Episode 308: You Don't Need a Title to Make Magic with Ryan Tiffin
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RSS Feed What if the most powerful leadership moments aren't the big decisions, major initiatives, or important meetings, but the small interactions we create every single day?
In this episode of Leaning Into Leadership, Dr. Darrin Peppard welcomes Ryan Tiffin, author of Chasing Magic: How Experience Changes Lives and Shapes Leaders, for a conversation about the power of intentional leadership, creating meaningful experiences, and recognizing that you don't need a title to make a difference.
Ryan's professional journey has taken him from photography and DJing to marketing, Disney, Cinemark, and leading teams across a variety of industries. Along the way, he discovered something that fundamentally changed his approach to leadership: every person in an organization has the ability to influence someone else's experience.
Through stories from his time at Disney and his work with frontline teams, Ryan shares why great leadership starts with slowing down, paying attention, and recognizing opportunities to make people feel valued.
Darrin and Ryan explore the importance of empowering people regardless of their position, why changing the language we use can change organizational culture, and how even ten seconds of intentional interaction can make a lasting impact.
They also discuss Ryan's new book, Chasing Magic, which combines his personal journey with the leadership principles he's developed through years of creating experiences and developing people.
In this episode, you'll discover:
- Why leadership doesn't require a title, degree, or traditional career path.
- What Disney's nighttime fireworks can teach us about the importance of every team member.
- How slowing down can actually help leaders and organizations move forward.
- Why seemingly insignificant interactions can create meaningful experiences.
- How empowering frontline team members strengthens organizational culture.
- Why the words we use, including "Team Member" and "Guest," can influence the way people think about their roles.
- How personal challenges and unconventional career paths can shape powerful leadership lessons.
- Why young professionals shouldn't wait for permission to begin leading.
A few moments worth remembering
One of the most compelling stories Ryan shares comes from his experience at an immersive Van Gogh exhibit. When a team member was struggling to recognize the importance of her role, Ryan helped her see how the experience she created for guests could provide something meaningful in their lives.
That conversation eventually helped inspire his book.
Ryan also shares a simple example of intentional leadership: rather than handing guests a wristband and moving on, what happens when a team member takes ten extra seconds to help them put it on, ask about their visit, and make a personal connection?
It's a reminder that leadership isn't always about doing something extraordinary. Sometimes it's about making the ordinary extraordinary.
About Ryan Tiffin
Ryan Tiffin is an author and experience-focused leader whose career spans entertainment, marketing, communications, and team leadership. Drawing on his experiences with organizations including Disney and Cinemark, Ryan is passionate about helping people recognize their influence and create meaningful experiences for those around them.
His book, Chasing Magic: How Experience Changes Lives and Shapes Leaders, explores the personal experiences that shaped his life and the leadership lessons he learned along the way.
Ryan is especially passionate about encouraging young professionals to recognize that their educational background or job title doesn't determine their potential to lead.
Connect with Ryan Tiffin
- Website: www.riantiffin.com
- LinkedIn: Search for Ryan Tiffin
- Book: Chasing Magic: How Experience Changes Lives and Shapes Leaders — find details on Ryan's website.
Thanks to our podcast partners
HeyTutor — Helping schools and districts provide tutoring support that strengthens student learning and builds academic confidence.
Learn more: https://heytutor.com/?utm_source=RTA&utm_medium=RTA&utm_campaign=RTA
Curriculum Leadership Institute (CLI) — Supporting schools and districts in developing aligned curriculum systems and strengthening teaching and learning.
Mention Leaning Into Leadership to receive a 5% discount on your first year of CLI services. Visit https://www.cliweb.org/ to connect.
Keep leaning into leadership
Great leadership isn't defined by the title on your business card. It's defined by the conditions you create, the people you empower, and the experiences you make possible.
Keep building the next mile of your Road to Awesome.
Connect with Dr. Darrin Peppard at https://roadtoawesome.net/ and https://darrinpeppard.com/.
Darrin Peppard (00:01)
Hey there, my friends. Welcome into episode 308 of the Leaning Into Leadership Podcast. What if I told you that one of the most powerful leadership lessons you'll ever learn could happen in just 10 seconds? And it doesn't happen in a boardroom, doesn't happen during a strategic planning retreat, doesn't even happen in a leadership meeting. Rather, it happens in the simple act of helping someone put on a wristband. My guest today, Ryan Tiffin.
Has spent much of his career thinking about something that I believe is at the very heart of great leadership, the experience we create for other people.
Ryan's journey has been anything but traditional, from photography and DJing to marketing, Disney and leading teams in some pretty unique environments. He's learned that leadership isn't something you have to wait for a title to practice. And I love that message. Because whether you're a principal, superintendent, teacher, or leading a team in another industry, the way you show up matters. The small moments matter.
And the experiences you intentionally create can change the way people see themselves and the work that they do. Ryan is also the author of Chasing Magic: How Experience Changes Lives and Shapes Leaders.
