Learning from the Past to Pave the Future: Karla Johnson
Karla Johnson, CEO of Pennsylvania Leadership Charter School, shares her journey to this position and the important skills she’s developed through her experiences.
Johnson describes her educational experiences as something she’s very proud of, giving her many opportunities to delve into things that she wouldn’t have been able to otherwise. Completing her bachelor's, master's, and doctorate degrees, Johnson emphasizes the flexibility of roles she has achieved, including serving as a superintendent or a CEO in her field.
A common universal experience for people is running into a subjectively bad project leader or boss. Johnson emphasizes the difference between a good leader and a bad one: a good leader can “recognize when their staff has wins, even if they’re small.” She strongly emphasizes that the baseline attribute of a good leader is a supportive nature and that, through that, a comforting environment is built for people to thrive. However, Johnson says that there is much to learn from a poor leader, saying that “you can learn what not to do.” Johnson further stresses the importance of gleaning something out of every single experience, regardless of whether it’s good or bad, because that may end up helping you in the long run.
Disagreements are common among many, whether in a professional or personal setting. Johnson elaborates on her experience in conflict resolution, heading a program dedicated to helping students. While teaching her students important skills such as peer mediation, she recalls that she “had to learn the process [herself]” to teach it effectively. She underscores its importance to future leaders, expanding on how essential it is “to listen to both sides of a situation and being able to come to a resolution”. Without that skill, it’s hard to move forward and achieve the overall goal the team is working toward.
Johnson highlights the idea of effective leadership through communication and understanding in professional settings. In the grand scheme of things, Johnson mentions that “leadership is always going to be bigger than one person”, and for aspiring leaders to champion values of kindness and compassion because that is what uplifts the world.
Drawing on her time in the education industry, Johnson calls attention to future generations, strengthening the value of education in today’s world, inspiring students to learn from their mistakes, and encouraging them to take as much as they can from each experience.