Evidence Leadership Group

Let me tell you something. I knew going into this conversation with Director Larry L. Johnson that it was going to be good. Larry and I talk all the time off the record — but getting it on tape? That was something different. And I’m glad we finally did it, because what he shared in this episode is the kind of thing that doesn’t show up in any training manual.

Larry is the Director of Public Safety for the Johns Hopkins Health System. Before that, he was a Special Agent in Charge, a federal investigator, and a street cop in Orlando. Three decades across multiple agencies, multiple disciplines, and multiple levels of leadership. So when he talks, I listen. And I think you should too.

Here’s the thing that hit me hardest. Larry admitted — without me even pressing him — that he completely bombed his first leadership assignment. Got removed after about six weeks. And the reason why? He expected everybody on his team to work exactly like him. Same drive. Same hunger. Same standard. And when they didn’t, he started writing people up, demanding compliance, running the team with an iron fist. What he got in return was resistance, dysfunction, and a one-way ticket to a different building.

Now think about how many supervisors you know right now doing the exact same thing. I’ve seen it. You’ve seen it. The high performer who earns their promotion, then spends the first year frustrated because nobody on the team seems to care as much as they do. That frustration is real — but it’s also a leadership failure. Because your job as a leader is no longer to perform. It’s to develop. And development requires you to meet people where they actually are, not where you wish they were.

Larry rebuilt his entire approach around that one lesson, and it has carried him from that early failure all the way to running security for one of the most complex health systems on the East Coast.

We also got into something that I think a lot of people in law enforcement don’t talk about honestly enough — and that’s how your name gets spoken in rooms you’re not in. Larry made it plain: contacts will make or break you. Not just having a network, but having real relationships. People whose personal number you have. People who pick up when you call. And the way you build that? You volunteer for the assignments nobody else wants. The policy reviews. The strategic plans. The committees that feel like extra work. Because those are the moments when decision-makers actually see you — not just what you produce, but how you think and how you handle yourself under pressure.

And I want to be honest with you — I’ve been guilty of avoiding some of those assignments myself. But this conversation reminded me of why that’s a mistake I can’t afford to keep making.

The part that stuck with me most, though, was the end. I asked Larry what he wants people to remember when it’s all said and done. No more titles, no more uniforms, no more meetings. Just the legacy. And without hesitating, he said he wants people to tell his children — your daddy made my life better. That’s it. Not his clearance rate, not his rank, not his resume. Just that he poured into people and made their lives better.

That’s the standard I’m trying to hold myself to. And after this conversation, I hope it’s one you’re thinking about too.

Go back and listen to Episode 7 in full. There’s a lot more in there than I could cover here. And if this hit you, share it with somebody in your department who needs to hear it.