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Companies spend $140 billion a year training leaders, yet trust in leadership keeps sinking. Jimmy Burroughes has a different diagnosis: the real problem is leadership friction built into the system your managers work inside.
Jimmy spent years leading in the British Army before bringing that discipline into corporate consulting, working with organizations like Bank of America, Samsung, and Walmart. Then he burned out completely and lost his job, his relationship, and his home in quick succession. What he built afterward challenges a core assumption in leadership development, that capable managers who seem stuck simply need more coaching. What if leadership friction sits in the system around them instead?
On this episode of The Business Emergency Room, Jimmy and host Maartje van Krieken unpack the forty-three friction points his team has identified across organizations, including unclear decision rights and the hidden cost of constant task switching. They dig into why experienced managers keep escalating decisions they already know the answer to, and why adding more process usually deepens the friction.
Jimmy offers a blunt diagnostic any leader can run without hiring a consultant: ask a few people their top three priorities and listen for the pattern. The answers reveal more about leadership friction and organizational health than any engagement survey ever could.
Episode Breakdown:
00:00 Why $140 Billion in Leadership Training Isn't Working
06:18 Signs Your Organization Has a Leadership Friction Problem
10:12 The Real Root Causes of Workplace Friction
13:54 A Real-World Example of Decision Making Breakdown
20:47 Why Adding More Process Makes Friction Worse
22:47 The Hidden Cost of Multitasking and Task Switching
26:38 A Simple Way to Diagnose Leadership Friction in Any Team
Connect with Jimmy Burroughes:
Visit the JBL High Performance Website
Jimmy Burroughes is a former British Army Officer turned global leadership transformation expert and the founder of JBL High Performance. With experience leading up to 110 personnel across European and Middle East operations, Jimmy has translated the precision of military leadership into a practical methodology that Fortune 500 companies around the world rely on.
He has partnered with organisations including Bank of America, eBay, Samsung, Walmart, Fonterra, and SkyCity — designing enterprise-wide leadership programmes that have reached 1,000+ staff in single engagements across 8 countries.
Jimmy is the creator of the "Simplify to Amplify" methodology, which helps exhausted executives escape reactive, firefighting leadership and reclaim significant time, without sacrificing results. His clients consistently report reclaiming 10+ hours per week and achieving measurable performance improvements within 90 days.
He is the author of two books: Beat Burnout & Ignite Performance and Escape the Multitasking Trap, and is the host of The High Performance Leader Podcast, ranked in the Top 10% globally.
Connect with Maartje van Krieken:
Connect with Maartje on LinkedIn
Visit The Chaos Games Consulting website
Visit The Business Emergency Room website
Subscribe to The Business Emergency Room on YouTube
Subscribe to Maartje’s Substack
Host Maartje van Krieken is a crisis strategist and decision-making expert who thrives in high-stakes business environments. Combining disaster management training, hands-on experience in global industries, and leadership skills honed as a seasoned sailor, she helps businesses navigate chaos with precision. Whether tackling transformation, scaling challenges, or leadership bottlenecks, Maartje delivers actionable insights to turn turbulence into traction.
Podcast production and show notes provided by HiveCast.fm
