Rhonda Parmer

[00:00:00] Speaker A: Foreign. [00:00:18] Speaker B: Welcome back, everyone, to the Tron podcast, the Randomness of Nothing. I'm your host, Rashad Woods. Today we have a very special guest, 31 years in education, owner of leadership executive group, seasoned educator Rhonda Palmer, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. [00:00:32] Speaker A: Nice to meet you. [00:00:33] Speaker B: Mr. That's, that's a big time with you. Yeah, I appreciate it. Appreciate it. So, you know, you do really great work coaching executives, holding workshops, and you have a really extensive career in education which led you down this path. So briefly, please tell us about your background and you know, how you got into the field that you do with the wonderful work that you do. [00:00:49] Speaker A: Okay, well, thank you so much. Yes. So my grandmother was a teacher, so that's pretty well solidified that path. She was a great role model, always spoke so highly of her students and her school and education. So that, that's got me to that path. So then became a substitute teacher. A teacher, teacher, coach, assistant principal, principal. And then the last 12 years, I was an associate superintendent in, in the Houston area. And that was really coaching principles. And I found that I was assigned more, more often than not to work with students. Schools labeled underperforming. And I don't know if you've ever heard any of this before, but maybe it's. It's across all industries that whenever an organization is underperforming, there's a knee jerk reaction to clean house, you know, clean house, so to speak. [00:01:36] Speaker B: For sure. For sure. Absolutely. [00:01:38] Speaker A: So hard. I mean, getting people, you know, hiring people and onboarding them and training them is all super hard. [00:01:45] Speaker B: Right. [00:01:46] Speaker A: It takes so much concerted energy and efforts and time. [00:01:50] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:01:50] Speaker A: And so rather than cleaning house, we decided to start really doing deeper needs assessments, like what's really going on here? And the common thing that we found was a lack of confidence in themselves to be able to do this. So teachers. [00:02:05] Speaker B: Okay, okay. [00:02:06] Speaker A: To be able to. Yeah, yeah. And sometimes it stemmed from probably some judgment of the students or parents. And once we broke through those limiting beliefs like students are not limited by their zip codes or their parents income or clothes. [00:02:23] Speaker B: Right. [00:02:23] Speaker A: Once we could really break through that, we saw miracles happen. Really what people would, you know, would. Would consider a miracle at school, going from an F rating to an A rating in one year. [00:02:34] Speaker B: Right. [00:02:34] Speaker A: Or a D to a B or whatever. And it, it truly was the mindset. [00:02:39] Speaker B: Right. Did you. [00:02:40] Speaker A: So after, after I saw that happening in education and I knew I was coming to a close in my career as an educator, I. I just had it in my mind. I always had it in my Mind, as soon as I can retire, I'm going to. And I'll start my own business. [00:02:55] Speaker B: Wonderful, wonderful. You know, and did you see a correlation too, in, in just a separate matter off of that kind of leg, off that stool, in disciplinary, you know, whether it's suspensions or attendance versus performance, did those correlate, once you've got to the root cause of a lot of things, start seeing that as well? [00:03:12] Speaker A: Absolutely. Yeah, absolutely. And it goes along with what we know about brain research now. I mean, we didn't really. This didn't really kind of start to formulate until around 1995, whenever we realized the deeper structures of the brain and how you really can grow brain cells. And your brain has that plasticity to it. [00:03:32] Speaker B: Right. [00:03:33] Speaker A: And there are chemical changes and structural changes in your brain just from your thoughts. [00:03:38] Speaker B: Right. [00:03:38] Speaker A: Not to mention your actions and your words and all that. But just your thoughts literally change your brain. And so whenever a teacher thinks this child won't succeed, all of the negative things are right here. [00:03:53] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:03:53] Speaker A: They can start to reframe and say things different and think different. Those things kind of scoot out to the periphery and they can start to find the good because there's good in everyone. [00:04:05] Speaker B: Right. [00:04:05] Speaker A: And. And people just need to be trained. [00:04:07] Speaker B: You know, so it's almost like, almost like you wanted to make sure you took small victories first. Right. You know, what are the, what are the things that you. I hate to say low hanging fruit because we're talking about children in school system, but say, okay, what's a, what's a baseline of things that we can address before we get to the root cause of certain issues? Right. Is it