Ask any adult who knew me as a kid and I bet you a dollar to a donut the word BRAT will come up. I was a brat, so I hold no ill will toward their honesty. I am from the generation of corporal punishment at school. A paddling is what you had coming your way if you continuously misbehaved in the classroom. And despite how much time I spent in the office of my principal, Mr. Bill Roach, I came away with zero “licks.” In fact, he never threatened to paddle me. Instead he took time with me. I talked and he listened. He did ask why I kept showing up in his office, but the truth is a child has little understanding of the why behind their behavior.  To say the time spent in Mr. Roach’s office was a God send would be an understatement. 

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The term Emotional Intelligence would not be coined until 1991 when it emerged from the world of psychology and slowly made its way into the mainstream. Mr. Roach was the ideal model of a HIGH EQ leader well before EQ was on everyone’s mind. And because of that, I am a better person. My teachers were my angels. Mr. Roach was the head angel. We maintained our friendship until he died, tragically, in 2006. At his funeral, I had the (surreal) pleasure of reconnecting with ALL my elementary teachers as we celebrated the life of a man who changed so many kid’s lives at Bowie Elementary. Today, as an adult, I understand Mr. Roach MODELED REAL LEADERSHIP and while it took years for it to fully bloom, he showed me what it looks like to BE a leader.

In this fun and thought provoking keynote, I relay the SEVEN leadership lessons I learned from Mr. Roach. I hope to inspire and motivate, of course. More importantly, I share how you can use HIGH EQ leadership to model lessons for those around you. After all, the job of the leader is to create new leaders.