Trust, Truth, and Transformation: Lessons from 30 Years of Coaching

How do you transform losing teams into champions? What makes an uncommon leader? Coach Jim Johnson discovered the answers to these questions through both devastating failure and extraordinary success during his 30-year basketball coaching career.

The journey begins with humility. After being fired from his first coaching position following 17 consecutive losses, Johnson realized he had much to learn about leadership. This humbling experience became the catalyst for developing seven leadership keys that ultimately produced 428 victories and transformed multiple basketball programs.

At the heart of Johnson's leadership philosophy lies the understanding that great leadership starts with self-leadership. "Who's the first person you need to lead? Yourself," Johnson explains. This means clarifying your personal mission and core values before attempting to lead others. From there, building trust becomes foundational—aligning words with actions, telling the truth (even when difficult), and providing specific, meaningful recognition.

The conversation takes an extraordinary turn when Johnson shares what he calls "the greatest night I ever had in coaching." The J-Mac story—where team manager Jason McElwain, a student with autism, scored 20 points including six three-pointers in the final four minutes of his first and only game—transcends basketball. What made this moment truly special wasn't just J-Mac's performance, but how the team deliberately chose to "shine the light" on their manager, exemplifying the "we over me" mentality Johnson had cultivated.

Throughout his leadership journey, Johnson discovered the power of vulnerability and becoming what he calls the "chief question asker" rather than simply providing answers. By shifting from dictating to listening, he empowered players to take ownership and exceed their perceived limitations.

Whether you're leading a business team, coaching athletes, or simply striving to become a better version of yourself, Coach Johnson's principles offer a roadmap for authentic, transformative leadership. His message—respect all people—serves as both a guiding value and a challenge to leaders everywhere.

Learn More About Coach Jim Johnson: Visit his website at coachjimjohnson.com for more information on his leadership programs and speaking engagements.

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Chapters

• 0:00 The J-Mac Story Introduction
• 3:39 Coach Johnson's Leadership Journey
• 9:27 Trust as a Foundation for Success
• 21:30 The Seven Keys to Leadership
• 27:24 The Full J-Mac Miracle Story
• 38:58 Faith, Legacy, and Leadership Lessons

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

I gave Jason his first jersey. He was number 52. It was way too big. He didn't care. In fact there was a rumor going around school that he slept in it for both nights. He was pretty fired up. Well, the game begins, and I will say before the game, because we honored the seniors before the game. To see Jason embrace his parents in uniform is a memory I will always cherish. I mean, it brought tears to my eyes. So my dream was John. I wanted to get him in with enough time to score a basket. I thought if he could score a basket that would be a memory he would have for the rest of his life. Well, he gets in with four minutes to go.

Speaker 2: 0:39

Hey Uncommon Leaders, welcome back. This is the Uncommon Leader Podcast. I'm your host, john Gallagher. What's March Madness? And who better to have on during March Madness but a successful basketball coach and a great leader? That's what the Uncommon Leader is all about.

Speaker 2: 0:54

I've got Coach Jim Johnson today to add some value to you listeners in tying basketball coaching and business leadership together in a way that I think is going to be very inspirational for you. Just a little bit of background about Coach. In his 20-year coaching career he had 428 victories, turned three teams around. If I said that wrong, he's probably going to have that 428. He's turned three teams around as we go forward, transforming losing teams into champions, and he's got a special story that's coming up on 20 years that we'll talk about the J-Mac story. Many of you who are listeners and know me when you're a sports fan, you're going to recognize this story. But we're going to get a chance to talk about his seven leadership keys that he now shares with other leaders and businesses to help them grow. Coach Johnson, it's great to have you on the Uncommon Leader Podcast. How are you doing today?

Speaker 1: 1:46

Thank you, John. Yeah, I will say I appreciate that, but I did coach. I was a head coach for 30 years 30 years, okay, 30 years. I coached for 35, two years in college and 33 in the high school.

Speaker 2: 1:59

I was trying to get you a better average wins per year.

Speaker 1: 2:01

Yeah, so that was a lot of wins In fact I'd be pretty proud of 20 years, over 400 wins.

Speaker 2: 2:08

Well, it takes a little while to turn them around and then get to that 25 win number every year. All right, so I'll give you that. So let's start this. We're recording this on day one of the NCAA basketball tournament getting started, better known as March Madness.

Speaker 1: 2:25

So before I even jump in, like the leaders, do you play a bracket? I have again this year. I used to be really big into it. I'm not quite as big since I've been out of coaching, although obviously I still love basketball. It's always such an exciting time of the year because the hard part is I've never been great with the brackets because I always pick some upsets, but it seems like I pick the wrong ones.

Speaker 2: 2:50

It's a tricky thing. For sure, it's important to get those 512s right. There's usually always one or two each year. Go ahead and share it so we can put the money on it. I'll get the podcast out before the end. Who you got going all the way?

Speaker 1: 2:58

Florida.

