the junior varsity

at another school and been successful, and I thought I knew

everything about leading, and I did such a great job. Janice, I

led the team to 17 consecutive losses. Ouch, interim position,

and they didn't rehire me. So I guess, in other words, I was

fired. So pretty humble. An experience, but it really I got

a nice mentor. I actually got a I coached a year at a junior

college with a guy named Bill van Gundy, and I radically, for

those who follow the basketball world, his two sons, head coach

into the NBA, right? One was my age, and one was actually

younger than me. So Dan van Gundy, and yep, and he's now a

commentator, and Jeff multiple and Jeff's actually the

associate head coach, and now the Los Angeles clipper, that's

right. So, so, you know, that was good games. And then I

really started to say, you know, I want to be a successful coach.

So I really started to study leadership. And, you know, I

talk about leadership now to businesses and teams and stuff,

and one of the things that I realized is how important

effective communication is. And so I really started to study how

to be a better communicator, because I realized that how much

words do matter. And you know, things like being specifically

their praise, connecting before you correct, you know, just

things like that.

So okay, so just stop there for a second. So you

were coaching as a young coach, or, you know, working your way

up. Were you teaching as well at that time?

So when I lost that position, I was actually a

teacher at that high school, and so they eliminated everything.

So the next year was very hard on my wife, and I just bought a

small house, and so I actually got a part time teaching job,

and I was working at this junior college, so that it was a tough

money year, yeah.

Well, just for the record, you know, I live in

Canada, and my husband taught school, but never got paid to

coach. That was the passion, right? Um, okay, so, so you're,

you're coaching, and you're learning about leadership. So I

did notice somewhere in my notes, in the notes that I read

about you, that you studied Jim Rohn, who's one of my favorites.

And Jim Rohn, you know, goes way back as one of, probably one of

the first thought leaders and personal development leaders. So

was he one of the people that you were studying at that time,

or

was this absolutely so the two most influential

people, because I became a big in the personal growth so I I

studied, you know, Zig Ziglar, I get big in the nightingale.

Conan, so, Earl Nightingale, so, you know, I used to get all

those showing our age. Jim, yeah, we are, you know, the tape

cassettes, yeah, yeah. It is interesting. Early on, I, you

know, I started following Earl Nightingale and Tony Robbins and

Zig Ziglar, and because they were always sending these

brochures. I would order these things, and then they give you a

30 day warranty. So if I decided I didn't like him, I ordered as

Jim Rohn. I had not heard of him. Then I realized he was Tony

Robbins, his mentor. And then I started. I became a Jim Rohn

Jung. In fact, I My wife has always kidding me. When Jim Rohn

passed, that I could take over for him,

because I listen to so many he was the best. He really

was the best. Yeah, he

just, you know, talk about your communication.

Yeah. He was so simple yet so profound. Like, for the example,

like he said, If you want to be a good leader, study leadership.

If you want to be wealthy, study wealth. And I'm like, wow,

that's simple.

But he also tells a story so well I was involved

in, still am in network marketing, and he did this CD,

or this tape that I listened to in my car, like every day is

about this, the biblical, the Bible story about sowing the

seeds, yeah, and, and I don't know the New Testament at all,

but I know that the story is about, you know. And he'd say

things in such a way that he would always laugh like

something about, you know, you invite someone to a meeting and

they don't show up. He'd say, Don't go there. Don't go to

that, you know. And it was great. So I have lots of

memories of him, too. And he just told stories so well and

taught those lessons really, really well. So so that, to me,

is is great, and the personal development piece is so good to

instill in people at a young age that I that I love that. So

today, like many leaders, worry about being too soft. How do you

respond to that when it comes to caring and accountability, and

that what you teach.

So I when I started to analyze, and when I talked to

young leaders, you know, whether they're trying to run a

basketball program or business, is that I think there are two.

