Rodger Johnson, public speaker and CEO of Johnson Financial Group, explains the ins and outs of leadership as a newcomer to 40 students at The Brook Hill School, who are headed to college in the fall. Johnson met with the students for 45 minutes and answered a number of questions about leadership at the next level. "What is a leader?"

"How can I lead as a follower?"

"How can I lead as a newcomer?"

These questions and more were answered for Shawn Rhoads', Brook Hill School principal and leadership educator, Leadership students, when Rodger Johnson, financial consultant and public speaker, made an appearance last week.

Students fired questions at Johnson and he had an answer for everyone seeking information.

He started by telling the 40 students assembled Friday that "leadership starts at home."

"Leadership starts with respect for your parents and authority figures," Johnson said.

Johnson told also the students that much of what a student needs to be a leader is found in the Bible.

"The apostle Paul said 'I may decrease , so he may increase'," Johnson said. This is an example of how Paul led by following."

Other topics touched on were accountability, reliability and honesty.

"If you are going to talk the talk , you have to be willing and able to walk the walk," Johnson said. "Honesty starts with being honest with yourself about what you believe in, your values, your commitment. You have to fool yourself to be dishonest."

Many of the students engages in conversation with Johnson about competence. Johnson encouraged the students to study and to encourage themselves.

"Read the Bible," he said.

Johnson did also caution the students to the perils of falling in with the wrong crown once they have left the safety of Brook Hill.

"You are going to be surrounded by opportunities and it is exciting; but, it is also easy to become a follower by falling to peer pressure," he said. "You are going to want to please ever ybody and you can't. You have to stand for something and if all else goes crazy, you have yourself to come back to."

Johnson told the students to advertise their abilities through their actions and that consistency would be key to their success as future leaders.

Johnson is CEO of Johnson Financial Group. With offices in Tyler and Dallas, Johnson is an advisor for businesses and individuals in 13 states.