Speaker 2: 2:59

Florida. Yeah, they're playing pretty good, all right, excellent. Well, I'm glad you shared that and I know we're missing the start of this thing, but we'll have a great interview as part of that and then get a chance to watch some basketball today. So I want to ask you the same first question, outside of our basketball interest, but the same question I always ask my first time guests, and if you would tell us a story from your childhood that still impacts who you are today as a person or as a leader.

Speaker 1: 3:26

Well, you know, it's interesting because I have a lot of different you know positive and some challenging as a child, but one that sticks out to me was I'm the oldest of six and I have my next. Two are both brothers and we were pretty darn competitive. My dad was actually my high school coach, so he loves sports as well and we're on the backyard, but we funny is that I was mostly in the team sports, but I was actually a pretty good runner too. And when my brother and I were challenging each other about running around the block and he went first and I timed him and then I went second and he was supposed to time me. Well, I came back and I I knew I beat him.

Speaker 1: 4:10

I was puffing and huffing and puffing and uh, he didn't time me on purpose. Oh, I started running after him and my next brother went in and my grandmother was there because my mother was out someplace and she goes. He, my youngest brother, or younger brother at the time, said uh, grammy, I think you might want to know this, but uh, jim is ready to kill tom, and uh, so, uh, that's not the only time we've competed over the years, but uh, I think it did bring my nature out that I'm a pretty darn competitive person still to this day.

Speaker 2: 4:52

Well, you spent 30 years in coaching, so you had to go through a lot of experiences as well in that competitive side. And again, 428 wins that comes along with a few losses as well. In terms of going through that journey as a coach, was there any one win that kind of stuck out to you? That was just really powerful. I ain't asking the J-Mac story yet. Give me a story like yeah, it was about you and your team. That really sticks out.

Speaker 1: 5:18

Well, certainly the J-Mac night, and I won't delve into it right this moment, but it was the greatest night I ever had in coaching, so I'm not going to lie to you and say that it was not. I think the greatest win that I'm most proud of is my second to last year. It was the best team we ever had and we played in a tournament. We're in upstate New York, it was in downstate Westchester and we played Iona Prep. It's a small private school and they were tremendous. They had two 6'10 kids. John and I coached for 30 years. I never had a 6'10 kid ever. They had two that didn't even play. They were just on the bench. But their starting center was the New York State player of the year and he actually has dabbledled. He's played some in the nba and their second best player at the time was a junior named ty jerome that actually plays for the cavaliers right now. So they had two guys that actually played in the nba, uh, and we beat them and that was probably the greatest win we we ever had.

Speaker 1: 6:18

Uh, as far as my, I mean, I had a lot of certainly great wins and all that, but just uh, the fact that I I I know I never other coached against another team that had two NBA players on their team.

Speaker 2: 6:31

I bet not. And two 6'10 guys on the bench Goodness gracious, holy cow, that's definitely a team that would be a huge win, no doubt about it. I mean, I played in high school and we had some big wins on the way to a state championship my senior year. But I don't know that we ever experienced that with regards to two NBA players and two 6'10 guys and having that win. That's pretty cool. I'd love the overlap between sports and leadership and you think about some of those lessons and we're going to get into your seven keys here in just a little bit but some of those memories have got to be those moments that are not even basketball-related for you and the leadership, especially coaching high school kids. What was it that was most rewarding for you inside of that space of the leadership and sports that you continue to find value in today?

Speaker 1: 7:22

Well, the two things is one is really, you know, as I became better and became, I think, a better leader is really focusing on building relationships, and that's the power.

Speaker 1: 7:34

And then just the other thing you know I'm a pretty driven guy and you know I'm really into goals and I spent a lot of time working with our players on both our team and individual goals. But when you could get a group of young men to work together and do more than they think they can, to me that was like the greatest feeling in the world, you know, is that you know, when you got them and it's interesting because you know, some of my best teams, talent wise, didn't, in my opinion, reach their full potential. And then there was a few other teams where, you know, I didn't think they were going to be really that good and they just exceeded, and it just had so much to do with building that chemistry and them getting to believe in each other and care about each other. And, you know, caring about we over me, which is something we, you know, emphasize pretty much every day.

Speaker 2: 8:24

We over me love that as well. I mean, I think again, those relationships are so important. I know that some of the ones that I had especially early on in my journey after I left high school, those are the ones that kind of stick around from a memory standpoint and again, unfortunately, sometimes you remember the losses even more difficult than the wins. I mean, again, you got 30 seasons under your belt. My senior year in high school. We were 25 and one. We won the state championship and surely the first question that we always get when we talk about it is well, who did you lose to? I can go back to the Fairmont West game that we lost by one point when we were down nine with 60 seconds left, and I just happened to miss a layup with about three minutes left in the game wide open layups.

Speaker 1: 9:06

So yeah, those are the kind of things you ever remember.

