Tag: servantleadership

Your Managers Are Not the Problem. Your System Is.

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment

You hired smart people.

People who were good at their jobs. Reliable. Hardworking. The kind of employees you trust. So when you promoted them into management roles, it made sense.

And yet—something started to break.

Decisions slowed down. Problems kept getting escalated. Meetings became longer but less useful. And somehow, despite having more “leaders,” you ended up doing more of the thinking yourself.

Sound familiar?

Most companies assume this is a people problem.
“It’s a training issue.”
“They need more experience.”
“They’re just not ready.”

That’s the easy answer.

But it’s usually the wrong one.

Because what you’re seeing is not a leadership problem. It’s a system problem.

And until you fix the system, no amount of training will save you.

Let’s be honest.

Most managers are not trained to think.
They are trained to report.

From the start of their careers, employees are rewarded for accuracy, compliance, and execution. Do the task. Follow the process. Escalate issues.

So when they become managers, they don’t magically shift into decision-makers.

They carry the same behavior into a bigger role.

They report better.
They escalate faster.
They avoid risk more carefully.

And then leadership wonders why nothing moves unless they step in.

It’s not that your managers don’t want to lead.

They just don’t know how to operate differently.

Here’s where it gets uncomfortable.

If every decision still goes through you…

You are not just the leader.

You are the system.

And the system is telling your managers one clear message:

“Don’t decide. Just ask.”

So they do.

Every time they escalate, they are not being lazy.

They are being consistent with how the organization works.

This is why most leadership training fails.

You send your managers to a workshop.
They learn about delegation, communication, decision-making.

For a moment, everything looks promising.

Then they go back to work.

And nothing changes.

Because the environment they return to does not require them to apply what they learned.

No structure.
No reinforcement.
No expectation of changed behavior.

Just more slides. More notes. More “good insights.”

Training without application is just entertainment.

And companies spend thousands on it every year.

Now imagine a different approach.

Instead of focusing on what managers know, you focus on what managers do every day.

Small actions. Repeated daily.

Not a full-day training. Not a once-a-month seminar.

Short, focused leadership moments.

Clear expectations.

Immediate application.

Because leadership is not learned in theory.

It is built through repetition.

Think about it this way.

If you wanted someone to get physically stronger, would you send them to a one-day fitness seminar?

Of course not.

You’d have them exercise regularly.

Same principle.

Leadership is a muscle.

And most companies are trying to build it through lectures instead of practice.

This is where micro-learning changes the game.

Not because it’s trendy.

But because it matches how behavior actually changes.

Instead of overwhelming your managers with information, you give them small, focused lessons.

Every day.

Something they can apply immediately.

Something tied to real work.

For example:

Instead of teaching “decision-making frameworks” in theory…

You give them one simple rule for the day:

“If a problem comes to you, propose a solution before escalating.”

Now they have to think.

Now they have to engage.

Now they start building the habit.

Over time, these small shifts compound.

Managers begin to:

• Make decisions faster
• Take ownership of problems
• Communicate more clearly
• Reduce dependency on leadership

Not because they attended a seminar.

But because the system required them to behave differently.

And here’s the part most leaders miss.

You don’t need more training.

You need more application.

Because knowledge is not your bottleneck.

Behavior is.

If your managers are not stepping up, don’t ask:

“What else should we teach them?”

Ask instead:

“What in our system is preventing them from acting like leaders?”

That’s where the real work is.

Let’s make this practical.

If you want to start shifting your organization, begin with three simple changes:

1. Stop accepting problem-only escalations

If someone brings you an issue, ask:

“What do you recommend?”

This forces thinking.

At first, they’ll struggle. That’s normal.

Keep asking.

Consistency builds behavior.

2. Define what “good leadership” looks like daily

Not in theory. Not in values posters.

But in actions.

What should a manager do today that proves they are leading?

Make it clear. Make it visible.

3. Build repetition into the system

One lesson. One action. Every day.

Not optional.

Not “if they have time.”

Because if it’s optional, it won’t happen.

This is how real leadership development works.

Not through inspiration.

But through structure.

And here’s the truth most companies don’t want to hear:

Your organization is perfectly designed to produce the results you are getting.

If managers keep escalating…

If decisions are slow…

If you are the bottleneck…

That’s not accidental.

That’s the system working exactly as it was designed.

So you have a choice.

You can keep investing in more training, hoping something sticks.

Or you can redesign the system so leadership becomes unavoidable.

Because when the system changes…

Behavior follows.

And when behavior changes…

Results finally move.

So the next time you feel frustrated with your managers, pause for a second.

And ask yourself:

Are they really the problem…
or are they just responding exactly the way your system trained them to?