attendance? Right. [00:04:26] Speaker A: It's funny, it's funny. My very first job as a principal, I went in, you know, I didn't know any of the teachers there. They had been there for years, some of them 20 years. [00:04:36] Speaker B: Right. [00:04:36] Speaker A: And so I went very, very much with that mindset you just mentioned. You know, hey, what have y' all wanted to change for a long time, but you haven't had either permission or resources or whatever? And then what are the sacred cows? What do we not touch at all? You know, Interesting. I mean, some of the things they said don't touch was like the kindergarten program or, oh, my God. [00:04:57] Speaker B: I know, right? [00:04:57] Speaker A: But discipline, Discipline was one of the things they said they wanted to revamp. And for sure it just came down to a simple system that everyone could implement, and it was easily implemented and easy to put in place in every grade level and every teacher so that the Kids knew what to expect everywhere in the building. [00:05:16] Speaker B: Wonderful. Right, right. And you know, it's, it's, it's, it's like getting a hamburger across the country. Right. Like from a major fast food chain. You have to standardize it across the industry to make sure that the expectation at this school is the same at, this school is the same at respective locations. [00:05:30] Speaker A: That's it. [00:05:31] Speaker B: So, so what, what I found interesting was, is that, you know, your coaching principles and so you, you navigated towards leading executives, which I find fascinating. Right. Because typically, you know, in my mind, you're like, hey, you're an executive. What do you need to coach for? You've already reached, you know, a certain level, but you also found out they have weaknesses or things that they are not good at. And then you also talk about leading from strengths, not stress. So let's, let's dive into that too. Right, right. [00:05:56] Speaker A: Yes. Okay. So again, you know, going from working with, in a school system, it's all people, you know, there's the teachers, the students, the parents, every. There's no widgets and no assembly line. [00:06:09] Speaker B: Right, right, exactly. [00:06:11] Speaker A: You still have to have results. And, but so once we, we saw, hey, we're, we're making this kind of movement and, and positive change with humans. I wonder how that is. How can we take those same lessons and apply it to either a nonprofit or small business or even. And it comes down to the same thing. It's just your expectations and your communication and your clarity and your relationships. [00:06:36] Speaker B: Right. [00:06:36] Speaker A: You know, and so I'll just give you an example. One, I started working with one executive for, from a bank. And he was, you know, in every industry, people like to promote from within. Right. You're building your leadership bench and you're. [00:06:50] Speaker B: Training your on succession plans and things like that. [00:06:53] Speaker A: Yes, exactly, exactly. So this guy had started out as a teller. Didn't take him long to become the head teller and start training new, new tellers. And then from there he became a loan officer. And then maybe two or three years in that, not even three years. Then he became the director of the loan officers. Well, if you think about the training he had inside that bank, it was, it was, you know, what are our goals and what are our, what's our. [00:07:18] Speaker B: Vision and what process? [00:07:20] Speaker A: All the processes, but nothing about how to lead people. [00:07:24] Speaker B: Right. [00:07:24] Speaker A: And so. [00:07:25] Speaker B: Right. [00:07:25] Speaker A: I don't know, I cannot remember the name of this guy and I, I'm sorry, I can't. But the quote from his book is what got you here won't get you there. [00:07:34] Speaker B: Right. [00:07:34] Speaker A: And if you think about that from a teller standpoint, okay, I'm a great employee. I can teach people how to do these tasks. We can follow this checklist. But now I'm dealing with people issues, and no one ever taught me how to do that. [00:07:47] Speaker B: Different monster. Different monster. [00:07:49] Speaker A: That's where I come in. That's where I come in. And as you mentioned, leading from strengths. What we want to do is find that again. I don't want a clean house. I mean, if somebody is doing something illegal or immoral, that's easy. They need to go. [00:08:00] Speaker B: Right? [00:08:01] Speaker A: That's easy. [00:08:01] Speaker B: Right. [00:08:02] Speaker A: But I believe that people inherently want to do well, as long as they know what's expected and they have training. And so, for example, that man who was working with a bank, I mean, he, he just needed some simple structures and to have a lens of all these people that I'm working with. [00:08:20] Speaker B: Right. [00:08:21] Speaker A: Assets. Yes. They may have some idiosyncrasies or they may be some things that stress me out, but let's shift the focus. And, and it sounds a little bit