Speaker 2: 9:08

But they shape you as a leader, Not that it ever really was that important. Those on YouTube that's actually a picture Well, you can't see it off my head but me standing there as a senior in high school and so I still have some of those memories that exist in a team photo around here somewhere that team but those memories stick with you for a long time. You have 30 years of those memories in the coaching world, plus that time that you were competitive, as you say, as an athlete yourself as well, and you've ultimately brought that together now into what you refer to, as are your seven keys to leadership that are for business leaders as well as those in sports. While we won't have a chance to talk about all seven of those, maybe if you could just outline what they are and then ultimately really talk about how you got to those keys Was it over your coaching time or how did you get to them?

Speaker 1: 9:57

Yeah, so I'll start with a quick story, just to give you context.

Speaker 1: 10:00

So my dream when I got out of college was to I wanted to be a teacher and I wanted to be a varsity basketball coach. And at 25 years old, that dream came true after only three years as an assistant coach and I took over a program that wasn't very good, but in my mind I was going to take them from the outhouse to the penthouse in the first season, right? Well, in that, John, I led that team to 17 consecutive losses and then I was in an interim position and they did not renew my contract. In other words, I was fired, and it was a pretty humbling experience. But it probably ended up being the best professional experience for me from a negative standpoint, because it woke up a young, arrogant 25-year-old that realized that he had a lot to learn how to be a leader and a coach. And so that's when I really started my journey of studying leadership and, you know, did a lot of reading, went to a lot of clinics and conferences and picked different people's brains and listened to a lot of audio programs.

Speaker 1: 10:58

Back then there were cassette tapes and all that Jim Rohns and all of them, and so I. So it was just really, as I continue to, to grow, I really want to establish some structure, you know cause I think great leaders develop processes and systems that you know people can get used to, and that's something I think we get. We really did much better and our players really appreciated it. So these were the seven keys, and then we can delve into one or two of them, whatever, but clarifying your vision, which I talk about how to lead yourself first before you can lead others. Number two is building trust. Number three is called creating an edge. Number four is effective communication. Five is one that is pretty obvious, but, boy, I found a lot of leaders don't do this very well, and that's lead by example. Number six is my leadership philosophy, which I call leaving a profit. And then number seven is something I really built into as I learned more about it and now it's gotten pretty big in leadership and that servant leadership.

Speaker 2: 12:05

Excellent those seven keys. And now it's gotten pretty big in leadership and that servant leadership Excellent those seven keys. And I think about looking back all those things that led you to those seven keys. And look, 25-year-old firstly, in his first head coaching position. I look at my sons now and I look back at my time as a 25-year-old. I can't imagine leading that varsity team that early. There are some that are able to do that, but it's usually that learning experience that comes into play and I heard a little bit of that pride that's in there. What are some of the other barriers? Before we jump into maybe one or two of your keys? But what are some of the barriers that leaders have, like pride, that keep them from being successful?

Speaker 1: 12:43

Well, it's a really powerful thing because, you know, I've talked about different things, but one thing that jumps out to me is that I, when I became I kid people that as a leader you got to be the CQA, the chief question asker, and you know, when I started to come in with that perspective, that I was going to ask more questions. But then the other part about leading is taking the time to listen. You know, and you know the famous Stephen Covey seek first to understand before being understood and then really understanding. This is easy to say, but as a leader I think it's very difficult. But I believe the best leaders are finding the best answers to solve the problems not necessarily their answers and, again, easy to say.

Speaker 1: 13:32

But you know, we all as leaders and all people have an ego to some degree and usually when you get a leadership position, you have maybe even a bigger ego. A bigger ego you can really start to to say you know that famous we over me that I mentioned earlier is that, you know, and really getting uh impact, like one of the things. Uh, we did a captain's meeting every week and and it was always on mondays unless we had a game which was rare and early on. John, I always would come in with an agenda, but it was all about me. And then, probably the last half of my career, I came in with an agenda, but it was all about me. And then probably the last half of my career I came in with the agenda was just questions and questions like hey, how's our team chemistry this week? You know, what do you think we should focus on to be better this week? How can I coach you better? Is there any player right now on the team that we should be made aware of, this struggling, that we can help out this week? You know, so, just and boy, the captains really took ownership and you know, I think that spread throughout the whole team. The coach wanted to know about you and wanted to get your input.

Speaker 1: 14:35

And the other thing I think is really clear I did a lot of one-on-ones and one of the things I always told our players is I want to hear from you. I'm not going to always agree with you, and when I don't agree with you, I'm going to share why. And you may not like that, but at least you know where I'm coming from. Because I think the breakdown in communication is when people don't do that. It's just my way or the highway. Well, that doesn't go over very well, especially with young people.

Speaker 2: 15:04

Hey listeners, I want to take a quick. Many of the topics and discussions we have on this podcast are areas where I provide coaching and consulting services for individuals and organizations. If you've been inspired by our conversation and are seeking a catalyst for change in your own life or within your team, I invite you to visit coachjohngallaghercom forward slash free call to sign up for a free coaching call with me. It's an opportunity for us to connect, discuss your unique challenges and explore how coaching or consulting can benefit you and your team. Okay, let's get back to the show. Well, absolutely, and again, even as you're seeing, with the title of head coach or the title of leader, that's the first level that we go through.