Related Reading: Systems Over Personalities

  1. Your Company Didn’t Miss Its Targets. It Followed Your Design. This article argues that every organization is perfectly designed to get the results it is currently achieving. When a company misses its targets, the natural reaction is to blame the people involved or look for individual failures. However, the author posits that the failure is usually a logical outcome of the existing workflows, incentives, and structures. To change the output, leaders must be willing to dismantle and redesign the underlying system rather than just pressuring the team. True progress comes from shifting the focus from “who failed” to “what in our design allowed this to happen.”
  2. Your Managers Aren’t Slow. They’re Waiting for Permission. Slow execution is often misdiagnosed as a lack of urgency or competence in middle management. This post explains that “slowness” is actually a rational survival strategy in systems where authority is vague or decisions are constantly second-guessed. When managers feel that taking initiative carries high personal risk but low systemic support, they learn that the safest move is to wait for a green light from the top. The author suggests that “speed” is a design outcome created by explicit authority and clear ownership.
  3. The “Invisible” CEO: Building a Startup Structure That Doesn’t Break When You Step Away Many leaders unintentionally become the ultimate bottleneck by acting as the “hero” who solves every problem. This article outlines the transition from being a problem solver to being a system architect. It emphasizes that solving a single problem only helps once, whereas designing a system to handle that category of problem helps the company forever. By creating accountability maps and clear processes, a leader ensures the organization functions autonomously.
  4. Why Everything Works—Until You’re Not Around If a business pauses or struggles the moment a leader steps away, it indicates a design problem rather than a people problem. This piece explores how work often depends on a leader’s personal memory and availability instead of documented rules and standards. The author challenges leaders to stop asking “Why do they need me?” and start asking “Why does this require me at all?” This mindset shift allows the system to remain resilient and steady even in the leader’s absence.
  5. Why Most Leadership Training Fails (and How Smart Leaders Quietly Fix It) This article critiques the common practice of treating leadership development as a one-off event rather than a systemic ecosystem. Training fails when it tries to change individual behavior without addressing the environment that those individuals operate within daily. Smart leaders focus on building “leadership-inevitable” cultures where the environment itself cultivates consistency and growth. The goal is to design a system where leading well is simply the default path of least resistance.

The “Invisible” CEO: Building a Startup Structure That Doesn’t Break When You Step Away

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment

It’s 3:00 PM on a Friday in your office overlooking the Makati skyline. You’ve just finished your eighth meeting of the day. Your throat is dry, your head is spinning, and you realize you haven’t actually “worked” on your business strategy in weeks. You’ve spent the entire day giving permissions, answering “quick questions,” and proofreading emails that your managers should have handled themselves.

You started this company to build something bigger than yourself. But right now, the company is you. If you don’t show up, the gears stop turning.

If you’ve been searching for how to move from founder-led to a professional management structure or leadership training for startup CEOs, you are likely facing the same wall every successful founder hits: the centralization ceiling.

The problem isn’t that your team is incompetent. The problem is that you are too helpful. By being the “Hero” who saves every project, you have become the ultimate bottleneck. To scale, you must move from being the owner of every task to being the architect of a system.

Here is how to stop being the “everything” person and start being the CEO your company needs.

The Story of Clara and the “Magic” Vacation

Clara founded a thriving logistics tech startup. She was brilliant, energetic, and possessed a “founder’s eye” for detail. She personally interviewed every hire, signed off on every social media post, and was the only one who could handle a direct call from their biggest client.

Clara felt essential. But she was also exhausted. She felt like she was carrying the weight of thirty people on her shoulders. She started looking for a business scaling consultant for founders because she thought she needed better “time management.”

Then, Clara was forced to take a sudden, ten-day leave for a family matter. She went “dark”—no Slack, no email, no calls.

She expected to return to a smoldering ruin. Instead, she returned to a team that was… fine. In fact, they were better than fine. In her absence, the Operations Manager had finally overhauled the delivery tracking system—a project Clara had been “meaning to get to” for months. The Marketing Lead had launched a new campaign that was outperforming their previous ones.

Clara realized a painful truth: Her constant presence wasn’t helping the team; it was hovering over them. She was the bottleneck because she hadn’t given them the Accountability to lead.

Lesson 1: Clarity of Direction (The Compass, Not the Steering Wheel)

The first reason founders become bottlenecks is a lack of clear direction. When the destination is fuzzy, the team will constantly ask you which way to turn.

Most founders give instructions. A CEO gives Clarity of Direction.

  • The Instructions (Bottleneck): “I want you to call these five clients today and offer them a 10% discount if they renew their contract by Friday.”
  • The Direction (Scalable): “Our goal for this month is a 95% retention rate. You have the authority to offer up to a 15% discount for early renewals. I trust your judgment on which clients need it most.”

When you provide the “What” and the “Why,” you empower your team to figure out the “How.” If you are still explaining the “How,” you haven’t defined the “What” clearly enough.

Lesson 2: Radical Delegation (Giving Up the “Legos”)

In the early days, you did everything. You owned all the “Legos.” But as you grow, you have to give those Legos away.