There's multiple C's, but the two that I always talk to them

about is you need to be both caring and challenging. And the

example for that Janice is that our program was not easy to

play. We had very high standards. We had high

expectations. We wanted to play for a championship every year,

but we also the, I believe. Our kids bought into it because they

knew that we cared about them and we want, wanted the best for

them. You know, like our our mission statement for our

program was to develop winners on and off the court. And I

always kid leaders. You're the chief reminding officer. So you

got to live the mission, share the mission, teach the mission.

And that's something so we really would get into what are

the behaviors of being a winner on the court? Certainly winning

the game is part of that. But are you a great teammate? Are

you someone that can handle adversity when things don't go

well off the court? Are you someone that does your best

academically? Are you someone that's a contributor in our

community? So those things we were trying to teach every day

through the game of basketball.

So keeping that in mind, I know that I watched

early on when my daughter started working, going, getting

into the working world that her her sense of team and sense of

commitment and sense of loyalty was much greater than so many

young people's because of her basketball career, right? Do you

Did you notice that? Or did you see that? Did the the young

people that you taught come back and say, or that coached come

back and say, Hey, Coach, can you help me with this? Or did

you see it as a natural evolution from being good team

players?

Absolutely, you know, we, our players, would

come back after they graduated, and, you know, in 10 or games,

and come to our practices, and you know, and go to lunch with

them. And, you know, so because I think the huge thing in

leadership, I was talking to Administrator conference, and I

kidded them that the 3r in education is not reading,

writing and arithmetic, it's relationships, relationships,

relationships. And, you know, that's a general thing. And you

know, I could be very frank Janice, early on in my career, I

was, all I wanted to do is, how can I lead this team to a

championship? Then I really changed when I started to learn

from these masters, John Wooden, the great UCLA, you know, a guy

that I studied immensely, you know, and then, as we mentioned,

like Jim Rohn and all those different personal growth guys,

but I realized that if I was going to build something

special, that I had to build great relationships with my

staff and my players and their parents, you know, and that's

all part of part of the deal is that, in one of the things you

know, going back you were Talking about communication, I

became much better. I mean, I get into acronyms being an

educator, it's the CQA, you're the chief question asker. And

when I started to change, we had captains meetings every week,

and I used to just run it, I'd have my agenda, and I didn't ask

many questions. And I changed that dramatically. And boy, that

helped us immensely, because our players felt empowered. And I

think the best teams, whether it's a sports team or business

team, is when the people are empowered and you're creating

leaders in your team,

most definitely. And that just made me think so.

Watching basketball, professional basketball, when I

watch a game I'm I don't see it through the same eyes that my

husband sees it through as you would see it through because

you've coached and can you tell by just watching a team in

action whether they are in sync with each other or not?

Yeah, certainly, you know, because I watched so

many basketball teams between coaching and scouting and

watching games, just, you know, on on TV, is that the things I

started, you know, because one of the I talked to leaders about

is, do you really have an understanding of the

characteristics of the people you want to bring on your team?

And one of the things we really highlighted was we want to we

over me, guys. That's why J Mac, you know, was someone that, even

though he wasn't a very good player, he served as our

manager. And that's something we really so one of the things I

really observe is teams that are willing to make the extra pass,

teams that really hustle and willing to dive on the floor for

a loose ball. You know, those are the teams that I really

admire. Because, you know that becomes contagious. Is, I was a

big quote guy, and one of my favorite quotes I used to give

my players all the time is, attitudes are contagious. Is

yours worth catching, right? And so that's something we really

wanted to spread through. Is, you know, this great attitude

and, you know, and do, being the best that we could every day,

fair enough? Yeah, that's good. Okay, so. So

I mentioned that I recognize a lot of my husband's coaching

style in you when we spoke. What do you what do you think great

coaches and great leaders instinctively understand about

people?

