Technolandy

Day 128b (of 2025/26) Book of the Month Recommendation: Conversations with the Custodian by Brad Johnson

☕ Coffee with the Custodian

(A first-of-the-month book share)

There are books on educational leadership that hand you a checklist.

And then there are books that sit down beside you, pour a cup of coffee, and just… start talking.

Conversations with the Custodian is firmly the second.

It reads less like a leadership manual and more like something in the spirit of Mitch Albom… story-driven, reflective, and quietly disarming. No bolded frameworks. No “Top 5 Moves for Monday Morning.” Just conversations that sneak up on you and leave your brain doing more work than expected.

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☕ First sip: leadership isn’t a checklist

What struck me early is that this book doesn’t tell you how to lead.

It shows you.

The chapters unfold like small encounters… first contact, then trust, then something deeper. You start to see leadership not as a role, but as a relationship that evolves over time.

And that evolution matters.

Because you can’t change culture if you’re not part of it.

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☕ The hit of espresso: people first… always

There’s a line early on that nudged my thinking:

You don’t need a plan if you don’t know the people.

My brain pushed back a bit… maybe:

You can’t have a plan if you don’t know the people.

Either way, the message lands.

This book keeps circling back to a simple truth:

• leadership starts with people

• not programs

• not structures

• not mission statements taped to a wall

People.

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☕ The smoothness of a flat white with a hint of small moments

One of the strongest threads throughout the book is how much the small things matter.

Not the big speeches.

Not the big initiatives.

The random Tuesday interactions (Albom reference for those wondering)

The “didn’t think anything of it” moments that end up meaning everything to someone else. (Shares keep coming to me from former students who highlight things I didn’t think were big deals)

That idea lingered with me.

Because the reality is:

👉 we don’t get to choose which moments matter most

So we kind of have to treat them all like they might.

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☕ A familiar truth of an americano (custodians know everything)

This part hit close to home.

Years ago, in a “breakfast with the superintendent” session, I remember saying: If you want to know what’s really going on in a school… talk to the custodians.

That thread runs beautifully through this book.

Seeing people beyond titles.

Understanding the informal networks.

Recognizing who actually holds the rhythm of a building together.

And maybe most importantly:

Titles impress people. But brooms impact them.

That one stuck.

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☕ The Latte: Leadership that reflects back on you

Even as someone who’s been in the role a while, this wasn’t a “yep, got that” read.

It was more of a:

• pause

• reflect

• rethink

Kind of experience.

There were moments that affirmed things I’ve leaned into recently:

• modelling matters

• culture builds through consistency

• recognition needs to be specific and timely

(“Recognition delayed is recognition denied” felt uncomfortably accurate.)

And moments that pushed me:

• intent doesn’t erase impact

• what you allow becomes what you lead

• showing up matters… even when no one says it does

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☕ The maple macchiato – A note on context (and a Canadian aside 🇨🇦)

I’ll admit, there were moments where context nudged my thinking.

Schools with cafeterias, for example… still not a universal reality here, despite being a G7 country Canada remains the lone nation without a food program for students – though PEI is making a good change with their lunch program… That lens shifts how some of these interactions land.

And I did find myself wanting just a bit more around how leadership spreads across a team… particularly with vice-principals and emerging leaders.

But even there, the strength of the book holds:

It doesn’t prescribe.

It invites.

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☕ Final sip (and ask for a refill): what this book actually does

This isn’t a “how-to” guide.

It’s a “how might you…” book.

It shows a way of being in a school:

• relational

• present

• attentive to the unnoticed

And it trusts the reader to translate that into their own context.

Which, honestly, might be its biggest strength.

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☕ Who should read this?

• New administrators → to see what leadership feels like

• Experienced leaders → to reflect on what leadership has become

• Anyone in a school → to notice what they might be missing

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☕ One line I’m still thinking about

Leaders aren’t in charge. They’re in reach.

And maybe that’s the whole book, distilled.

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☕ Closing thought

This was a genuinely delightful read.

Not because it was easy…

but because it made thinking feel natural.

Like a good conversation should.