Delegation is not “assigning a task.” It is transferring ownership.

Many founders “delegate” but then jump into the Slack thread or the Google Doc to make “minor suggestions.” This is a trap. Every time you “tweak” a team member’s work, you take back the ownership. You signal to them that their work isn’t final until you’ve touched it.

To move to a corporate structure, you must give the baton and let the other person run. Even if they run a slightly different route than you would. Even if they stumble. Accountability only exists when the person feels the full weight of the responsibility.

Lesson 3: System Design Over Problem Solving

When a team member comes to you with a problem, your founder instinct is to solve it. You’ve been solving problems since day one. It’s your superpower.

But as a CEO, solving a problem is a failure of leadership. Wait—read that again. If you solve the problem, you’ve helped one person one time. If you design a system to solve the problem, you’ve helped the company forever.

  • The Problem Solver: Fixes a bug in a client’s account.
  • The System Designer: Asks the Engineering Lead, “What part of our QA process allowed this bug to reach the client, and how do we change the code-review system to prevent it from happening again?”

To stop being a bottleneck, your primary job is to build the “machine” that solves the problems, not to be a gear inside the machine.

Lesson 4: The Accountability Map

If you are looking for leadership coaching for tech founders, the most practical tool you can build is an Accountability Map.

This isn’t a traditional organizational chart. An organizational chart shows who reports to whom. An Accountability Map shows who is “on the hook” for specific outcomes.

  • Who owns the “Customer Acquisition Cost”? (If it’s you, you’re the bottleneck).
  • Who owns the “Employee Retention Rate”? (If it’s you, you’re the bottleneck).
  • Who owns “Product Uptime”? (If it’s you, you’re the bottleneck).

Every major metric in your business should have one name next to it. And as much as possible, that name should not be yours. Your name should only be next to the “North Star” metrics: Vision, Culture, and Capital.

The Goal: The “30-Day Test”

How do you know if you’ve successfully moved from a centralized owner to a CEO? Take the 30-Day Test.

If you were to step away from your business for 30 days, would the company grow, stay the same, or shrink?

A company that shrinks without its founder is a job. A company that grows without its founder is an asset.

To build an asset, you must be willing to be “less important” in the day-to-day. You must find your value not in being the smartest person in the room, but in being the person who built the room and filled it with people smarter than yourself.

Are you building a business that is fueled by your exhaustion, or one that is powered by your team’s autonomy?

Relevant Articles from JordanImutan.com

The “Founder’s Speed” Fallacy: Why Your Quick Thinking is Slowing Down Your Startup

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment

The office is quiet, but your mind is racing. You’ve just spent the last four hours “helping.” You helped the design team pick a font. You helped the sales lead draft an email to a Tier-1 prospect. You helped the office manager decide on the new health insurance provider.

To you, this feels like high-octane leadership. You are fast, you are decisive, and you are keeping the wheels turning. But if you look closely at your team, you’ll see a different story. They aren’t moving faster; they are standing still, waiting for your next “input.”

If you are searching for leadership training for startup founders or how to scale a business without the founder, you have likely hit the “Founder’s Speed” wall. You think your involvement accelerates the company, but in reality, you have become a human stoplight.

The problem is centralization. When every path leads back to your desk, you aren’t a leader—you are a bottleneck owner. To scale, you must trade your speed for your team’s accountability.

The Story of David and the “Decision Debt”

David founded a fintech startup in Manila that was growing at 20% month-over-month. David was a “fixer.” He prided himself on his 30-second response time on Slack. He thought that by being available 24/7, he was empowering his team.

But David’s team was suffering from “Decision Debt.” Because David made all the hard choices, his managers never developed their own “judgment muscles.” Whenever a complex problem arose, they simply tossed it to David.

David’s search for business operations consulting for founders led him to a startling realization: his team wasn’t lazy; they were logically adapted to his behavior. Why take a risk on a decision when David will just override it or do it himself in half the time?

David had to learn the hardest lesson in scaling: Your job is no longer to make the right decision; it’s to ensure the right decision gets made without you.

Step 1: Clarity of Direction (The “Success Criteria” Shift)

The main reason founders jump into the “How” is because they haven’t clearly defined the “What.” If your team doesn’t know exactly what a win looks like, they will naturally ask you to check their work.

To break the cycle, you must provide Clarity of Direction.

  • The Bottleneck Way: “Make the landing page look more professional.” (This is subjective; they need you to “approve” what “professional” means).
  • The CEO Way: “The goal of this landing page is a 15% conversion rate for users aged 25–35. It must load in under two seconds and align with our brand’s ‘minimalist’ style guide.”

When you define the Success Criteria, you give your team a yardstick. They don’t need to ask if you like it; they can look at the data and the style guide and know for themselves.

