I have the distinct pleasure of having the President and CEO of FFI Systems, Benjamin Huntsman, as a guest on this episode. Ben uses his and his family's challenges along with their life's changes to highlight various aspects of servant leadership in multigenerational, multicultural, and familial settings. All throughout the episode the servant leadership characteristic of awareness is used to frame and pull in other insights encouraging new servant leader practices from these lessons. Ben reminds everyone that change is a good thing and that complacency is not. There is insight in this episode that will awaken and disturb all who come with a servant leader awareness in a way that prepares them to become an even better leader who is more prepared to think deeply about how to engage with people they encounter.

Prior to starting FFI Systems, Benjamin Huntsman was the Global Business Director for the Houjyouji Group where he lead a team of Contract/Program Mangers in managing contracts with the US Government throughout Japan with value over $500 million. Ben was also the owner of Family Fun Immersion where he taught programming and other IT related topics, as well as, LEGO robotics in the evenings and on weekends while working on his own projects.

Ben was a professor at Fukuyama University where he taught technical English to Engineering, Computer Science, and Medial students. Ben was a senior language analyst in the United States Air Force and has language skills in Arabic, English, and Japanese. Ben is married to Akari, they have 11 children, and live in Fukuyama, Hiroshima, Japan.

Resources:

Ben Huntsman - FFI Systems (Japanese)

https://ffi-systems.com/

Larry Spears - Ten Characteristics of a Servant-Leader

https://www.spearscenter.org/46-uncategorised/136-ten-characteristics-of-servant-leadership

Larry Spears & Michele Lawrence - Practice Servant-Leadership: Succeeding Through Trust, Bravery, and Forgiveness

Practicing Servant-Leadership: Succeeding Through Trust, Bravery, and Forgiveness