Pollyanna, Mr. Woods. I know it does. [00:08:31] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:08:32] Speaker A: But. Okay, okay. I'd rather be thinking like that than stressed out about all the things that can't happen. Take the responsibility, train, set expectations, have two way communication channels, feedback loops, and all these things that we, we put in place for them to use their assets. [00:08:48] Speaker B: Well, it's funny you mentioned. Sorry to cut you off. I'm sorry about that. [00:08:51] Speaker A: No, no, no. [00:08:52] Speaker B: It's kind of like, you know, when people are drafting in sports teams. I mean, I don't know how big of a sports fan you're. I watch enough, but I could. Yeah, right. Like, I watch football, I watch basketball, but like, I'm not knee deep in any draft where I could sit. But when they evaluate talent, it's not about the guy that can bench press all the time and run a 4. 4. You're like, is this person good for the locker room? Right. Are they going to. Exactly, right. Are they gonna blow up my locker room? Right. Does it. Does the gentle. Does the man or the woman? You know, because we've all seen it in sports, right? The, the mercurial wide receiver, running back, star player, whoever, free agent. And like, they had a, you know, they made the playoffs, maybe they had a deep run, and they're like, we just need this one piece. And the one piece was like the Titanic that took the whole team straight to the bottom. Right. And so it's like to your point, when it comes to leading people, hey, I Understand, you know, the process is the points, you know, the bullet points. Do you know how to lead people? And when Michelle comes in and she had a bad day at home and it's melting down right now and everything's going south and you still have customers to service, how do you handle that situation? [00:09:54] Speaker A: That's exactly right. And I love that. Mr. Woods, I use that analogy all the time. And actually talk about Nick Saban. Yeah, wonderful interview he did where he's talking about these three guys. They all have the exact same stats, they all have great recommendations from their coaches and some teachers, but they don't have the exact same recommendations from their peers. [00:10:16] Speaker B: Right, right, right, exactly. Because they're like, listen, I've been on the bus, I've been in the hotel, you know, I, you know, he's been to my house or her, wherever that place was, and I saw the real person. You know what I mean? [00:10:28] Speaker A: Exactly. You know, and I, I, I do, I, I teach this to pre K all the way to college students and, and adults when we're working with executives. Something that everybody can latch onto every day is an interview. The way you, you never know who you're speaking with or who's watching. [00:10:44] Speaker B: Oh, buddy. [00:10:47] Speaker A: Who might recommend you, who might be your next boss, who you might be interviewing the next time. And then they come to the interview and see you. I mean, just every day is an interview. Every day, everywhere you go. Especially now with so much technology and cameras and things that, you know, people can sneak in on you. [00:11:03] Speaker B: Yeah. And that's one of the things I wanted to segue with. Right. Because I think that I would imagine that you've had to educate sub certain age level generation people of. Listen, whatever you did in college doesn't fly in the professional world. And you need to make sure that whatever habits or what was the norm for you, you know, the emoji, etc. Does not apply to true real life communication from an executive business level. You know what I mean? [00:11:30] Speaker A: Yes, yes. And that's a fun topic, a fun conversation because, you know, and there are, you know, the generation gaps. I love doing a session with a big group where we can put the, put people in order of when they were born. [00:11:42] Speaker B: Right. [00:11:42] Speaker A: Separate them when they were born. And then you ask these five questions. Some of them are funny, but a couple of them are just reflective. So, you know, what was, what was a popular band when you were in high school? What was a popular movie when you're in high school? Who was the president when you were in high school? What Was the dress code at your school during high school and what was the thing that most people got in trouble for in your high school? Yeah. And so the generation gaps, you know, what was a high piece of technology when you're in high school and just everybody seeing the other's perspective. [00:12:13] Speaker B: Correct, correct. [00:12:15] Speaker A: Because we're really shaped, if you look at behavior science, we are really shaped 65ish percent until we're about 21 years old. And then the rest of it, you know, we kind of modify a little bit as we experience. [00:12:28] Speaker B: Absolutely. For sure. Well, I always find it funny. Two things briefly, before I segue back to you is number one, I have three daughters. Right. And I'm like, you do know what a rotary phone is, right? Right. And