Step 2: Radical Delegation (Handing Over the Keys)

Delegation is not a chore you offload; it’s an investment in capacity. Most founders delegate “tasks” but keep the “authority.”

  • Task Delegation: “Research three CRM systems and show me the options.” (You are still the decision-maker).
  • Authority Delegation: “You are the owner of our Sales Tech Stack. Your goal is to implement a CRM that reduces lead response time by 50% within a ₱100,000 budget. You have the final sign-off.”

When you hand over the authority, you are moving from an owner-led model to a corporate structure. You must be prepared for them to choose a CRM you might not have picked. As long as it hits the goal, you must stay silent.

Step 3: Not Being a Bottleneck Owner (The “Wait and See” Rule)

To stop being a bottleneck, you have to embrace the silence. David implemented a “24-Hour Hold” on all non-emergency questions. When a manager asked, “What should we do about X?”, David would wait.

Often, within four hours, the manager would message again: “Actually, I figured it out. We’re going with option B because it saves us time on implementation.”

By refusing to be the “Answer Man,” David forced his team to become “Solution Owners.” He moved from being the center of the web to being the architect of the system.

Step 4: Systematizing Accountability

Accountability isn’t a lecture; it’s a structure. To scale, you need a way to track results that doesn’t involve you hovering.

  1. The Scoreboard: Does every department have one number they are responsible for?
  2. The Cadence: Do you have a regular, brief meeting where they report on that number?
  3. The System: If the number is off-track, do they have a process to diagnose why before they come to you?

When you build these systems, you are no longer managing people; you are managing the process. This is how you move from a frantic startup to a professional organization.

The Goal: Becoming the “Invisible” CEO

The ultimate sign of a successful founder-to-CEO transition is when your team handles a crisis and you only hear about it after it’s solved. This isn’t a sign that you are unnecessary; it’s a sign that you have built a masterpiece.

When you stop being the bottleneck, you gain the one thing every founder craves: Time. Time to look at the horizon, time to build the next big thing, and time to lead the company where only you can take it.

If you disappeared from your business for two weeks, would your team grow in your absence, or would they simply wait for you to return?

Relevant Articles from JordanImutan.com

From Solo Founder to CEO

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment

How to Stop Being the Bottleneck and Scale Your Startup

You know the feeling. It’s 11:45 PM on a Tuesday. Your inbox is a graveyard of “quick questions,” your Slack is a chorus of pings, and your phone is buzzing with a text from your lead developer. You are the only person who can approve the new landing page, the only one who knows the password to the payroll portal, and the only one who can sign off on a $500 marketing spend.

You started this company because you wanted freedom and impact. Instead, you’ve built a cage where you are both the prisoner and the guard.

If you’ve been searching for how to transition from founder to CEO or looking for leadership coaching for startup founders, you aren’t just looking for business advice. You’re looking for air.

The problem isn’t your product, your market, or your hustle. The problem is centralization. You have become the ultimate bottleneck.

To grow, you have to do something that feels terrifying: you have to stop being the “owner” of every task and start being the architect of a system. Here is how to move from a centralized, owner-led chaos to a structured, scalable company—without losing your mind.

The Story of Sarah and the “Everything” Trap

Let’s look at Sarah. Sarah founded a successful software startup. For the first two years, she was the hero. She coded the MVP, sold the first ten clients, and even picked out the office chairs. She prided herself on being “hands-on.”

But as her team grew to 15 people, something broke. Decisions slowed to a crawl. Her team stopped thinking for themselves because they knew Sarah would eventually “fix” or “override” whatever they did.

Sarah was exhausted. She started looking for a business scaling consultant for tech startups because she thought she needed better “processes.” In reality, she needed a shift in accountability.

The lesson Sarah had to learn—and the one we are focusing on today—is this: True leadership is not about having all the answers; it’s about ensuring the right people have the power to find them.

Step 1: The Clarity of Direction (The “Where” Not the “How”)

The first reason founders become bottlenecks is a lack of clarity. When your team doesn’t know exactly where the ship is headed, they will come to you every five minutes to ask which way to turn the rudder.

Most founders give “vague” directions: “We need to grow our user base.” That isn’t a direction; it’s a wish.

A CEO gives Clarity of Direction: “We need to acquire 5,000 new active users in the Gen Z demographic by Q4, with a maximum acquisition cost of $10 per user.”

When the goal is that clear, your marketing lead doesn’t need to ask you if they should run a TikTok ad or a LinkedIn ad. They can look at the goal and decide for themselves.

The Fix: Stop giving tasks. Start giving outcomes. If you find yourself explaining how to do a job, you haven’t defined what the success looks like clearly enough.

Step 2: Radical Delegation (Giving Up the Legos)

There is a famous concept in the startup world called “giving away your Legos.” When you’re a kid, you want to build the whole castle yourself. But if you want to build a city, you have to let other kids build the houses.