What I believe they understand is that they are

going to find ways to connect and so that to do that like one

of the things I encourage leaders is you got to, you know,

for my team, we had a number of one on one meetings. And, you

know, was just, it wasn't all about basketball, you know, I

tried to find out about their family. I tried to find out, you

know what, what makes them tick? And because the more than I knew

about them, and I like to give this example in one of my

presentations about the fact that, as you build

relationships, that one of the things I talk about is the

ability to build trust and in understanding each player. There

were some players that I could get on in the middle of practice

in front of everybody, and they would handle it, and we'd be a

great lesson for all you know what? Janice, I got to know some

damn that at all. And that was where we would go, one on one,

behind closed doors. So to me, in building trust, it's an art

and science. I think you got to have a plan how you're going to

build trust, but getting to know your people. So I think that's

the huge thing, is that they have a vision and a mission of

where they want to take they're clear about the core values with

the behaviors that they want to consistently. They have clarity

and communication about boundaries, where they can

empower people and when, sometimes they're going to take

control. And, you know, there are so many leadership styles,

but for example, like, if there's a fire in your house,

you better have an autocratic leader, because you gotta get

everybody out. Okay, it's not time to debate or Exactly, yeah,

you know what's the best. But you know, in most situations,

the better you become it. I share this with leaders all the

time. When it made a big transition with me is when I

continue to seek the best answer, which often was not my

answer, because I was listening to my players, I was listening

to my staff. And that's a hard transition, easy to say, but you

know, as you know, leader, in my case, a leader of a basketball

program. You know, you do have an ego. You know, you feel like

you know you're there.

Oh, really, yeah, yeah. But that's maturity coming

in. When you say that, when you can see that that is, it's not

your answer, isn't the Necessarily, the right answer,

that starts to become a maturity thing. I think the other thing

you said that I wanted to to comment on there is when you're

because my favorite word is curiosity, when you are curious

enough to to observe and learn and understand somebody from a

different perspective. That's going to help all of that too. I

would think in terms of leadership, absolutely okay, so,

so we can't not talk about this, this story that, by the way,

when this airs, is your 20th anniversary about this wonderful

story that that put you on the big on the big map in the US,

for sure, it's the j max story. And I actually, I think I said

to before we went on air that that I just watched an interview

you did the other day, I think which was to is for the 20 year

anniversary of this story. So first, I want you to share the

story, the you know, the you've probably got it down pat by now

and and then I want to ask a couple questions about it, but

it's a very special story, so

please, sure. So give you quick context. Jason

tried out for our JV program as a sophomore, and he was very

small in stature. He was like five, 690, pounds. He's on the

autism spectrum. He's learning disabled. But my JV coach, you

know, I mentioned very briefly about the we over me, and he

came to me during tryouts, he says this, young man, he's not a

very good player, and he's got a lot of challenges, but he's a we

over me, and he loves basketball, because we were fine

trying to find people that were passionate about the game. And I

want to keep him the program. So he kept him on the JVs, and I

was starting to get him known, because in our situation, I

think in a lot of high schools, the JV and varsity play back to

back, so he was on the bench for both games, and he would get

pretty emotional during the JV game because he was going to

their practices and getting to know the players but the

varsity, because he didn't really know us as well. In fact,

I tagged him the nickname J Mac because I couldn't pronounce his

last name. Unfortunately, he liked it. So what I really

admired about him, Janice, though, is after his sophomore

season, he came to all our offseason workouts and. Kids

started to really embrace Him, and, you know, his love for the

team and stuff. So he tries out as a junior, and he doesn't make

it, but I asked him to be the team manager. In fact, I'll give

you a quick story that I think you'll get a chuckle out of his

junior year. At that point, Janice, I was known as the coach

that couldn't win the big one. We would have winning season

every year, and we lose in our postseason tournament. So at our

first team meeting his junior year, he's the varsity team

manager. He raises his hand, and I said, Yes, Jay Mac, he says,

Coach, we know you've never won this section five championship.

