Koji Endo's approach to leadership in Japan offers valuable insights into navigating the complexities of running a business in a culturally rich and nuanced environment. As the third-generation leader of the Kai Group, Endo inherited a legacy steeped in tradition and innovation. He took over the presidency at 33, following the sudden passing of his…

Presenters get this wrong. Avoid creating a barrier between yourself and the audience. Presenters are often elevated on a stage or positioned at the front of the room, surrounded by podiums, slides, lighting, and microphones, all of which can inadvertently distance them from their audience. In Japan, standing above a seated audience requires an apo…

In business we live in the world of shallow statements of opinion. Imagine there is a topic for discussion amongst the leadership team. People will let fly with their thoughts and this becomes the basis for decision making, based on people’s statements on the matter. Usually everyone is pretty busy, so the drill is to listen to what was said and th…

Generally speaking, we mainly have failures of follow up in B2B sales. The conduct of the sale’s meeting is normally done professionally. Perhaps the salesperson could have asked better questions or presented the application of the benefits of the solution better. Maybe they could have dealt more professionally with objections or closed the deal mo…

A request came to me recently asking me to speak to an audience. So my first question was, “what would you like me to speak about?”. The answer was fairly broad. Actually, that is good and bad. Good, because there is plenty of scope to tackle various subjects, but bad because it is rather vague and obtuse. Where to start? I absolutely won’t be sear…

Previously, Corrine was the Chief Distribution and Chief Claims Officer AXA XL APAC Europe and XL Insurance Company SE, Head of Claims XL Insurance company SE & AXA XL Business Unit APAC Europe, Head of Global Claims Operations, Global Chief Claims Officer, CEO Protexia France, Allianz France. She graduated in engineering from Ecole nationale des p…

Salespeople often hope for straightforward buyers who buy without hesitation. However, reality is rarely so simple, and objections are actually critical to the sales process. When buyers hesitate, it signals interest, as it means they are considering potential issues. If buyers show no interest and raise no questions, that’s a warning sign—they’re …

Kokorogamae is one of those Japanese concepts which are a bit tricky to translate. Kokoro by itself as a word has a wide variety of meanings – mind, spirit, mentality, idea, thought, heart, feeling, sincerity, intention, will, true meaning, etc. It is a radical in the Japanese kanji ideographic script and so appears in a large number of compound wo…

Most of the time in Japan, I attend client meetings alone. This is not how the Japanese do it. The President going to a meeting alone, without some staff in attendance is rather rare. Presidents have degrees of prestige and one of the indicators is how many flunkies they have in attendance. My ego is big enough already to have to worry about people…

You see it. The presenter publicly self-immolates. They might butcher the start, get lost in the weeds of their content or be put to the sword at the end in the Q&A. They can’t engage with their audience, are incoherent and quivering the whole time. It is a train wreck on display. Reputations and credibility are flayed alive. Here is the irony – th…

Previously Irina was Amway Russia Chairman of Liquidation Committee, Managing Director Russia, Ukraine and Central Asia, Vice-President Sales and Operations Russia, Director of Sales and Marketing Oriflame Kazakhstan, Supervisor Reporting Philip Morris Kazakhstan. She has an MBA from the University of Manchester Business School, and a Ph.D. from Ba…

Is speed expensive? Constant hustling can lead to large and small errors of judgment. We get so caught up in living 24/7 lifestyles that we start missing big pieces of the success puzzle. People are the key to most businesses, but look at how we treat them. We hit the panic button on a piece of work and make everyone jump through hoops to make sure…

Leaders are now leading invisible people. Their staff are no longer in sight or at best are only visible in person a couple of days a week. What are their people doing at home? How are they spending their time, how motivated are they, how engaged? Being in the office brings a certain level of discipline with it. You can see if people are goofing of…

We often hear that people buy on emotion and justify with logic. The strange thing is where is this emotion coming from? Most Japanese salespeople speak in a very dry, grey, logical fashion expecting to convince the buyer to hand over their dough. I am a salesperson but as the President of my company, also a buyer of goods and services. I have been…

I have the opportunity to give a number of presentations each year. I video them as well, so I can study where I can improve them further. What I find very interesting though, is that I am a poor model in some ways for others, who don’t have that chance to present publically so often. I was teaching some presentation skills classes recently and the…

Aytekin previously was Greater Turkey Cluster General Manager, Turkey Country Manager, CFO Turkey, Sales Controlling Group Manager Paris Groupe Danone, Project Manager, Sabanchi Holding Danone JV. He has a BA Business Administration from Bogazici University and MA Finance & Accounting from Marmara University. Summary Aytekin Yildiz, APAC Cluster CE…

