Today's guest is Dr. John Austin, who has been in the OBM trenches as a student, professor, and frontline consultant for over 20 years. 

Before continuing with the usual opening remarks, I'm going to make a rare ask of you. Two asks actually. 

This is perhaps one of the most actionable podcasts I've published. If you listen to this show and act on some of the suggestions, you can improve your practice right away. And that's not hyperbole. So the first ask is to make sure you listen to the show in its entirety, and go to reachingresults.com/results-toolkit for additional support. 

The second ask is that you take a few minutes and share this episode with friends and colleagues. In your workplace, you might even consider discussing this episode, and more importantly, John's book Results: The Science-Based Approach to Better Productivity, Profitability, and Safety, in your staff meetings. 

In this episode, we cover:

• The evolution of OBM practice over the last few decades.
• Why OBM consulting in ABA organizations can be more difficult than other settings.
• How to form better relationships with the people you work with. 
• Ways to pinpoint and measure your interactions with colleagues and supervisees. 
• The importance of asking questions.
• Agreeing on, instead of setting expectations.
• Why the book Atomic Habits irks me. 
• John's conceptualization of Burnout and Psychological Safety.
• What is a Mastermind, and why might you consider joining one.

Other resources mentioned include:

• The Fearless Organization by Amy Edmonson.
• Building a Psychologically Safe Workplace, a TedTalk by Amy Edmonson. 
• Teaching Employees How to Receive Feedback: A Preliminary Investigation (Ehrlich et al., 2020). 
• ABA on Reddit here and here. 
• Radical Candor: Fully Revised & Updated Edition: Be a Kick-Ass Boss Without Losing Your Humanity by Kim Scott. 
• HBR article: Good Leadership Is About Asking Good Questions.
• John's interview with Dr. Paulie Gavoni.
• My interview with Dr. Aubrey Daniels. 
• Rapid Change: Immediate Action for the Impatient Leader, by Joe Laipple. 

This podcast is brought to you by:

Behavior University. Their mission is to provide university quality professional development for the busy Behavior Analyst. Learn about their CEU offerings, including their 8-hour Supervision Course, as well as their RBT offerings over at behavioruniversity.com/observations. And check out the Leadership CEU I mentioned here.

ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests!

This is a conversation I've really been looking forward to sharing with you. Jose Rios is a legend in our field, particularly if you're a behavior analyst in California, where he's based out of. 

In this conversation, Jose recounts his more than 50 year career in providing ABA services to individuals with developmental disabilities. We cover the following:

• How he got started in the field at the tender age of 17.
• What the field of ABA was like in the early 70s.
• What it takes to provide amazing experiences for group home residents and staff.
• The founding of the Latino Association for Behavior Analysis.
• The evolution of behavior support plans over the years.
• Jose's intense mentoring program.
• What makes for good presentations.

Jose is an avid reader, and we spent almost a half hour talking about our favorite fiction authors before hitting the record button. In the interview itself however, we do mention a few books and other resources that are more pertinent to the topic of Behavior Analysis, including:

• The various works of Dr. Gary LaVigna.
• The various works of Dr. John Lutzker.
• Teaching dating skills to individuals with disabilities (Cuvo et al., 1985).
• Vollmer et al. (1992). A content analysis of written behavior management programs. 
• Resonate, by Nancy Duarte.
• Presentation Zen: Simple Ideas on Presentation Design and Delivery (Voices That Matter) 3rd Edition, by Garr Reynolds.
• The Last Lecture, by Randy Pausch.
• The Supervisor’s Guidebook: Evidence-Based Strategies for Promoting Work Quality and Enjoyment Among Human Service Staff, Reid & Parsons.

This conversation is like a lesson in the history of Applied Behavior Analysis, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. 

This podcast is brought to you by:

• ACE Approved CEUs from .... Behavioral Observations. That's right, get your CEUs while driving, walking your dog, doing the dishes, or whatever else you might have going on, all while learning from your favorite podcast guests!
• HRIC Recruiting. Barb Voss has been placing BCBAs in permanent positions throughout the US for just about a decade, and has been in the business more generally for 30 years. When you work with HRIC, you work directly with Barb, thereby accessing highly personalized service. So if you're about to graduate, you're looking for a change of pace, or you just want to know if the grass really is greener on the other side, head over to HRIColorado.com to schedule a confidential chat right away.

The Apollo Case Study Series returns with a conversation that many Behavior Analysts will likely resonate with. 

In this episode, I speak with Kristen Vaughn, Vice President of Clinical Operations of Apollo Behavior. We discuss her career arc, and focus on her transition from providing mainly clinical services to her current role in executive management. 

We cover her early clinical experiences, what it's like to get direct and perhaps difficult to hear feedback, the challenges of letting go of clinical duties, and what it's like to work with a leadership coach. 

If you're a BCBA, or an aspiring one, chances are, you'll have to supervise the work of others in some capacity, so there are many great lessons in this episode for you. 

Related to this, we talked about the book, Motivating human service staff: Supervisory strategies for maximizing work effort and work enjoyment, by Reid and Parsons. It, along with The Supervisor’s Guidebook: Evidence-Based Strategies for Promoting Work Quality and Enjoyment Among Human Service Staff, should be considered must-reads for those in supervisory positions. 

Click here to check out previous Apollo Case Study Series podcasts, and to learn about all the fun employee engagement activities they're up to, follow them on Instagram.