Leading without borders: A conversation with Jerry Blanton

When Jerry talks about marketing, you don’t hear buzzwords. You hear empathy, you hear honesty, and you hear a career that’s been anything but conventional. When Jerry Blanton started his career in Japan decades ago, remote leadership wasn’t even a concept. Today, as Chief Marketing Officer at CXC, he leads a team spread across multiple countries and time zones, several of whom he’s never met in person.

That shift is no longer unusual. For CMOs everywhere, this is fast becoming the norm: building teams without borders, managing people you can’t walk down the hall to see, and making critical decisions across screens instead of boardrooms.

Remote work may have started as a necessity. But what leaders like Jerry have figured out is that managing globally distributed teams isn’t just a logistical challenge, it’s a completely different kind of leadership.

In our first edition of “Business playbook”, we sat down with Jerry to learn how his global journey shaped his leadership style, and what current leaders need to know as remote teams become the future of work.

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The global path that prepared him for remote leadership

Jerry did not set out to become a global citizen, but his career kept pulling him across borders. He started in Japan, cutting his teeth in marketing while learning to navigate different cultures early on. From there, his path ran through Silicon Valley’s first tech boom, then to New York, and eventually to Singapore, where he’s now spent over 14 years leading international teams.

Before joining CXC as Chief Marketing Officer, Jerry held global leadership roles-built teams across Asia and Europe and even had a brief stint leading a remote-first startup. By the time he stepped into his role at CXC, managing distributed teams, many of whom he had never met in person, was no longer new territory.

As Jerry puts it: “There’s no first-week office onboarding or hallway chats. You must figure out people’s strengths and gaps entirely through a screen.”

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The realities of remote leadership

When Jerry shifted into fully remote leadership, one lesson became clear fast: things move differently when you aren’t in the same room.

“The biggest difference: Everything takes a little longer,” he says. “You lose some of that natural back-and-forth that happens when you're physically together. Brainstorms aren’t as spontaneous. Quick decisions take more coordination.”

While the “follow the sun” model sounds efficient on paper, with teams picking up work as others log off, Jerry found that reality rarely plays out so smoothly, especially in functions like marketing that rely on collaboration, nuance, and ongoing conversation.

For CEOs managing distributed teams, Jerry stresses that proactive communication is non-negotiable. He values team members who don’t wait to be asked for updates, people who send quick pings, share progress regularly, and lean toward over-communicating rather than going quiet.

“I’d rather someone check in too much than too little,” he says. “When you don’t have casual office interactions, you need to create that visibility intentionally.”

Even after years of managing across time zones, Jerry admits that certain leadership instincts still need adjusting.

You have to get comfortable making decisions with less face time, and learn to spot red flags earlier, because chasing down updates after the fact wastes valuable time.

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Traits to build high-performing remote teams

Not everyone thrives in a remote setup. For Jerry, two qualities stand out when hiring for distributed teams: communication and independence.

“People who work remotely need to communicate,” Jerry says. “I don’t mean long reports or formal updates, I mean small check-ins. Letting the team know where things stand, what’s been done, and what’s coming next.”

In a remote environment, silence isn’t neutral; it creates uncertainty. That’s why Jerry looks for people who stay visible in the work, without needing constant prompting. Quick pings, status updates, or a simple ‘this is done’ message helps the entire team stay connected and aligned.

Just as important is the ability to work independently. Without the natural structure of an office, remote employees need to manage their own pace, stay accountable, and move projects forward without waiting for someone to assign every next step.

For some people, remote work sounds appealing in theory, but not everyone is comfortable managing themselves day to day. The people who do well are the ones who don’t need a manager standing over them to get things done.

Jerry shares.

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Getting global hiring right from the start

For companies considering global teams, Jerry’s advice is clear: success starts well before the first hire. It’s about creating structure, building connection, and investing early in the cultural dynamics that shape how teams work.

“Leaders need to be intentional about building interaction points,” Jerry says. “You can’t assume people will bond just because they’re in the same Teams channel.”

That doesn’t always mean flying everyone in for offsites. Even simple virtual activities, casual team sessions, or shared rituals can create a sense of belonging across borders.

Beyond team bonding, Jerry stresses the importance of cultural awareness, something many first-time global leaders overlook.

“If you’re leading teams in India, Philippines, or South America you need to understand how people from different cultures approach authority, communication, and feedback,” he explains. “What works for American teams won’t always work globally, and if you don’t make that effort, it creates frustration on both sides.”‍

For leaders stepping into global hiring, the opportunity is enormous, but only if they’re willing to adapt how they lead. Global leadership isn’t about replicating domestic playbooks; it’s about building the capabilities to lead across borders.

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Turning leadership into global capability

What leaders like Jerry show is that global teams succeed when leadership evolves. But leadership alone isn’t enough. Behind every high-performing remote team is an entire layer of infrastructure, one most companies aren’t built to handle.

That’s where Out of Office by CXC comes in.

From cross-border hiring and payments to compliance and onboarding, we help companies turn global ambition into operational reality, without slowing down growth. So, leaders can focus on building teams, developing people, and scaling their business and not managing paperwork across time zones.

The best talent isn’t limited by borders anymore, and the companies ready to hire globally are the ones positioned to lead the future.