Rahman had been running palm oil mills for nearly eight years. Each day brought the same orchestra of sounds—boilers roaring, conveyors clanking, and trucks rolling in with fresh fruit bunches. But beneath the routine, he carried a deeper mission: to lead his team not just to meet production targets, but to thrive together.
When he first became a leader, Rahman thought competence meant knowing every technical detail. But soon, he realized leadership was more than machinery and numbers—it was about people. And people were far more complex than pumps, turbines, and boilers.
Over time, he devoured more than 100 books on leadership, tested ideas in the field, and learned through both failures and small victories. Out of this long journey, five frameworks shaped his style of leading inside the high-pressure world of palm oil milling.
1. Lencioni’s 5 Dysfunctions of a Team
Rahman discovered why some of his teams failed. It wasn’t because they were unskilled, but because they struggled with trust, avoided conflict, lacked commitment, evaded responsibility, and sometimes lost sight of results. Once he understood this, he began building trust first—starting with open conversations in the mill canteen, not the boardroom.
2. The PPP Framework
Every morning, his supervisors gave quick updates using PPP—Progress, Plans, and Problems. No more endless, wandering meetings. Everyone knew what was achieved yesterday, what was planned today, and what obstacles stood in the way. Boiler leaks, labour shortages, even weather delays—everything came to the surface faster.
3. Start – Stop – Continue
During project reviews, Rahman asked his engineers one simple set of questions: What should we start doing? What should we stop doing? What should we continue doing? The simplicity cut through excuses and sparked honest reflection, making his one-on-ones more powerful.
4. SBI Feedback
In the mill yard, emotions often ran high. Instead of blaming or lecturing, Rahman used the SBI method—Situation, Behavior, Impact.
“Yesterday during the boiler inspection (Situation), you ignored the safety checklist (Behavior). That delayed the restart and risked non-compliance (Impact).”
This way, his words weren’t accusations—they were reality. The crew respected that.
5. The 4P Report
Beyond progress, plans, and problems, Rahman added one more dimension: People. He always asked, “How’s the team?” He wanted to know who was tired, who was motivated, and who needed support. In a mill where shifts were long and heat unforgiving, understanding people mattered more than spreadsheets.
The Bigger Lesson
Rahman realized that leadership wasn’t about shortcuts or working faster. It was about frameworks, discipline, and soft skills—listening, empathy, clarity, and courage. These made him more effective than any technical upgrade.
In his own words:
“A leader who looks slow isn’t always incompetent. Sometimes, he’s just building the right path so that others can run faster.”
And in the relentless world of palm oil milling, that made all the difference.
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