I said, well, thanks Jason for the reminder. And he said, but

we, we know you love quotes, so we're going to have this quote,

and is we're going to stay focused and help you win this

sectional championship. Well, his junior year, we go to we

have another good season, we go to the semifinals. Now for the

sixth time in my career, we have never taken a team in the

finals, and we lose at the buzzer to our cost on rival, and

I'm devastated. I lose it at home for first time, my wife and

she reminded me about my passion and my mission, and so I got

back on. But Jason inspired me, because he tries out again his

senior year, I never had a player try out three years in a

row without making it, but I just admired his desire. So his

senior, when he tries out, I I said to him, Jason, I got some

good news and some bad news. And he goes, coach, give me the bad

news. First. I said, Well, unfortunately, not quite good

enough to make the team, and he was really disappointed, but he

said, I do have some good news. His head popped back up, and I

said, I'm going to give you a uniform and hopefully get you

into our final home game where we honor the seniors. And so the

interesting part, I wrote a book about it called the coach and

miracle, because Janice, it is too long a story, but I'll just

say that after our first couple games, we got rained in some

real adversity and divided the team. And for your listeners,

think about, have you ever been on a divided team? Did you reach

your potential? Probably not. And we struggled. We lost three

of our next five games, and I didn't think we'd lose any in

the turning point before I get to his game is, we're in a

Christmas tournament, and we won in the opening round, but still

didn't play well, and the whole school was really good. They

beat this team by like 40 points that we have barely beaten two

weeks earlier. So the next day, the turning point is I brought

him in for a short practice. And normally we call it a shoot

around, and we would go through some shooting drills and and

cover some plays and get ready, but I knew that wasn't going to

help us, because we were so divided. So I shocked him. I

didn't bring any basketballs out, and I I told them that I do

want to go the game tonight. And they looked at me, what do you

mean? And I tried to give them a little motivation, which I think

part of communication is being an inspiring speaker, but the

best thing I did is I really became vulnerable, and I said to

him, guys, I don't have the answers, but you got to be

willing to share how we can unite this team. And it's we

spent the whole hour just listening to the team, and that

helped us a lot. And we had played a great game that night.

We didn't win the game, but we lost in overtime and show what

we could do. So we got some momentum. One, eight of our next

nine games going in senior night, which was on February 15.

2006 as he said, 20 years, yeah, and the 13th. I gave him his

first uniform. It was way too big. He didn't care. In fact, it

was a rumor going around school. They slept in it for two

straight nights. Well, senior night for the your listeners,

the way we did it is we would honor all the senior players and

cheerleaders before the game, and we bring their parents out.

And it always touched my heart. You don't see this, but it was

profoundly touching to see Jason now embracing his parents in

uniform, instead of a white shirt and black tie they always

wore to the games. So my dream was, I wanted to get him in with

enough time so he could score a basket. But I knew also, because

we had had Strife for the team, I couldn't put him in before I

got everybody else in. So I got everybody in after three

quarters, but just over four minutes to go, I thought the

time is right. I turned and pointed him. He nearly ran right

in the court. He was so excited. Then when he comes on the court,

and what I didn't know, what Jason didn't know. We had this

parent that was a kind of an unofficial photographer, well,

behind our backs, he made all these pictures of Jason, and

they were like placards, and put them on paint sticks, and he

gave me to the student body. When Jason walked on the court

for the first time, they gave him a standing ovation they show

and Mr. Macho, I sit down and I start crying. I can't believe it

was profoundly touching. Now, the game begins with him. In the

game, the first time he touches the ball, he has a three pointer

from the right corner. He lets it go. We had pretty good crowd,

about 1000 people there, and you could see the whole crowd stand

up. Janice, he misses by six feet. It's not even close, isn't

it? And I kid people that I know you're not supposed to pray in

the public schools, but I was praying, Dear God, 3000 get one

basket next possession. He has a much shorter shot from about 10

feet. Let's it go. It hits the backboard. It hits the rim. It.

