IAM2882 – The Power of Using Team Collaboration to Build True Progress and Help Others Thrive

The Trap of the Title Filter

A pervasive pitfall for scaling companies is letting formal hierarchy dictate whose perspective is allowed to steer the corporate ship. While corporate structures are necessary for organization, they can easily turn into rigid filters that bury brilliant, disruptive breakthroughs beneath layers of middle management. In this episode, drawing vital insights from Jillian, CEO and co-founder of Virtual Health Partners on episode 77 of the I AM CEO podcast, we break down why the best ideas don’t always come from the top—and how to use your team to build innovation and help others grow.

The Human Pillar: Decentralizing Ownership on the Frontlines

True execution within the Human Pillar proves that professionals perform at a completely different altitude when they know their unique contribution actually impacts the corporate roadmap. The reality of organizational growth is that the individuals with the lowest titles are frequently the ones sitting closest to the actual customer, directly managing everyday process friction, and spotting institutional blind spots that senior leadership overlooked years ago.

By intentionally pulling junior employees directly into high-level product development and strategy conversations, you dismantle the stale status quo and inspire your workforce to genuinely think like invested owners.

The Executive Responsibility to Listen

The core takeaway for any CEO is anchoring your leadership in the profound truth that everyone puts their pants on one leg at a time. Being an executive is a deep fiscal and cultural responsibility to your partners, investors, and team members alike. This responsibility demands creating a transparent ecosystem where useful ideas possess a clear, structured path to be heard without drowning in corporate red tape. This isn't a regulatory pass to haphazardly deploy every single casual suggestion—which would be operationally catastrophic—but rather a strategic mandate to value perspective over superficial rank.

Ask yourself this defining question: “Who is currently inside your business witnessing a critical bottleneck, but stays silent because they feel they lack the permission to speak up?”. Inviting the hidden voices of your workforce into the conversation is the ultimate lever required to unlock your next operational breakthrough and drive sustainable scale.

Previous episode: https://iamceo.co/iam2881-use-your-story-to-build-visibility-and-help-others-grow/

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Transcription:

Gresham Harkless 00:00
The person with the smallest title may still have that idea that completely changes the business, but if the culture teaches them that their voice doesn't matter, the company may never actually hear it. That's what actually stood out to me in episode number 77 of the I Am CEO podcast with Jillian. She's a CEO co founder of Virtual Health Partners. BHP is basically a resource based virtual wellness platform providing nutrition appointments, fitness classes and lifestyle support through a team of wellness specialists.

If you're building something meaningful, you're in the right place. This is the I Am CEO Podcast. I'm gresh, and for over a decade I've had the honor and the privilege of Learning directly from CEOs, entrepreneurs and business owners just like you on how to build. After recording more than 1600 episodes, one thing has become clear. Success isn't about following someone else's blueprint. And as I like to say on the show, if you run your own race, you can't lose, even when you feel the journey should be a straight and linear path. What I've come to find out is success is a lot more like a plate of spaghetti. So in this special segment and episode, I'm starting to curate and share some CEO hacks and CEO nuggets that I've been dying to share. Drawn from thousands of episodes with phenomenal guests that have provided awesome value on the show, but also my 10 years of business experience as well too. These lessons are designed to strengthen the foundational principles that every business is built on and guided by a simple equation that we always go back to with our content. Visibility plus resources times connections equals success. This is practical wisdom you can apply almost immediately, so be sure to check out the show notes for more resources and next steps on how to level up. And of course, enjoy this special episode of the I Am CEO Podcast.

Gresham Harkless 01:51
The person with the smallest title may still have that idea that completely changes the business, but if the culture teaches them that their voice doesn't matter, the company may never actually hear it. That's what actually stood out to me in episode number 77 of the I Am CEO podcast with Jillian. She's a CEO co founder of Virtual Health Partners. BHP is basically a results based virtual wellness platform providing nutrition appointments, fitness classes and lifestyle support through a team of wellness specialists. But here's the idea that I ran with and it came from advice from Jillian and she actually received it from her father. Everyone puts their pants on one leg at a time. What does this mean? It means that titles matter for structure, but they shouldn't determine whose ideas are allowed to be in the room. Jillian talked a lot around treating everyone on the team equally and bringing junior employees into conversations with senior executive leadership when they have something valuable to contribute. She wants people involved in product development and wants them to feel some level of ownership in what the company is building. And that is an absolutely huge lesson for Borders. In the early stages, founders are often close to every single decision. As the business grows, hierarchy starts forming naturally. But hierarchy can quietly become a filter that blocks useful information from getting higher up. But frankly, throughout the team as well. And here's what happens. The person that's closest to the customer may not be the person with the highest title. The person who notices friction in the process may not be sitting in the leadership meeting. The newest employee may see something that experienced team members stopped noticing years ago. Or frankly, they might have said, this is just the way that it is and the way that it goes, and take it as the status quo and how processes and things flow. This connects very strongly to the human pillar and the idea that people perform differently when they believe their contribution matters. Jillian also talked during the interview about how being a CEO is a responsibility. Customers, employees, investors, partners, and even customers those partners serve. That responsibility includes creating an environment where good ideas can arise instead of being buried beneath statuses. Here's a nugget that I carry with is to structure the company by role, but don't rank the people of rank. The value of people's perspective only by title. Now, that doesn't necessarily mean you're creating a culture where every single idea is the best thing, every single idea is right, is correct, and you need to lean into it. That in and of itself can be very catastrophic. It means every useful idea should have a path to be heard, though, and there should be a culture within the organization to allow that to ultimately happen. Here's something we're thinking about a little bit. Who is in your business and sees something important, but may not believe they have the permission to say it? Because sometimes the next breakthrough isn't waiting in another strategy session. It's actually sitting inside someone who hasn't been invited into the conversation. If you're building a team and want people to think like owners, this conversation with Jillian is a strong perspective for you to consider and definitely for you to dive into.