Speaker 2: 15:50

John Maxwell talks about levels of leadership, five levels and he says the first one is position and people follow you because they have to. Now, you talked about this with regards to relationships, and leading by example is that you want to move to permission. Ultimately is players. I mean they want to know why am I not playing, why am I not good enough to be in the starting five? And you have to learn to have candor with them, to let them know what that is, but to also know that you have a very important role to play on the team Leads into me. One of the keys that I wanted to ask you about we talked about this before getting started was trust, and you talk about this intentional trust plan that you put together. Tell me a little bit more about that key, the intentional trust plan.

Speaker 1: 16:39

Yeah, well, I'm just going to say one thing. The two C's is I built a basketball program that I think is really important, is caring and challenging, and I think when you can combine those two, which will lead into my answer to the trust. So, as I mentioned, I struggled my first opportunity to be a varsity coach, but I had three other opportunities In my last 27 years. I coached in my hometown at two of the high schools. I actually went to the other high school so I kind of hit a ball, and when we took over all those programs, they had all been not doing well, and so one of the things I really figured out and I really shared with our staff is we got to build trust with our players because we're a new group coming in. And how do we do that? And so we came up with three keys to building trust. The first one is we had to consistently align our words and actions.

Speaker 1: 17:32

And I'll tell you a little side story. That was very powerful for me Because you know, going to that other key about leading by example, well, coach, was one of the things we mandated for most of our career is that we, on the road, we were going to wear shirt and ties. Well, I didn't love wearing shirt and ties myself, so one time I choose not to, and all of my players, and I'll never forget one of my parents saying hey, coach, how come all the players got to wear shirt?

Speaker 2: 18:00

and tie.

Speaker 1: 18:01

You don't, and that was a really good thing for me to, because after that coach wears shirt and tie the rest of his career. If I was an assistant of players, and that's the power of example, example, I think, is really important.

Speaker 1: 18:12

The first one is aligning your words and actions. Like one of the things I talk to leaders about is I think you should have a few non-negotiables, but you can't have like 100 rules, Because if you have 100 rules you have no rules. But one of our non-negotiables is we expected our players to be on time. So if I said that practice was started, sometimes I did funky things like we'd start practice at 2.17 because I really wanted to make sure that they were on time and I always would kid them that if you can't be on time, be early.

Speaker 1: 18:43

Those are your choices and so, with that, that's what you know. But as myself, you could ask all the players that coach never came late for practice, never came late for a meeting, because that was that important to me. So aligning your words and actions is so important. Number two is I think if you're going to build trust, you have to have the foundation of telling each other the truth, and you know, one thing I will say that in leadership as an art and science is there are times where I think you can call out a player.

Speaker 1: 19:13

Going back to what we talked, john, about, building relationships, where some players can take some harsh criticism in front of the team and it's very helpful. But getting to know your players some of them don't do very well with that and that's why you got to get to know your players, because there's sometimes you got to do that behind closed doors, but we really focused on telling each other the truth. And then the third thing was is that you know we took over programs that hadn't been doing well? Is that we really came in with a mindset that we wanted to catch our players doing well and specifically praising them. And I always give an example, like, instead of saying nice job, johnny, because I was a boys basketball coach, we want to be more specific. I might say something like Johnny, that was awesome how you dove on the floor for that loose ball. That's what championship players do on championship teams. So he has some clarity. He's being praised, but he knows exactly why he got praised.

Speaker 2: 20:08

Love that and I love that as an example as well, being specific about that feedback. Love that, and I love that as an example as well. Being specific about that feedback. I actually, when I listen to hear you tell them the truth and you do that, especially when it's tough feedback in private as well, behind closed doors I love that. And certainly, aligning words and actions, no doubt about it. As the leader, things are caught and not taught and they will absolutely let you know if you're stepping outside, which back to telling the truth. Those three things together, they all work well.

Speaker 2: 20:35

I love that as a trust plan. Those three steps seem very simple and to your point in terms of where we got. In terms of those seven keys. Those relate to business or, frankly, they relate to life. There's no doubt about it in terms of that trust plan in your family, in your family. Align our words and actions, tell the truth. You'll be on time. Ultimately, get those three things done Right. I mean, it really is that simple and it can be that difficult. Have you coach, have you had, uh influencers as you develop these keys, uh in your career, uh, who have made a difference for you, whether it's, you know, other coaches or authors or speakers. Who's influenced you?

Speaker 1: 21:10

So the two that and I never met either one of them and I will tell you a little bit about you know one person that did that I worked with, but the two that influenced me from afar but I studied them immensely, was the late John Wooden and the late Jim Rome. So there was a personal growth guy and then you know a famous basketball coach.