then I have to like. Or a blockbuster. Right. And then. Yeah, right. And then the other part about it is too is I think, you know, we have apps where we order things so people have an instant gratification of something that they can actually want and get. But that doesn't mean the back end process is any faster. Right. Like I can get a pizza on my phone. That doesn't mean there's still not a person that has to cook it, put it in the oven so they'll, they'll do it and then they'll drive right to the, to the pizza joint expecting it to be done. It's like that, that's not how that's going to work for, you know. So how large is your team and how did you assemble a team when it came to your company? [00:13:13] Speaker A: Okay, that's a, that's a great question. So we have, I think eight consultants now and we are all retired educators. [00:13:22] Speaker B: Beautiful, beautiful. [00:13:23] Speaker A: Most of us all retired within 18 months of each other or so. And we really thought whenever we started this that we would only cater to school principals or district level leaders and that we would go to small districts that don't have the resources. And so that's why we did that. Well, think about what's been happening with education over the last two years with funding questions and federal funding, curriculum and things like. [00:13:49] Speaker B: Oh, for sure, for sure. No doubt. [00:13:51] Speaker A: Yes. [00:13:51] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:13:52] Speaker A: So we saw ourselves in a little slump for about three months and scratching our heads like, where is everybody? We know there's a lot of principals in Texas. There's 1,000 school districts, so over 1,000. So we know there's. [00:14:04] Speaker B: Goodness. [00:14:05] Speaker A: Well, everybody was just kind of shut down in a protective mode. Save your dollars. We don't know what's going to happen with budget. We're not Hiring, we're going to just, you know, we sold a lot of things, but not face to face services. And so we decided to go to some training ourselves and just take out the word school from our mission statement. [00:14:26] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:14:26] Speaker A: And within the next two weeks, our clients quadrupled. [00:14:29] Speaker B: So it was almost like people were like, not for me, not for me. They're just working with school. So you were there, they were ready to go. But they're like, oh, they only work in schools. Right. Yeah, it's crazy. And it's in seat. And you had the, the presence of mind to say, well, what can I do better? Because I know I have a great service to offer. A lot of principles apply and obviously you're a principal, but a lot of things apply when you, when you substitute kids. And I mean that in respectful manner with a process that still needs to be improving. There's still a flowchart of how things can comply. If you take a kindergartner to 12th grade, it's a, that's a, in the best terms possible product from. Right. It's a conception to a mastered idea ready to go to market. Right. I have a, I have an 11 year. I'm sorry. [00:15:15] Speaker A: Oh, I kind of lost you for a second. Can you hear me? [00:15:17] Speaker B: Yeah, I can hear you. No doubt, no doubt. [00:15:19] Speaker A: Oh, okay. I'm sorry. I heard. The last thing I heard was talking about from that we understood pre K to K was. I mean Pre K to 12 was a long process of improvement. [00:15:31] Speaker B: Right. [00:15:31] Speaker A: Every year's improvement. [00:15:33] Speaker B: Exactly. I mean it's like, like Facebook started in a dorm room and now it's a, it's this conglomerate. Right. It started off as just connecting college kids together. Well, you still have to. And it's still a process involved. Now what software do you use? Software platforms when it comes to what you utilize to, to do leadership executive. [00:15:51] Speaker A: So it's, it's so interesting you say this because I'm working with a guy in one of my networking groups and he's like, oh, this is what I do. I, I help create dashboards and it brings the data. It's visible data. Okay. But right now all of his data is school data. And then I have another man, a gentleman who told me what he does, but I haven't had, haven't been able to get in with him. But it's the same thing. What. The only thing I've done right now is just help people create dashboards in Google because I do believe in visible data. [00:16:21] Speaker B: Right. [00:16:21] Speaker A: You know, where, where are we in our onboarding system. Who have we hired and what training have they had? What required training have they had by federal and state standards? And then what do we want them to have just so we know they're part of, to get them to be part of our team. So that's just, you know, the HR standpoint, initial. But for every single process in a company, I'll have places where they can just track who has gone to those trainings and then tabs underneath on how to, to show progress. Are you meeting with your staff? Are you, is there