Delegation isn’t just “handing off work.” Most founders “delegate” but then hover over the person’s shoulder, effectively doing the work twice. This is micro-management, and it’s the fastest way to kill a startup’s momentum.

To delegate effectively, you must transfer authority, not just tasks.

  • Task Delegation: “Hey, can you post this photo to Instagram at 5 PM?” (You are still the owner).
  • Authority Delegation: “You are now in charge of our social media presence. Your goal is 10% engagement growth month-over-month. You have a $500 budget. Go.” (They are now the owner).

Step 3: Ownership and Accountability

This is where most “owner-led” companies fail. In a centralized company, there is only one person truly “accountable” for failure: the founder. If a project fails, the employee says, “Well, I just did what the boss told me to do.”

To move toward a corporate structure for small business, you have to push accountability down the line.

Accountability means that if a project fails, the person in charge doesn’t just feel bad—they are the ones responsible for diagnosing why and fixing it. But here’s the catch: You cannot hold someone accountable if you didn’t give them the authority to make the decisions.

If you override your sales manager’s hiring choice, you can no longer blame them if the new hire doesn’t perform. You took the “baton” back. To stop being a bottleneck, you must let your team own their wins—and their losses.

Step 4: Building the “System,” Not the “Solution”

If you are looking for leadership development for first-time founders, the most important skill you can learn is “System Thinking.”

A bottleneck owner solves problems. A CEO builds systems that solve problems.

  • The Owner’s Way: A customer complains. The founder jumps on a call, gives a discount, and fixes the issue personally.
  • The CEO’s Way: A customer complains. The CEO asks the Head of Success, “What part of our system allowed this mistake to happen, and how do we change the process so it doesn’t happen again?”

When you solve a problem personally, you fix it once. When you fix the system, you fix it forever.

The Transition: From “Doer” to “Reviewer”

The shift from a centralized startup to a professional organization is a shift in your daily schedule.

  1. Phase 1 (The Doer): 90% of your time is spent executing tasks.
  2. Phase 2 (The Manager): 50% of your time is spent telling others how to execute.
  3. Phase 3 (The CEO): 90% of your time is spent setting the vision, hiring the right people, and reviewing their progress.

If your calendar is still full of “execution” meetings, you aren’t scaling. You’re just working harder. To scale, you must become the person who asks “Who is doing this?” rather than “How do I do this?”

Why Founders Struggle to Let Go

It’s usually not about ego; it’s about fear. Founders fear that if they aren’t the center of everything, the quality will drop. And in the short term, it might! A new manager might only do a task 80% as well as you would.

But 80% of a task done by someone else is 100% better than 0% of a task that you haven’t gotten to because you’re too busy.

Plus, when you give people the room to fail, they eventually learn to do it 120% better than you ever could. They have the time to focus on that one area, whereas you are spread across twenty.

Summary: The “Anti-Bottleneck” Checklist

If you want to move from a frantic founder to a focused CEO, ask yourself these four questions every Monday morning:

  1. Clarity: Does my team know the “North Star” goal for this week, or are they just checking boxes?
  2. Delegation: Which “Lego” am I still holding onto that someone else on my team is actually better suited to build?
  3. Accountability: If a major project fails this week, is it clear who (other than me) is responsible for it?
  4. Systemization: Am I answering a question for the tenth time, or have I finally written down the answer in a manual?

Final Thoughts

The goal of a startup owner is to eventually become “optional” in the day-to-day operations. Not because you want to be lazy, but because your company can only grow as large as your ability to let go.

When you stop being the bottleneck, you stop being the ceiling for your company’s potential. You move from a person who runs a business to a person who leads an organization.

If your business was a ship and you had to step away for 30 days starting tomorrow, would it stay on course, or would it sink before you reached the shore?

Further Reading from Jordan Imutan

Super employees maintain a positive influence

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment

The Chief HR officer (CHR) role in the company is a standalone function. The position does not have anyone directly reporting to her at the central or corporate level.

However, two HR managers are looking after the human resource operations of the three companies in the group. We also have a compensation and benefits function looking after the payroll of all employees.

Even though our CHR person does not have a direct line employee reporting to her, she still manages to get her assignments done. More so, if the work requires cooperation from other functions in the company. I was discerning her a few times as she took on new tasks.

She manages to get things done through others because she positively influences the people around her. It’s her influence on others. The following set of behaviors surfaces with her.

1. Humility. She is never rude or disrespectful when dealing with others.

2: Curious. She will ask questions about her assignment regardless of how it makes her look.

3. Inclusive. She makes sure that all relevant stakeholders are part of the discussion.

4. Helpful. When she notices someone struggling with an assignment, she is quick to lend a helping hand.

These are four simple behaviors I have noticed with our CHR that provide electricity for her magnet of influence in the company. She can get things done regardless of how big or small the challenge is.