Speaker 1: 21:30

But, I read and listened to all the things I could possibly learn about them, because you know what it's been fascinating, because I still do it today, John, I'm fascinated what makes people great, and I study it all the time and you know what are the separators. Then two people I did get to meet one's still coaching and he's kind of rejuvenated his career at St John's. That's Rick Pitino. I saw him speak at a basketball clinic in Rochester where I grew up, and he was just mesmerizing on how impactful he was. And then I went and watched him practice at Providence and then I actually went to Kentucky when he was there and so I really followed his career.

Speaker 1: 22:15

And it was just kind of a connection, was that when I, after I lost my first varsity job, I got called by a local junior college coach and he was a tough guy but I learned a lot from him. His name was Bill Van Gundy and the crazy thing is John, both his sons, Stan and Jeff, have been head coaches in the NBA numerous times. So it was amazing because when I was coaching with Coach Van Gundy, I was 26, and Stan is my age. He was a college coach, a Division III coach, and Jeff had just taken a high school job, so I think Coach Van Gundy really helped me get back on my feet after that stumble in my first varsity position.

Speaker 2: 22:56

Love that, even having folks there to pick you up when you stumble, because I mean, especially frankly in coaching, it's going to happen In coaching and leadership you're going to have tough times. You're going to go through times or spaces where things aren't going your way and, to your point, sometimes the best thing that can happen to you is to be asked to go and coach somewhere else or to go lead somewhere else, whatever that means in terms of change, and if you can take the right perspective on that can be really powerful. I mean, again, patino made his mistakes in his personal life as well, but look what he's gone through in the coaching world. I mean NBA just recently Iona, st John's, providence, kentucky, louisville. Goodness gracious that guy's still around. Coach, when are you going to get the phone call to come?

Speaker 1: 23:43

back. Come on now. You know I'm doing some other things and I think I could make an impact now, but I certainly still miss it. I mean, it's something that was strongly in my blood. But you know, I think something we could really learn from rick patino is that you know he got really humbled with some of his mistakes there at louisville, and how about he goes back and he coaches iona and I think the lesson I want to share to all leaders is be great wherever you are, because he got iona, you know, doing some good things, that that led to the St John's?

Speaker 1: 24:12

Yeah, but now you know how about? I had no idea, because I grew up in the old Big East and to think that St John's had not won the Big East Conference since 2000. That's incredible.

Speaker 2: 24:23

That's amazing, isn't it? Yeah, yeah, Goodness gracious, In those days I go back into my high school basketball days at Ewing at Georgetown and Mullins at St John's and. Syracuse. Goodness, gracious, washington is here. Look at all those guys that were there. Ronnie Cycli oh, I know. Wow, that was phenomenal A phenomenal league. All right, so we talked about trust. Give me one other key that you'd like to talk about today, and kind of one that's very impactful for you.

Speaker 1: 24:51

You know what I think, because I always start a lot of my leadership presentations with this simple question and most people don't have the answer. And that is who's the first person you got to lead? And of course, it's yourself. And so when I talk about clarify and envision one of the things one of the more impactful books for me early in my life that I read was Dr Covey's Seven Habits, and that's where I really got awareness, because I was pretty close, you know, when he's talking about you know having your personal mission statement, I'm like I know what he was talking about, but I really started to think about it and I got very clear and I encourage leaders to ask this question a lot.

Speaker 1: 25:32

And that is why will you put it on this earth? If you're a person of faith, like I am, why did God put you on this earth? And then the second part of that is really getting clarity of your core values. Like, one of my core values is to respect all people. Another one is I want to continue to grow and get a little bit better each day. But you know, just having clarity about your core values and then try to put it into a statement, like and you know I put this right out there. When I talk to different leadership groups, I'll say you know, my mission is to be an outstanding role model that makes a positive difference in the world by helping others make their dreams come true. And you know, each day that's what I strive for. Some days are better than others, that's what life is all about, right. But when you get clarity of you know, why are you getting up every morning, I think it's just a really powerful thing, because once you start leading yourself better, then you can influence and lead others better.

Speaker 2: 26:26

Love that Starts with you, no doubt about it. I mean personal mission statement, personal values. Write them down, define what they mean to you and then, frankly, look at all the things that you're doing, right your behaviors and your activities, and say how do they line up? Are they contributing to me improving those values? Are they contributing to me moving toward? I love that as a personal mission statement. You know, change the world. Love that Bold, okay, big difference. Coach, I want to honor you for that. That's, that's amazing.

Speaker 2: 26:52

Now you're talking about making a difference in, in the lives of others. Uh, maybe it. Maybe it's a good time to lead in the story that ultimately probably impacts every conversation that you have, and it's the JMAC story and those that are in our generation, you and I. They'll remember the ESPN highlight that drove this. But tell me the story of J-Mac and, ultimately, how you know I get how it's impacted him and I see those videos all the time, but how has it impacted you as a person in your journey? Tell me. Go as far back and as detailed as you want to.

