#1: Welcome to the Leading

       by Type Podcast

On this episode, I share a leadership moment that taught me what it means to lead from any chair and shaped my belief that leadership doesn’t depend on holding a title or a position. 

Episode Highlights: 

  1. Learn about the Leading by Type Podcast
  2. Meet your host – Deanna Pecina 
  3. Learn about a moment that shaped Deanna’s my philosophy
  4. Hear about what to expect on the podcast going forward

Links & Resources Mentioned in this Episode:

  • Leading from Any Chair article
  • Take the What’s Your Leadership Genius Quiz HERE
  • Join the Leading by Type Facebook Community HERE
  • Connect with Deanna on Instagram HERE

Like the Show? Subscribe on iTunes and leave a 5-star, positive review!

Episode 1 Transcript

Well, hey, there friend. Welcome to the first episode of the Leading By Type podcast. I’m your host, Deanna Pecina, and I’m so excited to be here and I’m excited that you’re here too. So welcome. I’m an organizational leadership coach and I love using the DISC and the Enneagram as tools to help leaders really step into their leadership genius. In this episode, I want to take the time to introduce myself to you, share a story with you that shaped my leadership style and let you know exactly what to expect going forward. So before we get started, I thought I would just share a little bit about me. I’m a former teacher and school administrator turned leadership coach. I’m also a military spouse. We’ve been married for 27 years and my husband retired after almost 30 years in the Marine Corps. I’m a mom to twin, 15 year old, almost 16 year old boys, and we’ve lived all over the world. From California to North Carolina, to Hawaii, to Massachusetts, to Florida, to Japan, and back to Florida. Goodness, that’s a lot Um, in that process, I have taught everything from preschool to college. I’ve worked with startups. I’ve worked as a social media manager, and most recently I spent three years working for a company where I coached entrepreneurs every single day, and I loved every minute of it, but most importantly, I love all things learning and believe that if we stop getting better, we stop being good. So I’m always learning and trying new things and challenging myself because it’s just how I’m hardwired. I’m also super geeky when it comes to learning about people, and as an Engram nine, I really feel like one of my superpowers is being able to see all sides of an issue. I can really listen into a conflict or a challenge that people are having and help pick out what is the root of what is really going on in the situ. Now I have wanted to start a podcast forever. It’s something that’s been in the back of my mind. The teacher in me misses sharing knowledge with others and helping people learn, apply, and transform as a result of learning. But as an Engram Nine Wing one, the perfectionist in me held me back a long time from getting started. And I’ve reached a point where I’m just like, You know what? It’s time. Let’s do this thing and let’s get it out there messy and not worry about it being perfect. So that’s what has brought me here today. I think it’s really important for you to understand my philosophy behind leadership. I view leadership as relational, not positional. Titles don’t impress me. How you treat others is really the key marker of a leader. So for example, if you’re in an organization that has everyone, From a CEO all the way down to custodial staff if you treat the custodian any different than you do the ceo. To me, that tells a lot about your character and it also tells a lot about your leadership. So back in 2003, 2004, I was in my second year of being a middle school principal and it’s something that I had thought I had wanted to do. I had fast tracked my way through being an assistant principal, getting a master’s degree, and became a principal after only being an assistant principal for two years. So I thought I was doing what I was meant to. Unfortunately, the first year of that position was not something that I enjoyed. I really did not like the role, and I attributed it to the fact that it was the first year, right, Because everything’s hard the first time that you do it well, the second year rolled around and things weren’t any better. And I knew that I had made a mistake that I was not doing what I was meant to do. So I went to our superintendent in October of that school year, and I had a conversation with him about the fact that I didn’t want to do that job the following school year. In the course of that conversation, he looked at me and he said, Well, can you make it until c. I said, No, I, I can make it until the end of the school year. I just wanna give you ample notice that this position will be open to be filled next year. And if that means I have to go back into the classroom, I’m okay with that. So I left that day knowing that I would be going until the end of the school year, and I felt like a weight had been lifted. I will admit, I was afraid of what people would think would, would people think less of me because I. Well, about two weeks later I got a envelope in the interoffice mail from the superintendent. I opened it. I was a little surprised to get something from him that way cuz I rarely did. And so I opened it and I pulled out a Xerox copy of an article and there was a sticky note on it and he had written I think that you’ll appreciate. The title of the article was called Leading From Any Chair, and it was a story about a woman who had been a district superintendent and had to go back into the classroom because of budget cuts, and she dealt with a lot of the same mindset things that I was dealing with because of my decision. Now, hers was a little different because it was a forced decision, but nonetheless, she was wrestling with what this change of title would mean for. and she related it to being in high school orchestra and how growing up, she had loved playing the flute. That music brought her such joy until it didn’t. It stopped bringing her joy when she was in the high school orchestra. And if you know anything about orchestra, you have. Chairs and first chair is, you know, the best flute player, and 10th chair is not the best flute player. That’s what people believe. And she shared a story about how people had started challenging for her seat, and she got very irritated by that whole process and just finally started letting people move up if they wanted to move up. Because what she realized was she was gonna play just as well in the fourth chair as she did in the first. She was gonna play just as well in in the 10th chair as she did in the second chair. It didn’t matter what chair she was sitting in, she was still going to play her heart out. And that analogy of it didn’t matter what your position was, you could still lead regardless of where you are within an organization. Even all, even all these years later, I still get emotional recounting this story because number one, I played the flute when I was in high school, and that exact scenario happened to me. So I felt like the article landing on my desk was not an accident. The fact that our superintendent took the time to make the copy and send it to me himself, it really just sent me the message that it was okay. And that I was valued and that I was respected and that my decision was supported, and that one small act has stuck with me 20 some odd years later. And so has the idea of, it doesn’t matter what chair you’re in, leadership is relational. It is not positional. Just because someone gives you a title doesn’t make you a leader. and I wanted to just take the time to share that story because it, it really has shaped my worldview and my view of leadership and people in general. So in regards to this podcast, my plan is to release one episode each week, and I would really encourage you to subscribe on your favorite podcast platform. So that you can be notified when new episodes become available. In terms of structure, I wanna do a combination of workshop type teaching and interviews. I envision the interviews being more like coaching sessions, and so I’m really, really excited about being able to have conversations with people. About leadership. I’ve already lined up a few fellow entrepreneur friends and leaders in other fields like education. So regardless of what you do in terms of career, whether or not you are a CEO or an entrepreneur or a department head, or you’re just wanting to grow as a leader, the how of leadership transcends organizations. And positions in regards to topics. I’ll be covering things obviously related to leadership, and sometimes I’ll be talking about the engram and sometimes I’ll talk about the disc. Sometimes I might talk about both of them, but just know that those topics will be included along with things that maybe you’re showing up in the news or popular leadership topics as well. Just giving my take on them. So I just wanna thank you for being on this journey with me. If you’ve made it this far, I appreciate you. Along the way. If you find value in this podcast or any of the other ones, I would just love for you to share them with people that you would think could benefit from it. If you’d like to know more about your leadership genius, head on over to leading by type.com/quiz. I’ve created a short quiz that can help you start to identify your unique talents and gifts so that you can really own your leadership genius. Thank you so much for being here today. I love spending time with you now. I would love for you to subscribe and rate and leave a review because I really do love hearing from you. If you found value in this episode, please share it with a friend and then come hang out with me on Instagram at Leading by Type. I’ll be back here next week and hope you will be too. See you then friend!