How about you? How is your influence on your workmates? How strong is your influence in your organization?

A Family Culture in the workplace

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment

Several companies claim that their employees are their most significant assets. In addition, many companies claim that they have a family culture. However, what does a company centered on family culture look like?

Let me share with you how it looks like. 

  1. These companies will do everything to avoid laying off employees during the pandemic lockdown.
  2. They physically check on their employees when a calamity strikes. Their leaders call on employees that live around the area of a catastrophe. They check up on their employees to see how they are doing.
  3. They put learning and development at the center of their plans. 
  4. They systematically identify high potential employees, future leaders and put them on a leadership development track.
  5. They hold monthly get-togethers to inform their 1,400 employees what is happening in the companies. 
  6. The individual companies hold engaging townhalls on a consistently regular basis.
  7. The leadership openly shares leadership quotes and Biblical verses.
  8. They are courageous enough to have 360-degree appraisals.
  9. They are open to new ideas regardless of what level in the organization it is coming from.
  10. Anyone may politely provide an alternate view to any leader, and it is not taken personally.
  11. They emphasize the importance of work-life balance.
  12. They help employees put their children through a scholarship program.
  13. They provide scholarship programs to key employees.
  14. The leadership is truly a group of servant leaders. 
  15. Even after their impressive growth, the leadership is still open to new ideas and ways of doing things.
  16. The leadership is not afraid to challenge the status quo.

I can keep going on, but I hope that you get the point. Family culture helped catapult this company from a 30 employee workforce to a 1,400 strong organization.

Yes, actual companies out there walk the talk when it comes to having a family culture.

I want to honor these companies for genuinely recognizing the value of their people. So here, let us celebrate a particular company I used as an example. They have a strong family culture and core values of Respect, Integrity, Service, and Excellence. So may you continue to R.I.S.E. in the coming years. God bless you!

The Quiet Power of Kindness

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment

“Don’t underestimate the power of kindness in the workplace” is another genuinely insightful study from Harvard Business Review.

The article drives the point home that everybody wants to be happy. It’s a basic human instinct. The context of the article is todays new normal. A regular ‘Thank you, Garry’ or ‘Great Job’ recognition in the hallway is no longer the norm. It now seems like a practice from a distant era.

HBR’s study explains that showing kindness brightens the recipient’s day and brings happiness to the giver. Acts of kindness bring meaning to our life because we are investing in something much bigger than ourselves. Studies show that people giving compliments get more benefit from it than the recipient of the praise.

Kindness is like a boomerang. According to HBR research, kindness is paid back. Kindness is also paid forward—an act of kindness breed kindness. I read a story about the effect of a kind gesture a few months ago.

These two friends were walking in the streets of New York, catching up on old times. As they were chatting, the person in front of them had his backpack open. The person did not realize that some of the documents had fallen off his backpack. Without missing a beat, one of the two friends picked up the pieces of paper that had fallen on the street.

They reached the guy at a pedestrian crossing. The crossing light was red. As the guy stood waiting, the two friends tapped him on the shoulder. He looked back, and he was handed his documents. After the guy thanked them, he crossed the street. A bystander, who witnessed the entire incident, walked up to the two friends. He complimented them on their act of kindness.

Let’s see who benefited from this act? The backpack guy undoubtedly felt good that someone took the time to pick up his documents. The two friends felt good that they had a good deed for the day. The witness felt good after witnessing the good deed. All of them will probably find an opportunity to perform an act of kindness in the coming days.

At work, kindness fosters collaboration and teamwork. No matter the size of the gesture, big or small, people appreciate it. It helps create psychological safety in the organization.

If kindness has such great benefits to oneself and the organization, why don’t more people act accordingly? Why do we hesitate to show kindness to others?

I observe that, at times, people feel awkward to show kindness. We are more critical in the workplace. A toxic work environment promotes a culture of individuality. We are quick to find faults in others, but we are hesitant to find a good deed. At times, we dismiss good work as part of their job, so there is no need to show a kind gesture.

Sometimes, pride gets in the way. A gesture of kindness can be seen as a weakness by traditional managers. Some find it difficult to say a kind word, especially in public. Sending a private “thank you” email would be more comfortable for them.

Leaders, let’s set an example. The world is already challenging enough. Let’s not allow pride or awkwardness to get in the way of building an environment of kindness in the workplace.

It has always been a dream of many to wake up excited to come to work. A culture of kindness can help bring us closer to that dream. Let’s do our part and start now. Show kindness to the person next to you.

Stay safe,

Jordan Imutan
jordan@imutan.com
For more articles, please visit http://www.servantleadership.com

My Origin Story on Leadership

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment

I am fortunate enough to witness several kinds of leaders through the ’80s, 90’s until today. Leaders I had the privilege to work for comes in different colors, sizes, and shapes. They come from diverse backgrounds, education, and temperament.