Speaker 1: 27:26

So I'll start with the context that Jason tried out for our JV team. I was the varsity coach back in 2003. And my JV coach came to me during trials. He says, coach, we've got this young man on the autism spectrum which I didn't know much about. Autism, it was starting to become a little bit more prevalent back then. We certainly know a lot more but there's still a lot of questions about it right now.

Speaker 1: 27:49

And he was very small in stature. He was like 5'6", 90 pounds, soaking wet. But my JV coach said Coach, I want to keep him in the program as a manager and let him practice with the team because he's got this heart of gold and he loves the program. And so that's what he did. And I was starting to get to know him because our JV and varsity games were usually back-to-back. So to get to know him because our JV and varsity games were usually back to back, so he was on the bench for both games but he was going to JV practices. But really what I grew such an admiration. I will say a quick sidelight his nickname J-Mac was tagged by me because I could not pronounce his last name. Fortunately he liked it and in fact I kid people that his senior year, that almost everyone in the school knew who J-Mac was, but most people didn't know what his real name was.

Speaker 2: 28:34

That's funny, that's great.

Speaker 1: 28:36

But anyway. So what I really admired about him, john, was how much he was into basketball. And after his sophomore season he came to all our off-season workouts. I was picking him up from his house and even though he wasn't a very good player, I just I mean, I was so passionate about basketball and so was he, so we were always talking basketball. And so he tries out his junior year part of the varsity and he doesn't make the team.

Speaker 1: 29:01

And at that point in my life, john, I was kind of known as the guy that had winning seasons but couldn't win the big one. We kept losing our postseason tournament. I'll never forget our first meeting that year. I walk in and Jason immediately raises his hand. I said, yeah, jay Mack. He says coach, we know you've never won a sectional championship. I said, well, thanks, jason for the reminder. But this year is going to be different. We're going to adopt this stay focused mantra and we're going to help you win. Well, we have another good season, jason's junior year. We lose in our sectional semifinals. For the sixth time in my career. I'd never taken a team even to the finals and we lose at the buzzer. So it was a devastating loss. But Jason really picked me up because after that season he said, coach, we're going to do it next year. And he came to everything and again, so tries out a senior year, I bring him in.

Speaker 1: 29:50

I said J-Mac, unfortunately you're not quite good enough to make the team and he was pretty disappointed because it was three years in a row and I never had a player try out three times in a row without making it but the.

Speaker 1: 30:01

But he I said I have a gift for you and his head popped back up and he said yeah, what's that, coach? I said well, for senior night I'm going to give you a uniform and hopefully get you in the game. And I kid people that periodically he would ask me about that uniform during the season, and of course I define periodically as about every other day.

Speaker 2: 30:19

He wasn't going to let it go he heard it.

Speaker 1: 30:22

So the little quick thing is that his senior season. We were expected to have a very good team. We had a lot returning from the previous year. But adversity hit. We won our first two games and then we had an incident it was in my book called the Coach and a Miracle, where it divided the team and John. I resigned because it was so bad for a while and it led this team.

Speaker 1: 30:43

That was because they were divided. We really struggled for the next three weeks. We lost three games. We shouldn't have lost any of them and what changed it was I did a leadership thing that I'm proud of. I didn't know if it was going to work, but we had a Christmas tournament and we won in the opening round. We were playing the whole school and they were really good. And we had a shoot-around because it was during Christmas break for an hour and I never brought out basketballs. I sat in little bleachers and I just opened my heart up. I go, guys, unless we decide we're going to unite a fair point, our opponent at night is going to beat us by 50 points. And but the best thing I did and something I want to share with leaders is I became vulnerable. I said I don't have the answers but but you do and you got to be willing to share.

Speaker 1: 31:32

And we never brought a basketball out in that hour, we just shared ideas and I could see a little bit different bounce in their step and that night we lost a fair part, but we lost them in overtime and it showed what we could do and then we got some momentum going.

Speaker 1: 31:46

So we won eight of our next nine games, going into senior night and februaryth the game was on February 15th I gave Jason his first jersey. It was number 52. It was way too big. He didn't care. In fact there was a rumor going around school that he slept in it for both nights. He was pretty fired up.

Speaker 1: 32:03

Well, the game begins. And I will say before the game, because we honor the seniors. Before the game, to see Jason embrace his parents in uniform is a memory I will always cherish. I mean, it brought tears to my eyes. Well, now we get into the fourth quarter and it's just over four minutes. And my dream was John. I wanted to get him in with enough time to score a basket. I thought if he could score a basket that would be a memory he would have for the rest of his life. Well, he gets in with four minutes to go. And I'm usually a pretty macho guy, you know I stand up pretty much through the entire game. But what happened next profoundly touched my heart and soul. When he walked on the court for the first time, all our student body, they called themselves the six men. They gave him a standing ovation. But what I didn't know and Jason didn't know this either one of our parents had made these pictures, these placards of Jason's face. In fact, president Bush, we had a chance to meet him and he actually took a placard back with him to the White House. So, anyways, they show all these placards. And it touched me so deeply, john. I sit down and tears start to roll down my face. They're trying to wipe my face. I'm like, oh my God.