celebration that needs to take place? All kinds of things. And so right now it's just this, it's like, see that character on Charlie Brown? The pig pin? Yeah, like, like that guy. [00:17:05] Speaker B: I only asked because of the way this is going. You're obviously giving very personalized services, but I could see you having proprietary software with modules and then like hey, courses. You know, maybe somebody's like hey, this could work great. I want to present this to my team. You come in and then you know, whether it's cloud based, you're much smarter than me. Right. But I'm like, you know, the leadership executive group software platform and then people can track internally what they do. I. That's the first thing I thought of when you were talking about this. [00:17:31] Speaker A: Now I do have that and that I'm using a go high level. So a variation of go high level growth works. And so I do have modules. And that's what I was saying initially with the education, we were selling courses like crazy. Yeah, people would buy the course, you know, okay, here's a $45 course. But then I don't know if we made it so good they didn't need to bring us in personally or if it was dad and they were like, no, no. Anyway, no, it was just, it was just the time, it was just the political and financial time of state of education. So we started transforming some of those courses into the business context. And we have 90 day programs, we have a five day challenge, we have customized trainings where we come on site or we can do things virtually. [00:18:18] Speaker B: That's what I was wondering too. [00:18:19] Speaker A: Our team has worked with pastors and clergy, nonprofits all the way to corporations. And a lot of times almost always in there it's some one on one coaching. And so that's really been our focus so far. It's again, like I said, it's kind of like all over the place right now. And we're sort of trying to find where is going to be our niche, you know, where, where Will we really land and go really deep in. Because right now we're kind of surface level for. I say we're like, we're like the, we're like the onboarding for a brand new leader, aspiring leader or someone who has been a leader but they just got placed into a new, a new location, they didn't know anybody. So building those relationships. So we have, we have a book coming out, it's not published yet, but it's called Ease into Leadership. And the E A S E of course is an acronym and it's basically. It's not something you have to work through. Page all the way, you know, page one to page hundred, first chapter is all the, all the leadership gurus. Education, business, nonprofit, military, government, all kinds of gurus. And what they say about leadership, which is pretty much boils down to the same thing. Work on your relationships and your communication, be clear and expect the best out of people. Well, that's kind of ethereal. So we've taken those pieces of advice and put them into how to plans. And every how to plan is based on the EASE format, a framework rather. So EASE stands for this engage and most of the time that's engage with people. So engage your stakeholders. Sometimes it's engaged with a new thought, depending on what the topic is. Align, simplify and then empower. So we pretty much try to simplify systems for people so they can communicate clearly. Have everybody on the same page rowing in the same direction. [00:20:08] Speaker B: Right. [00:20:08] Speaker A: A lot more done. [00:20:09] Speaker B: Right. [00:20:10] Speaker A: No conflicting on time to go enjoy yourself. [00:20:12] Speaker B: Right. Because if there's one thing that, you know, great leadership does, the first thing they have to establish is there can't be any conflicting agendas. Right. So you know, it's pretty simple. Right. Like, you know, and then it gets even, it gets difficult because like we'll take the sports analogy again. Somebody has to get their points for their contract. When it comes to certain, hey, I have to get the ball because this is incentivized for me to get this particular bonus structure. MV it gets really, really knee deep. So you could have a team that's on a four or five, whatever game winning streak and you got your star player sulk him because he hasn't caught the ball in about three games to get his stats. So. [00:20:45] Speaker A: Yes. And that is, that is identical to corporate structure. [00:20:50] Speaker B: Yep. Hey, we made that sale, but I didn't make that sale. [00:20:53] Speaker A: Right, right. And that's a tough one. I mean, and, and so I have a, I have a new program coming out that they're going to start in July. It's just for men. And I'm still working on the title right now because if I just say it out loud, it's like, how do I. This is for powerful men trying to lead powerful women. That's just the easy way to say it. Okay. [00:21:15] Speaker B: Yeah. [00:21:15] Speaker A: How do you not shrink back from a powerful woman, but not bow up? [00:21:20] Speaker B: Right. [00:21:20] Speaker A: But. But lead and build the