For over 30 years in the workforce, I have witnessed how the different leadership styles affected employee morale, productivity, and the organization’s success.

I started work during the Theory X era. Theory X states that “employees require heightened supervision, external rewards, and penalties.” A few elderly leaders would even go to the extent to say the employees are generally lazy. If their boss does not drive them, they will not work. They claim that employees only work if someone is watching over them.

It’s incredible to watch time go by and see many leaders in todays world still having that old Theory X mindset. It’s like they never moved forward with the times. In the past, most works were labor-related. In todays work, jobs require “knowledge” workers.

Stuck in the past, I call them. However, it’s not only the “seasoned” leaders that think this way. Younger Gen-X and the more experienced Gen-Y also carry the notion that employees are simply company tools. These tools will not work correctly if not closely supervised. Employees need supervisors looming over them.

From an employee’s perspective, this is a living hell. Employees are not propertly managed. Meaning they are not developed for their potentiality. They are the first to be blamed when something wrong happens, even if it was a leadership shortcoming. Employees are required to work at all times despite their struggles. Employees are not properly compensated. In the confines of meeting rooms, leaders sometimes talk about them like they are disposable commodities. In public, employees are heralded as the companies most important asset.

You will see employees waiting for the highly paid leaders to leave before they can call it a day. They fear that the bosses will think they are not busy. They will wait for an extra hour or two before heading off home and missing the chance to play with this child before bedtime. They miss tutoring their children because it was already traffic when the leaders go home in their expensive cars. The employees will have to fall in line to take the public transport going home.

They hold back on properly paying their best people. They will wait until a high-potential employee submits their resignation before offering them higher pay or better benefits. Employees put up with this simply because most of them think they do not have options.

I am not generalizing. Do not get me wrong. However, it is unfortunate that this is the situation in most companies. A great workplace should be the rule and not the exception. As Simon Sinek said, “people have the right to love coming to work.”

The sad workplace environment sparked my obsession to study great leaders I came across in my career. It is my mission to learn, apply then teach others the best leadership styles. It is why I am writing articles about great leadership. This is why I run leadership workshops.

I believe that most terrible leader is bad at leadership because they do not know better. It was something they learned or observed from previous bad leaders they had. A former manager used to say, “Monkey see, monkey do.”

Terrible leadership is like a genetic disease that is passed down from one generation to another. Of course, there are still a few genuinely evil leaders in the mix. However, most of them do not know better.

I have witnessed in so many instances employees promoted to leadership positions that are not properly equipped. Newly minted leaders are expected to “magically” morph from a great employee to a great leader. Really? Is it that simple? Come on, guys!

Almost everyone can list several excellent leadership competencies; having a clear and communicated vision, focus on their people agenda, developing direct reports, recognizing outstanding work in public, reprimanding in private, and so on. Yet, very few leaders behave this way.

I know that mentoring future leaders, educating them on leadership competencies, writing articles and books, blogging may not make much of a dent. However, I am at peace that I am trying to do my part.

I will always say that Great Leaders develop people. Great people build great organizations. Only with this can we have great workplaces. I would love to see this one day.

Stay safe,

Jordan Imutan
Visit my website for more articles www.servantleadersph.com
jordan@imutan.com (email)
@jordanimutan (social media)

How to process wrong decisions

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment

There are two types of leaders when it comes to dealing with their subordinate’s erroneous decisions. On the one hand, you have leaders quick to punish direct reports that make the wrong decision. On the other hand, there are the leaders that genuinely care for the learning of the direct report. The servant-leader is the second one.

When I worked as the head of Banking Operations a few years ago in Saudi Arabia, I made an erroneous decision. Actually, I made several but different wrong choices in my career. However, I also experienced different ways of processing by my direct manager.

Back then, I was reporting to a British direct supervisor. One of the departments reporting to me was payment processing. The responsibility included fund transfers both local and abroad. It also carried the responsibility of payroll processing for our corporate and government clients.

When I took on the new role, I was utterly dependent on my direct reports to walk me through the critical processes of their function. I depended on my manager in charge of payroll processing. 

The department was in charge of processing over 700 entities. The payroll we processed was a combination of corporate and government payroll. It was a sensitive process. We could not afford a single mistake. 

When we started offering the service, we only had about 20-30 payroll clients. The process involved the client preparing and sending a payroll file in a physical CD. The CD was delivered three days before the actual payroll run. 

As the number of clients grew, I should have questioned the manual process that the department was following. Manually processing payroll for 700 entities is different from processing 30. I had a feeling that the process might blow up one day. However, I decided to rely on the current manual process. I asked my payroll manager about the scalability of the process. He said that it still works.

One payroll day, we got a call from an angry CEO of one of the biggest companies in Saudi Arabia. He accused us of debiting his payroll fund twice. After the CEO investigated, he found out that his 18,000 employees received their payroll TWICE. Yes, twice. Everyone thought that they were given a bonus on that payroll run. We are talking about millions of Saudi Riyals in duplicate payment.