Speaker 1: 33:11

So Jason's in his first varsity game. First time he touches the ball. He has a three-pointer from the right corner. He lets it go. I tell you, the whole crowd stood up in anticipation. He misses by like six feet and I kid people that I know you're not supposed to pray in the public schools, but, dear god, it was praying. Please help him get one basket. Next he has a much shorter shot from about 10 feet, and this time it hits the backboard, hits the rim and falls off, and that whole crowd groans. But I'm thinking all right, god started listening. We're getting closer.

Speaker 1: 33:43

Then the third possession. He has another three-pointer from the right wing. He lets it go. Magic it goes in. The place just erupts. And I'm thinking to myself god must be a basketball fan. Not only is jason scored, he's got a three-pointer. Getting better than this? Well, the next possession comes out, he makes another three and it goes louder. And then I'm going to fast forward, then I'll come back and I got two quick points to share with you. But jason's idol, I kid you not, was the late kobe bryant. Jason used to sign his name Jason J Mac Kobe McElwain.

Speaker 1: 34:14

That's how much you like Kobe Bryant. Well, six months after that game, jason's at the Esprit Awards. He's up for the greatest sports moment of the year. And I kid you, not one of the other finalists there were four of them was Kobe Bryant. Kobe had scored 81 points in a game for the Lakers that year. So Jason meets his idol and beats him out for the ESPY. Well, how does he do that? Well, after making those two threes, he comes down. He actually his only two-point basket is actually his foot was on the line.

Speaker 1: 34:43

And then he made a couple of misses and the place is just in pure bedlam. Two things I'll never forget. John, with a minute to go, I'm sitting on the bench. I'm in shock, tears still rolling down my face. I can't believe what I'm seeing. And I get a tap on my shoulder. I'm shocked. I look behind me it's J-Mac's mother and John. She's bawling her eyes out. And she gives me this big embrace and she says Coach, come on keep going.

Speaker 2: 35:15

I know the story and I'm still in tears coming out.

Speaker 1: 35:18

Our opponent is Spencer Ford and I want to give kudos. They were a great sports that night. But they score with about 10 seconds to go and our player that takes a lot of bounds. He normally throws to a point guard, but this time he throws it right to j mac and j mac's dribbling down and I think he's. They're just gonna let him go in and make a layup. Oh no, he pulls up like two feet behind the arc, almost an nba three. I think j mac don't shoot from there, you're gonna ruin this moment. He launches this rainbow swish. I look over and it was just like the movie rudy the whole gym ran on the floor and our players put him up on their shoulders.

Speaker 1: 35:51

He got the game ball over his head. At that point I had no idea how many points he had and our public address announcer comes out and says the leading scorer for Grease Adina tonight, j-mac, with 20 points, including six three-pointers and it was just crazy.

Speaker 1: 36:07

And you know one thing that I do want to share there are so many lessons that I learned from that, but probably the greatest because I mentioned that we had really struggled as a team for a while and I knew the players liked Jason, but I wasn't sure. But the greatest thing that touched me so deeply was the players, on their own, decided that they were going to shine the light on J-Mac and they passed him the ball every possession. In fact, I still kill Jason to this day. J-mac, I'm still looking for your first assist. You didn't make one pass, but it was just really cool.

Speaker 1: 36:42

And then, I guess, just to wrap that up, j-mac now has to go back as our team manager because you got to play six games in the regular season, but yet he embraced that role and we had never won the sectional championship and we ended up. We were down 14 to 3 in the championship, gave in front of 10,000 people. We came back, really and won right at the end and won our first sectional championship. And the really cool thing, john, because I mentioned earlier about we over me and that's what I love about Jason, because people would ask him all the time after that. What was the best thing about your senior season? Expecting him to talk about his game and he'd say, went in Section 5 championship. There's nothing better than that. And yet, you know, I was fortunate to be a coach of leading a lot of Section 5 championships after that. And yet the best thing that ever happened in my life in coaching was at night.

Speaker 2: 37:33

It just, uh, it touched my heart so deeply, coach, I know you can never get tired of telling that story in 19 years and just the impact that had on so many like I can. I can now remember the ESPN highlight, like it was yesterday I'm going to put a link to it and that I watched the ESPY uh speech that he gave as well when Kobe Bryant was there, to put a link to it. And that I watched the ESPY speech that he gave as well when Kobe Bryant was there. Put a link to that one too. But, as you said, probably that moment for you it's one thing to see him make those shots, another thing to have his mother behind you and give you that big hug as well. I mean the we over me component, the we over me component. While it may have catapulted you into the limelight as well, I hope that feeling during that time never leaves you and never leaves him also.