Falls off and the crowd groans. I'm thinking, all right, we're

getting closer. Guys. Listen, third possession, he has another

three. He lets it go, magic. It goes in the place explodes. I'm

thinking to myself, God, must be a basketball fan. He's got a

three pointer. Then he comes down, he makes another three.

And I gotta fast forward, and I'll finish the story quickly.

Six months after that game, Jason's idol was the late Kobe

Bryant, and I kid you not Janice. He used to sign his name

Jason J Mac Kobe McElwain. That's how much he liked Kobe

Bryant. So he's at the ESPYs. He's up for the greatest sports

moment of the year, and one of the other finalists. Wait, who

is Kobe? Are you or Jason's up for this greatest sports moment

of the year? Okay, one of the other finalists, there were four

finalists for the award, was Kobe Bryant. Kobe had scored 81

points for the Lakers that year, and Jason got to meet his idol,

and they beat him out for the ESPY. So it was truly

remarkable. Well, how did he do that? He didn't just make two

threes. He came down. He made a couple more. And then I'll

finish the story by saying the two things I'll never forget

with a minute to go, I'm sitting on the bench, tears still

flowing down my face, and I get a tap on my shoulder. I look

behind me. It's jace's Mother, and Janice. She's bawling her

eyes out. Whispers of my year, Coach. This is the best gift you

could ever give him. My son, of course, I cried harder. I was

so, yeah. So he scored, what? 663,

pointers, pointers, yeah. And he actually, I'll

close with this. So with 10 seconds to go, the place is in

pure bedlam. And our opponent, I want to give kudos to their

coach and their players are really good sports. They score.

And that was called Spencer port High School. And our player

takes out of bounds, and he usually throws it to our point

guard, but he throws it to j max. So j max, drill me down the

court, and I'm seeing the clock, eight, seven. I thought they

were just going to let him go in and make a lay up a short shot.

Oh no, he slows down. He like, pulls up like two feet behind

the arc. I'm thinking, Jason, don't you from there, you're

ruined this moment he launches this rainbow swish. I look over

the whole stands right onto the floor. It was like the movie

Rudy. It was incredible. Yeah. And our players put them up on

their shoulders, and I had no idea how many points at that

time. And our public address announcer comes out and says the

leading scorer for Greece, Athenian and i j Mac with 20

points and six three pointers. So it was crazy.

That's amazing. So so did the while he was in

the game, the the his teammates would feed him the ball like

they were, they were helping him achieve this goal as well,

right?

You know, what? One of the most touching things that

I still cherish today, because we had had some real strife,

and, you know, we were always talking every day, what it takes

to be a great team. And to me, that was the essence, because I

had never asked the four players down the on the floor to pass

Jason ball. They did that out of their own. They did it on their

own. Yeah, that was so cool. And, yeah,

it is. It's a very special story. And it and

it went viral, really, before things went viral, right? Yeah,

I didn't know that he was up for an ESPY for that story. So it

was all on film, obviously. Then, yes, right, yeah. I mean,

that's amazing. And I think you did the talk show circuit too,

didn't you?

Yeah, we were on Good Morning America. CNN, ESPN,

Oprah, yeah. Jason was actually on Larry King, so, yeah,

that's amazing. Now,

I guess the question is, what did that

experience teach you about seeing potential before others

see it? I don't know. Was that the case?