partnership? And that's what we alluded to at the very beginning. How do you see everyone as an asset? [00:21:28] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:21:28] Speaker A: Value them, recognize them, and. And. And build ownership, not buy in. I don't need to persuade everybody to do what I do. I need to build ownership, shared leadership moving forward. [00:21:41] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:21:42] Speaker A: It's hard. [00:21:43] Speaker B: And, you know, you know, that's a lot of times, like, you know, just to pivot slightly. Why? I gravitate a lot towards, like, boxing or mixed martial arts because, you know, unless you. You know, that you own whatever took place inside of that. That cage or that ring, you know, somebody didn't drop the ball, somebody didn't get a rebound, you know, you know, somebody didn't throw it poorly from, you know, the pitcher's mound to first base. You decide. It's all on you in there. And there's nothing you can hide, warts and all. Success. [00:22:11] Speaker A: I love boxing, too, for that same reason. How do you. How do you. How did you get ready for this? [00:22:17] Speaker B: Oh, my gosh. [00:22:18] Speaker A: And mentally. And what was the outcome? [00:22:20] Speaker B: Yeah. And get punched in the face for a living. God bless you. God bless you. You know, I did it, and it's not fun. I'm not on a high level, but I just took lessons in it. Right. I do. You know, but, you know, I did. It's a ridiculously painful experience. So it is. You know, one thing I want to talk about briefly. I know your time is valuable, is delegation. So there's a lot of times where people hold things very tightly, particularly people who have been successful and powerful in any role they had. Pastor, not what have you, you know, they didn't give it to the deacon, you know, because. And then the deacon's kind of like, you know, I would like to do this, but every time I try to do this, you take over the sermon that I wanted to have. Right. So to speak. So how did you get the delegation down with people? [00:23:01] Speaker A: This is. I have a. I have a full course on this, actually. Yeah, you know, there's the. Basically, you know, there's that Eisenhower matrix that's super clear. You know, is this something that you really do need to do yourself, because you're the one that gets paid to do this. You're the one that has. Let's use the. Just use a principal example. As much as a principal may love, you know, landscaping, I don't want the principal mowing the yard. I don't care if it's a fun little tractor, you know, and same thing with even teaching a writing lesson, unless they're trying to model something for a teacher, but just because they love writing and they go, oh, I want to get in there and be with the kids. Okay, but you've got to train your teacher to do that because we're paying you to be the principal and make the decisions that nobody else. [00:23:44] Speaker B: Without question. Without question. [00:23:46] Speaker A: So is it something you delegate, you do, you dump, or you just postpone? You know, those are the four. But when it comes to delegation, these are the, These are the things I ask. Is there someone else on the team willing and able to do it? And the answer is almost always yes there, because there you hire people to help you. [00:24:06] Speaker B: Of course. [00:24:07] Speaker A: And what I, what I tell people who are not delegating, they're either, you know, they, oh, I can't delegate. I just take me, you know, It'll take me 10 minutes to do it, but it's going to take me an hour and a half to tell them that I have to wait for them to do it and then check it. Fine. That's part of being a leader. You have to train them, set your expectations. [00:24:23] Speaker B: You're going to have retention issues, too. [00:24:25] Speaker A: And one day you're not going to be here. You're robbing them of the learning and the potential promotion. [00:24:31] Speaker B: Yep. [00:24:32] Speaker A: And so if you're, if you're saying, I don't have time to train them, that's on you. [00:24:37] Speaker B: Or the smart ones. Or the smart ones will be your rival because you didn't. [00:24:42] Speaker A: Well, that's true. And they'll notice it. They will notice it. Yeah. And so also on delegation, I say this. People who fail to delegate the root cause is generally confidence. Either a lack of confidence in themselves, like, they're not going to delegate this because they want to, or it's, it's kind of confidence, but more of a perfectionist. Like, I'm going to just keep doing it over and over, which a perfectionism thing leads to is rooted in confidence anyway. But if you don't have confidence in your team, that's on you. So train them, set expectations back up. I have a plan that I show people. That's just a three, three, three. Look, at your calendars. Everybody get together, look at your calendars. What is three months out, what are three weeks out, what things are three days out and what things are three hours out. And be looking