Speaker 1: 38:20

So how cool was that story? I certainly I would never be considered a marketing expert, because you know it's funny, because the only thing back then is you had to call in our local newspaper and back then we just they used to follow it better than they do now but we didn't even get a headline. I take that back. It said Greece-Athena ties for league title and it mentions just a little bit about JMAC and really how it exploded, john, because I wouldn't have done it. I mean, I was so touched by it and in fact the next day at school all we did I was a phys ed teacher we watched the game film the whole day. But what I didn't know is when Jason Speeds, pathologist, called one of our local TV stations and they borrowed the video and that night they showed it and within three days it was viral all over the world.

Speaker 1: 39:05

It was crazy.

Speaker 2: 39:06

Yeah, before those days of social media to get there. That's the thing.

Speaker 1: 39:25

It just makes it viral.

Speaker 2: 39:26

It was unbelievable. Coach, I appreciate your time today. I appreciate you sharing that story and I can see the impact that it still has on you One of your seven keys leaving on him and making things better in the work that you've done so well done. You also talked about maybe God had a sense of humor and he loved basketball. So I've just got kind of two more questions or maybe three more in terms of asking folks where to find you.

Speaker 2: 39:41

But how has your faith played a role in your journey from chasing your brother back into the house to try and kill him after he didn't time you when he, you beat him around the block all the way to you know, frankly, 428 wins later and what you have going on today.

Speaker 1: 39:59

Well, you know what? I've always been a person of faith. I will say um that because of all the trials and tribulations I had as a coach, that there were times that I did lose a little faith. I'm not going to lie to you, but you know I will say that Miracle Game just really did strengthen that.

Speaker 1: 40:16

You know God, because you know people sometimes ask me, and I think God was trying to send a message because back then there was a lot of confusion. There's still not total clarity on autism, but I think it was his gift to the world to say you know what people with autism can do a lot of things and just give them a chance. And I think that was a great message. And so you know I am a strong believer in faith and you know I pray pretty much every day. Now it's important to me and you know I just it's something that I think there's a bigger power than me, and so I'm talking to them, I meditate every day, so I'm listening to them and I also pray every day to share some ideas with them.

Speaker 2: 41:01

Excellent, fantastic Coach. I appreciate you sharing that as well. You got a lot going on right now still doing, speaking and sharing your inspirational story. How can folks get in touch with you, coach, to learn more about you or connect with you?

Speaker 1: 41:14

Yeah, so probably just the best is the coach Jim Johnsoncom and that way I wouldn't forget it. Or you know my personal email if people want to reach out as coach Jim Johnson at gmailcom. But I I we have a free newsletter and we have a free weekly blog and I have a video series and we have a podcast as well Limitless Leadership Lounge to help young and emerging leaders. I'm trying to give back because I struggle as a young leader, as I mentioned, and you know I speak around the country. I've been very blessed to speak at a lot of you know educational speak around the country. I've been very blessed to speak a lot of you know educational and business type groups to you know I speak. I brand myself as an inspirational leader, so trying to help people build championship teams, you know, through culture and all that good stuff that, coach, I appreciate you sharing with the listeners the uncommon leader podcast.

Speaker 2: 42:14

I think there I can count on one hand the number of time I've had stories bring tears to my eyes as well and those were a fantastic tears that you brought and sharing that inspirational story and the impact that you've made. Um last question, I'll give you the last word. Uh, this is the last question. I always finish, um, I guess with but I'm going to give you a billboard and you can put that billboard anywhere you want to.

Speaker 1: 42:35

What's the message you're going to put on that billboard and why do you put it there? Well, you know, I think we've had some real ups and downs in our world with chaos and you know, and the one thing that I mentioned earlier, but I would say my billboard would say respect all people. We don't have to agree with everybody and we're not going to agree with everybody, but the thing that's been disappointing to me in leadership I know you're a John Maxwell guy, like I am and the fact that I think he's said it a number of times his leadership's sad.

Speaker 1: 43:05

And I think that's because there's been a breakdown of respect and to me that's one of my core values and no matter whether I agree or disagree, I really encourage people to respect all people.

Speaker 2: 43:17

Sure would be a simple rule folks would follow. I think the world would be a different place, Coach. No doubt about it. Coach, I wish you the best. Thank you for sharing with the listeners and I hope that we can stay in touch in the future.

Speaker 1: 43:28

Absolutely. I loved it, john. I'm glad that you're making a big impact as well, and I look forward to growing our relationship, so thank you.

Speaker 2: 43:35

Thank you, and that wraps up another episode of the Uncommon Leader Podcast. Thanks for tuning in today. If you found value in this episode, I encourage you to share it with your friends, colleagues or anyone else who could benefit from the insights and inspiration we've shared. Also, if you have a moment, I'd greatly appreciate it if you could leave a rating and review on your favorite podcast platform. Your feedback not only helps us to improve, but it also helps others discover the podcast and join our growing community of uncommon leaders. Until next time, go and grow champions.