Yes, yeah, it really. So there was a couple of

things that I did a lot of reflection. And one is, I

really, you know, I am a believer in God. So I think God,

this is a way God, could give hope to the autism community,

number one, and number two, is it? It really made me believe,

because one of my speeches, the first speech I started doing,

was called dreams really do come true, because most people have a

dream, but most people think they can't have their dreams

true. And so what I did with inspirational Jason's story, and

then I give keys and how you can make your dreams come true like

Jason did. So it really, it made me really think that, boy, you

know, not this, every dream is going to come true. That's not

going to happen for anybody. But at the same time, I do believe

that doing the right things like Jason did, and you're ready for

I called Carpe Diem seize the day being ready for that,

because people didn't realize all the hours Jason spent

outside of practice, spending on shooting when he got his

opportunity, he definitely seized the day. So I think we

can do a lot more than we think we can when we think big and we

put some consistent action to. The other

Yeah, and again, I'm going to come back to the

words, the words that we teach ourselves, the words that we

hear others say to us. And I wrote down this, I don't know

why, passion, perseverance and preparation. I think those were

the three things that Jason epitomized, right, probably that

be ready, because you never know, you never know when, when

it's going to happen. One of the things that I see, have seen

over the years that like, I don't know if you live, you live

in the is it the New York area? Yeah, we

live in upstate New York. So I live in the largest

suburb of Rochester called Greece, right.

Okay. And so we live in a suburb of Vancouver,

and it's a fairly big city, but not by New York standards, but

wherever we go in North Vancouver for years and years

and years, restaurant or store in the community or whatever it

is. Hi, Coach Porter. Hi Coach Porter, like everybody knew him.

And what was I going to say about that?

Oh, what I was going to say is that

people come back even as in fact, we went for a

walk the other day, and there was somebody walking towards us,

talking to somebody with and he had his dog, and we could hear

him say as we walked forward, yeah, and there's my old

teachers in this neighborhood, too. And then he turned to my

husband and said, Hey, Coach Porter, and he said to the

person he was talking to, he was my social studies teacher or

something. And the thing is, they were both teachers together

in the community and also refereed basketball in the last

few years, but he remembered him as his teacher right back in the

day. So there's always that they come back, and there's that

feeling of pride, but also, I don't know it's a special

person, and I think that that's you're so lucky to have that you

worked hard to get it, and you influenced so many people's

lives. And I think that is the special thing in the end of

being a good coach and right and being a well respected coach. I

love it. So when you're speaking to a group of business people

and leadership leaders in do they, and by the way, I assume

today, they're, they're men and women, right? What do you come?

What do you get asked the most? Or what comes, you know, from

those people that they're asking you for your advice about?

Well, I talk about seven keys in my leadership. So,

you know, I talk on my championship culture, we have

five keys and and some of them are overlapping, the same with,

you know, my dreams I do. I talk about six keys, and there is

definitely some overlap. But you know, I start, usually with the

journey, by helping them think about how to lead themselves,

because I don't think you can be an effective leaders and lead

yourself. So I really encourage people, and people have heard of

this, but most people do not have a personal mission

statement. So that's how I start. I really trying to get

them to think about why they were put on this earth, or every

person of faith like me, why did God put you on this earth? So I

give them some clarity on that. Then I think another thing that

I have, a little bit different angle that people delve into, is

because I'll ask them, how important is trust in leadership

or building a great culture. And it's 100% they all say, you

know, man, where I travel to, but then I kind of shocked them,

and I said, Well, do you have an intentional plan on how are you

going to build trust? And, you know, pretty much everybody

says, No, I don't. And so I give them our three point plan just

to stimulate their thinking about, you know, because I think

you have to be intentional if you're going to build trust. We

talked about important relationships are, then I talk

about, you know, how to create an edge for your organization

and depends on, like, one of the things is, how do you do a

better job of recognizing your people? Those are some of the

things we talk about. I talk about the power leading by

example as much as people know that, but how often do we don't

do a very good job? And in fact, that was the returning point. I

mentioned that I was the coach that couldn't win the big one,

and we ended up winning the championship for the first time

after j max, magical game. But you know, the biggest thing I

learned is during that sectional tournament, because we had so

much publicity and notoriety, is I said to myself, you know why I

don't think I've led a team to a championship, even though we had

some pretty good teams, is because I didn't handle the

stress of a pressure game. Well. And I made a pact with myself

that I believe effective leaders are the rock during pressure,

and people can feed off of that and and that's the whole

dynamic. I changed, and we won our first championship. And then

the funny part is, Janice, after never making a final in my first

19 years, in my last 11 years, we made eight finals, we won six

and I think it was a big difference, you know, because,

you know, we had certainly some talented teams, but we had

talented teams before, so it was really that mindset, yeah, you

know, of being the rock, and I think that's really important.