Joe Hart, Global President Dale Carnegie & Associates Previously Joe was President Asset Health, President at Info Ally, Development Director Taubman, and as a lawyer, Associate at Dawda, Mann, Mulcahy & Sadler, Associate at Clark, Klein & Beaumont. He has a BA from the University of Michigan and a JD from the Wayne State University Law School. He …

The beauty, weight loss, fashion, and entertainment industries project fantasies of success, often leaving people feeling inadequate. Comparing ourselves to wealthy actors, sports stars, or CEOs can amplify dissatisfaction with our own lives, making us wish we’d been born with better resources, opportunities, or advantages. However, dwelling on the…

Staffing is a subject that gets a lot of attention from those within and without the organisation. Those outside see staff movements as a bellwether of how the company is travelling. High turnover indicates disruption and uncertainty about the future. Rapid high turnover indicates real trouble within the ranks. When executives arrive in Japan, they…

Japan loves the Devil they know over the Angel they don’t know. Change here is hard to achieve in any field, because of the inbuilt fear of mistakes and failure. This country takes risk aversion to the highest heights in business. There are no rewards for salaried employees to take risk. There are massive career downsides though, if things go wrong…

Bonseki is a Japanese art creating miniature landscapes, on a black tray using white sand, pebbles and small rocks. They are exquisite but temporary. The bonseki can’t be preserved and are an original, throw away art form. Speaking to audiences is like that, temporary. Once we down tools and go home, that is the end of it. Our reach can be transien…

Previously Miyoko was Tiffany’s Vice-President Global Sales, International Operations, Vice-President Japan Division, Director - International Japan, Account Associate, Coordinator Ala Moana Store, Coordinator/Manager Global Trade Business. Summary: Key Points on Leading in Japan Miyoko Demey, former President of Tiffany Japan, shares valuable insi…

"The good is the enemy of the great" reminds us that competent speakers often fall short of their full potential, delivering presentations that are solid but forgettable. Many presenters lack that extra energy—the metaphorical "ten degrees of heat"—needed to elevate their talk from adequate to impactful. An intelligent, prepared presenter can cover…

The usual advice is to get off the tools and concentrate on being the leader and focus your energies getting leverage from the team who work for you. This makes a lot of sense because as the leader we are supremely busy these days and the pace of business in only speeding up and growing more complex. It also depends on how big your company is. When…

I have been in sales since 1988, with a slow, then fast migration of skills. I started my own small one-man consultancy in 1988 in Brisbane to assist businesses wanting to create revenues with Japan. I moved into commercial real estate in 1989, then into market entry in 1992, retail banking in 2003 and then selling soft skills training in 2010. I b…

Think about the business presentations you have attended over the years. How many speakers were really engaging you during their talk. How many speakers can you even recall? One of the problems is that most business presentations are the “inform” type and are downloads of a whole bunch of data about the topic they are covering. Numbers don’t have t…

Previously Johhny was Vice-President and Corporate Officer Softbank Corp (mobile) Entrepreneur AgiTech Company, Trade/Investor Multiple Global Brokers and Hedge Fund. He was educated at the University of California, Berkeley. Summary Here are the key leadership principles and actions to follow, based on JohnnyYoo’s insights from his experience at W…

Hearing “no” isn’t easy, especially in sales. It’s a rejection we often react to emotionally, pushing harder in hopes of reversing the answer. However, immediately countering objections is usually ineffective, as this response is driven more by impulse than by strategy. A better approach is to use a “cushion”—a neutral statement that buys a few sec…

Large organisations have many willing hands. Often, the quality of the people employed is very high, and the firm has the deep pockets sufficient to attract and retain them. Leading smaller firms is more challenging. There is a large degree of multi-tasking going on, as the workload gets spread across the troops. Everyone is busy, busy, busy and th…

Storytelling is usually associated with novels of hundreds of pages, movies lasting two to three hours, television drama series fifty minutes long per episode. In sales in Japan we get a mini window to the buyer that, hopefully, in the first meeting will last an hour. During the second meeting, to present the solution, we will also get around the h…

At different times, I have done both formal and informal one-on-one coaching for people who want to improve their presentations skills in Japan. Most people can understand the concepts of voice modulation, gesture usage, posture, movement on stage, energy projection, design elements, slide deck build rules, rehearsal importance, etc. The one area w…

Previously Emmanuel was the Representative Director for Camso (Michelin Japan and Korea), General Manager European Project Sumitomo Riko, Business Development Director Japan and Korea EFI Automotive, Customer Service Manager PPG Industries, Marketing and sales Michelin, Market Research Staubli. He has an MBA in International Management and Japanese…

