The People Contingency | Avoid Staff Turnover in ABA
What happens when the people part doesn’t go to plan? This podcast tackles the realities of building, managing, and sustaining people systems—especially in mission-driven fields like autism care, healthcare, and education. We cover recruiting, training, HR systems, psychological safety, and retention. Expect honest conversations about what actually works to hire better, support teams, and lead with purpose—without losing sight of the humans behind the work.
The People Contingency | Avoid Staff Turnover in ABA
10 | Compassion, Ethics & Mistake-Forward Leadership in ABA with Dr. Tyra Sellers
Most leaders think solving workforce challenges comes down to data, compliance, or improving systems.
But what if the real leverage point is far more human—compassion, ethics, and the courage to have honest conversations?
Dr. Tyra Sellers, owner of TP Sellers and one of the most influential voices in modern ABA leadership, challenges us to rethink how we define professionalism, accountability, and decision-making.
With over 30 years in ABA service delivery, ethics, supervision, and executive leadership, Tyra brings both clarity and heart to conversations that most leaders avoid.
Listen in as she explains how courageous communication and mistake-forward cultures promote organizational success.
In this conversation, Tyra breaks down:
- What compassion actually looks like in practice.
- How empathic leaders can stay grounded.
- Why perfectionism paralyzes hiring, supervision, and decision-making.
- How to protect fairness and reduce bias.
- What a genuine “blameless” culture sounds like.
- Why “breaking” new systems on purpose leads to safer, stronger practices.
- How leaders can recognize a culture where mistakes are safe to share.
Ideas Worth Sharing:
- “Leaders [are] the least important person in the team… You're there to facilitate the success of all of the people around you.” - Dr. Sellers
- “Compassion should be a component and inform everything you do. The same way ethics isn't some separate thing that you do on a Tuesday when something bad happens.” - Dr. Sellers
- “A mistake isn't a bad thing. A mistake is just a non-optimal outcome... Mistakes are more about learning how we can create systems that are more effective or more efficient or safer." - Dr. Sellers
Resources mentioned:
- Pass the Big Exam
- The New Supervisor’s Workbook
- Daily Ethics
- Building and Sustaining Effective Relationships
- Radical Candor by Kim Scott
- Supercommunicators by Charles Duhigg
- Difficult Conversations by Douglas Stone, Bruce Patton, Sheila Heen
- The Afro-Minimalist’s Guide to Living with Less by Christine Platt
- Performance Diagnostic Checklist - Human Services (PDC-HS)
- Assessing the efficacy of and preference for positive and corrective feedback - PubMed
- A further investigation regarding the efficacy of and preference for positive
Dr. Tyra Sellers is a behavior analyst and the owner of TP Sellers, LLC. She has over 30 years of experience working in the profession, and has held positions as an Assistant Professor at Utah State University, Director o
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