at. [00:25:29] Speaker B: That's nice forecast. Right? [00:25:31] Speaker A: Then you have time to delegate. You have time to look at your assets and figure out who likes doing this stuff, who excels with this, who can we punt this part to. And then we'll have time to come back and calibrate if there's anything that we need to tweak. Not that I'm the micromanager that's going to red pin your work, but that the team is calibrating. [00:25:50] Speaker B: And it's not spur of the moment, right? It's not exactly. Well, it's no different. Just briefly, if you have children or nieces or whatever the case is, they're going to get tired of you doing something for them because they want to do it themselves. I mean, I can't tell you, they're like, no, dad, I could do it. Even if something so simple as changing a channel on a remote, right. And you're like, I'll put the TV like, no, give me the remote. And you're like, shoot, you know what? Yeah, it's probably. They'll never learn to do it. [00:26:16] Speaker A: Exactly. Have you heard of the book Let Them by Mel Robbins? [00:26:19] Speaker B: I've heard of that book, yes. [00:26:21] Speaker A: I just started reading it or listening to it really. I, I read a synopsis of it and then I was thinking, oh, yeah, I know, I know this system. I'm going to start using that system. But once you really start reading it, she gets really into it. But Let Them is basically what you just said. [00:26:34] Speaker B: Absolutely. [00:26:34] Speaker A: Instead of us trying to do everything for everybody, manage everybody, take care of everybody, let it go, double check the relationship. Oh, did I make you mad? Did you do something? Did I just let things kind of happen? But then the second part of that is, then, now let me. Now I'm gonna let them handle their own problems. They're gonna learn how to change the remote. They might turn the TV off in the critical piece of the show, but they'll learn. [00:26:57] Speaker B: Exactly. [00:26:58] Speaker A: And it's just, it just frees you from so much stress. [00:27:01] Speaker B: Absolutely. I gotta tell you that I love, you know, having conversations like this. And I don't think it does justice to only summarize what you do in 30 minutes because I think that this is a topic that especially with people who are starting businesses and want to branch out and do their own thing, they need to make sure that you know, even me doing this podcast, like, I don't have all the answers. Right. And so that's why I'm talking to people like yourself to make sure, like, am I checking the boxes for a plan to do things right? So just briefly, where can people find Rhonda Palmer? [00:27:30] Speaker A: Okay, well, my website is just rhondaparmer.com and I'm on LinkedIn at Rhonda Freeman Palmer and all the other socials. Rhonda Palmer or the Rhonda Palmer, because there's a handful of them. But another thing that I. I'm just going to toss this in, just if you're looking to just barely get a little peek into leadership, depending on where you are. My husband and I also write children's books, so we have the Guardian of London and the Showdown on Peppermill Street. And it's basically about my husband's childhood dog. [00:27:59] Speaker B: Beautiful. [00:28:00] Speaker A: But it turns into a leadership lesson. There's a free resources on our website for either homeschools or churches or even leaders trying to do a little team activity in their. At their organization. [00:28:10] Speaker B: Wonderful. And I saw you do workshops as well, too, so in retreats as well. So again, you know, retreats are my favorite. [00:28:15] Speaker A: Retreats are my favorite. So people will call me. Hey, here's our agenda. I, you know, do you have a place we can go or. We have a place, but just come over here and do it. And it just lets the leader also be able to retreat. [00:28:27] Speaker B: Right, exactly. And get there. Right. Because they don't have all the answers all the time. And so I think the most important thing is that I was really excited for this interview because I knew that your background in education, it has a special place for things that people need to learn. So, you know, the tools that, like, you already know the answers to what people are stressing out about because school is really stressful, you know, at its best day, you know. [00:28:49] Speaker A: Yes, thank you. And I do rely on my, you know, my background in education and teaching and using methods like that. I also have to realize that my husband reminds me all the time, hey, don't talk to him like they're in the eighth grade. [00:29:03] Speaker B: Yeah, yeah, right, exactly. [00:29:06] Speaker A: Remind myself constantly. But I love it and I appreciate you having me on. And it's just a little peek behind the curtain, but y' all come check it out. [00:29:14] Speaker B: Oh, for sure. Thank you. Rhonda Farmer of Leadership Executive Group. And I wish you all the best. I'm really glad you carved out some time. [00:29:21] Speaker A: Thank you. I wish you the best, too. [00:29:22] Speaker B: Bye. Bye.