We quickly tried to resolve the issue by debiting their employees’ accounts. We can only do this with employees who had their payroll account with our bank. If the funds were already withdrawn, the system would automatically transfer any income fund to our bank account until the amount was fully recovered.

The problem was with employees with accounts from another bank. We do not have control over their system. The only thing we can do is practically beg the payment operations of the other bank to retrieve our funds.

In the end, it took us a grueling three months to recover 95% of the overdrawn funds. The bank took the hit for the 5%. We needed to pay back our corporate client.

Through this entire ordeal, my direct manager was calm. The priority is to come up with a recovery plan. As we implemented the recovery plan, he talked to me in private. We spoke calmly through the series of events. As expected, I took responsibility for what happened. I decided to trust my payroll manager and stay with the status quo. My British manager highlighted the flaws in the decision-making process and the lessons learned. We also agreed on preventive measures. The incident did not happen again.

The beauty of all this is that my manager did not look at my performance from a single event. He used the event as a learning opportunity to show me how to make better decisions. I respected him more after that incident. 

Let me compare that to another event. This friend of mine was slowly rising in his company. He was getting more assignments. However, instead of deciding to push back when the load was too much, he decided to keep accepting them. The challenge was that he was expected to excel in his additional assignments quickly. Years of experience from the previous manager must be rapidly learned in a week or two.

One day, the load was too much, and he made a mistake with two decisions. His direct manager was a very successful entrepreneur that he looked up to. My friend also wished that one day he could be like his manager. He learned a lot from his direct manager with the time he worked with him. He was ever so grateful for everything.

The decision to keep accepting new assignments was flawed. My friend should have requested a gap between appointments to have the time to assimilate the added responsibility. The resulting two erroneous decisions have stripped him of his additional responsibilities. My friend was fine witb the reduction of responsibilities. He understood his limitations. The sad part was that the fault sidelined him. He no longer has a bright future in the company. All the potentiality he previously showed does not matter anymore.

These are two different approaches to processing wrong decisions. Indeed, failure is part of success. 

If I may add, a failure correctly processed is part of success. Not only do we learn from it, but we also build others with it.

Stay safe,

Jordan Imutan
jordan@imutan.com (email)
@jordanimutan (social media)

We don’t have a monopoly of great ideas

~ jordan ~ Leave a comment
The beauty of Simon Sinek’s quotes or lessons is that deep inside; we already know most of the lessons he shares. If you watch his brief talks and read his books, you will think, “Hey, I already know this.” The value Simon brings is articulating the insight. 

This particular insight has already been at the back of my mind for a long time. Every time I witness someone trying to take credit for the companies or departments’ best ideas, I get this nagging sensation. I feel that something is off, but I cannot put my finger on it. Simon finally helped me put into words this thing that has been bothering me.

Walt Disney is a shining example of this quote. He created an environment where the best ideas would trickle upward. The leadership created an environment where no one person holds the monopoly of great ideas

If you step back and observe what a leader needs to do to set up such an environment, it’s not that complicated. The only speedbump is willingness and humility. Is the leader comfortable allowing others to come up with great ideas?

Ashley Head, the former Systems and Operations Director I used to report to, would keep quiet in all meetings he attends. He would encourage everyone to participate. Ashley would seek a quiet person in the room and ask him what he thinks. He has this knack for getting people to share. 

I asked him one day why he was so quiet in these meetings. “If I speak first, chances are, the people in the room may not put forth their ideas. It is a typical organizational dynamic. People are shy to suggest after the highest-ranking person in the room speaks.” Ashey replied. “I always recommend my leadership team to speak last in meetings. Another advantage I realized is that I get to learn from others.” he continued to say.

The lesson I learned from Ashey is quite profound. Allowing others to voice their ideas and suggestions is a powerful way of getting the best out of our team. It’s also an excellent way for leaders to learn new things. It’s a win-win situation. Ashley then joked in closing that leaders who like to dominate discussions should write a book instead of overpowering everyone from sharing their thoughts. Some leaders love the sound of their own voice.

Never attack any idea brought to the table. If you do, the person you embarrassed will no longer suggest anything again. Think about it, who wants to be shamed for presenting an idea? Unfortunately, I witnessed such events where the leader even goes further. After attacking the idea in public, he attacks the person who suggested the idea. There is never a justification for this. Everyone in the room stopped offering ideas for fear that they might be next on the hit list.

How do you create such an environment? Simple, leaders should have the humility to speak last and encourage others to speak up. That’s it.

We don’t have a monopoly of great ideas.

Stay safe,

Jordan Imutan
Visit my website for more articles www.servantleadersph.com
jordan@imutan.com (email)
@jordanimutan (social media)