And we're going to talk about how his experiences have shaped his approach to leadership, why the language we use matters, and what Disney's famous fireworks can teach us about the power of every single person on a team. But first, a quick word from our partners who make this podcast possible. Our first partner, hey Tutor.
One of the things I talk about all the time is that leadership is about creating the conditions where people can do the very best work. And when we're talking about schools, that means making sure students have the support and opportunities they need to succeed. That is where Hay Tutor comes in. HayTutor partners with schools and districts to provide high quality tutoring solutions that help students strengthen their skills, build confidence, and make meaningful academic progress.
And make meaningful academic progress. For school leaders, finding ways to provide additional academic support without overwhelming an already busy staff is incredibly important. Heytutor helps schools expand those opportunities with tutoring programs designed around your students' needs. If you're looking for ways to strengthen student learning and provide additional support in your school or district, I encourage you to check out my friends at Heytutor. Visit Heytutor.com to learn more.
And you'll find our special partner link down in the show notes. That lets them know you heard about them here on the Leaning Into Leadership podcast. Our second partner is the Curriculum Leadership Institute, or CLI. I've had the opportunity to work with CLI two different times in my career, once as a principal and then again as a superintendent. And I can tell you firsthand how valuable their work is and how impactful it can be for schools and districts.
One of the greatest challenges in educational leadership is making sure the work happening in classrooms is aligned with what we say matters most for student learning. And CLI helps districts bring clarity and coherence to that work through curriculum development, instructional alignment, and meaningful collaboration among your educators. Their approach helps school systems build a stronger foundation for teaching and learning, ensuring that curriculum isn't simply a document sitting on a shelf.
But something that genuinely guides classroom instruction. And here's something special for listeners of the Leaning Into Leadership Podcast. CLI is offering a 5% discount on your first year when you mention this podcast. If your district is looking to strengthen curriculum alignment and create greater clarity around teaching and learning, I encourage you to connect with the Curriculum Leadership Institute. Go to CLIWeb.org to check them out.
All right, let's get into today's conversation. One of the things I really appreciate about Ryan's perspective is he doesn't believe leadership has to begin with a promotion, a degree, or a particular position. It begins with recognizing the influence you already have and choosing to use it intentionally. And sometimes that influence can create.
A little bit of magic. Here's my conversation with Ryan Tiffin. I'll see you on the other side.
Ryan Tiffin (00:00)
But for a while my biggest career path was working at Cinemark, which, you know, they have five hundred plus theaters, corporate office in Dallas. I had to go back to Arkansas after two years of working there to take care of my grandmother, and the only role I could find in Arkansas that would pay to keep me floating was right under the governor's office.
Which I had no interest in politics. So but it was a deputy chief of communications and I was going to inherit a team of twenty one. Now that's really key because at Cinemark I was a specialist. So this is where this title play comes in because as I I got to I got about a four week lead. I got to train my p person at Cinemark and, you know, go to the state. There was no rush. And my last day at Cinemark I broke down in tears and I don't cry often.
And one of the girls at my work said, What is what what are you upset about other than missing us? And I said, I I don't I don't know if I'm a leader. Like I didn't go to college. I didn't like you know, y'all are great leaders. How am I supposed to be a leader?
All right, folks, what a great interview. What a great opportunity to sit down with Ryan and have a conversation with him. For those of you looking at this on YouTube, I'm gonna hold up really quick a copy of Ryan's book, Chasing Magic. there is a link down in the show notes, folks. Go check it out. It is absolutely fantastic. We really had a good time sitting down with Ryan Tiffin here on Leaning Into Leadership. And now it's time for a pep talk. Hey, I'm gonna be short and sweet today, or at least I'm gonna try to.
I had honestly just got back from an entire week on the road and first working in New York with a district that I've been working with during the course of this school year, some time with students, some time with with their teaching staff, but then also the opportunity to be in Nashville at the AMLE conference and working with so many different school leaders. And somewhere along the lines between the training I was doing on Monday and Tuesday and then the stuff that I did.
On both Thursday and Friday of this week, something really hit me. And it's not something I had never thought about before, but I wanted to take it just a little bit deeper. I've been talking a lot about the opportunity for students to respond. That's something that really has been resonating with me. And when I'm in classrooms, in no matter whose building it is, one of the things I'm looking for is are we intentionally giving all students the opportunity to respond to?
questions to directions to the work at hand? Or are we simply allowing one or two people to do all of the work? It hit me yesterday during my speech, watching some of the interactions and then more importantly, having an interaction with one of my audience members afterwards. I genuinely believe this. If we are going to have truly highly engaging classrooms,
We have to have truly highly engaged adults. By that I mean if we as leaders are not creating opportunities for all of our staff to respond in our meetings, in our professional development, in the work we do together, we can't expect them to then go do that in the classroom. So take some time this week and reflect. Are you genuinely creating opportunities for your adults to respond? Or are you simply talking at them?
That's what I've got for you this week, folks. Thank you so much for joining me here on the Leaning Into Leadership Podcast. As always, get out there. Have a road awesome week.