And then I, you know, I talk about leadership philosophy. I

call leaving a profit. Everything we touch we want to

make better, not worse. And, and you know, I got big into servant

leadership, and you talked about being soft is servant leadership

is not soft leadership. It's It's the ability to flip the

pyramid so your mindset is, you're going to serve your

people that work instead of them serving you. The other thing is,

I believe the best leaders create leaders, and that's

something that we took a lot of pride on our staff, is the teach

our players how to be leaders. Yeah?

Because if you're not, if you're comfortable

within yourself and you're confident within yourself, then

there's no need to be afraid of somebody else one upping you,

right? You want that to happen. You want all that to happen. So

alright, so we'll come to a close with this. I think if, if

someone listening today wants to be I think I want to do like a

want to come full circle back to how important your words are,

and the fact that you know they're so influential in

whoever you're talking to and and whatever role you're

playing. So if someone wants to be more intentional with their

words starting tomorrow, where should they begin?

First of all, I think you got to become a

student of communication. And the thing with that is, you

know, make that a study, you know, so start to be a better

listener. I think that's really started. I always kidded leaders

that, you know you have two ears and only one mouth, so you

listen twice as much you talk, right? I think when you because

I know when my epiphany was, is that I think I became a much

better leader the second half of my career, when I really started

to be serious about asking questions and then being able to

listen. And the other thing I think is really important is, is

when you don't agree that I would share with it, like a

player might come in and share an idea, and I, you know, I

would say something like, Hey, John, you know, I really

appreciate you coming in your idea. Unfortunately, I don't

think this is right for us, and here's why. Now he may not agree

with that, but at least he got a clear explanation. Because one

of the things I really talk to leaders about is clarity and

communication is kindness, and that doesn't mean that you are,

you're not going to be tough at people at times, because you

have, you have certain goals, you have certain boundaries, and

if they, you know, break the boundaries, and, you know,

follow the rules that you know, there's a consequence for that,

and that's having that clarity so but I think that's a really

important is, Is everybody getting them on the same page?

Because your clarity with your communication. And you know,

communication is a daily process, and you're going to

make some mistakes, and the last thing I'll say about that is you

got to be willing when you do make a mistake, to a minute,

apologize and make it better, right?

Fair enough. Well, this has been amazing. I

love talking to you because I think that some of this material

and some of this work that you do because you've been around

for a while, and so have I, and so I kind of like that. It's it,

and the world is coming back, I believe, to the power to the

importance of relationships and trust and all of that good

stuff. So I think this is a good reminder that whether you're

coaching a team, leading a business or influencing the

people around you, your words matter more than you may ever

realize. Caring isn't soft, it's impactful, and it's often the

reason people rise to their potential. So thank you. Thank

you so much. And to my audience, if you Where can they find you

if they want to know more about you and your work, please?

Yeah, sure. So the best way is my website. It's

coach Jim johnson.com that way, I wouldn't forget it the

socials. I have a small team, so I'm on Facebook and LinkedIn. I

do a lot of work on LinkedIn. I know you're that's one of your

expertise. I do some on x and Instagram as well. So we post

that we do a daily dose of leadership every day, and we do

an inspirational thought every day. So those are kind of our.

System.

Post, perfect. Well, thank you again. And if

you like what you heard, please go and find Jim and find out

more about what what he does and how he can serve you. Maybe you

have a team that he'd be able to come in and inspire with his

leadership. Talk. And if you like what you heard, please

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