Visionary leaders are often seen as motivators and guides, but to lead effectively, they must first have a clear vision for themselves. Many people offer sound advice to others while neglecting to apply it in their own lives, which can undermine their credibility as leaders. To be a visionary, one must back their vision with specific goals. Living …

Teams don’t build themselves. They are delicate, fragile and unstable. They need constant care and attention from the leader. Despite the sexiness, a team of stars is not what we want either. They will always lose to a star team, a united front of uncompromising commitment to each other and to winning. Here are some things to think about when build…

Bosses love hunters. They beat the bushes and find new clients for the business. Usually, they love the thrill of the hunt and wrestling the buyer down to do the deal. CRM systems, paperwork, boring follow-up detail—not so much. This is the preserve of the farmer. That person you can entrust the client to, knowing that they will be well taken care …

Recently, I was asked to coach the President of a 100,000 person company with a long history for his presentation. What I noticed was how difficult it was to do a good job of promoting the firm, without it sounding like a blatant commercial for the business. Many of us in business are asked to give public presentations and these are excellent oppor…

Ross Rowbury, Previous President of Edelman Japan, celebrated his 40th anniversary since first arriving in Japan as a Rotary Youth Exchange student. Mr. Rowbury began his career in the finance sector in banking and securities before moving on to PR roles specializing in finances. With several years of leadership experience in foreign financial firm…

The saying goes that there are "lies, damn lies, and statistics," and in the world of presenting, an often misquoted statistic claims that 55% of audience impressions are based on appearance. While this stems from Professor Mehrabian's research at UCLA, it's crucial to understand the context: this percentage applies when the content and delivery of…

When I first got to Tokyo in 1979, there was a very well established corporate educational system in Japan. Unlike Universities in Australia where you studied a subject and expected to work in a closely related field, Japan was concentrating on producing generalists. It didn’t matter what you had studied at University, because the company would edu…

I received this note following my attendance at a networking event run by one of the foreign Chambers of Commerce here in Tokyo. “Dear Greg Story , I hope this message finds you well. It was a pleasure meeting you, and I truly enjoyed our conversation and the valuable insights you shared. Please feel free to reach out if there is anything I can ass…

Seamless Slides and Stellar Delivery. Unlocking AI’s Potential in Presentations In Japan Something I had never heard of before called “Steampunk” popped up in my TikTok feed. Now I write a daily blog published on YouTube, LinkedIn, Facebook and X, called “Fare Bella Figura: Make a Good Impression, Be A Sharp Dressed Man” on the subject of classic m…

Jeremy Sampson, Managing Director of Robert Walters Japan, originally started his career at Hilton Hotel in Australia, before moving to Japan to teach English. He joined Robert Walters as an Associate in 2005. In 2008, Mr. Sampson became the team manager specializing in manufacturing and heavy industries, coinciding with the Global Financial Crisis…

Salespeople often fall into a rhythm of easing off as the year-end approaches, especially in Japan, where the fiscal year ends in March. This period, leading up to the holiday break, can see a decline in productivity that equates to 8% of the year. To maximize sales, it’s essential to maintain focus and activity through December. One effective stra…

The blow torch has never been applied more ferociously to how leaders lead than what we see today. Once upon a time, there were resumes pilling up to consider who we would hire. We had the whip hand, and the applicants felt the lash. Now the roles have been reversed and the applicants are interviewing us, rather than the other way around. I have do…

“Thank you for submitting your proposal for our capability development project. We appreciate the time and effort your team invested in preparing the proposal. After careful consideration, we have decided to proceed with another vendor whose proposal more closely aligns with our current needs and strategic direction. This decision was not easy, giv…

We see a lot written about public speaking and presenting. Usually it is on the assumption we are the sole speaker or one of a line-up of speakers who wow the audience one after another. Interestingly, a lot of speakers I see these days are often members of expert panels, herded together by the MC and taken through the key points of the topic. I al…

Once you walk the talk over a given period of time as a leader, you gain trust, and then people will follow you, instead of just doing what you say. Then you start getting buy-in and ideas and you can work cross-functionally. On engagement surveys, if you are giving a very low score, then you should not be coming into the office. If you are not goi…

Leaders often rely on “automatic trust,” stemming from their authority, to gain compliance from team members. However, achieving genuine, “earned trust” is crucial for fostering motivation and commitment within a team. Unlike automatic trust, earned trust develops through consistent, authentic interactions where leaders show integrity in both “talk…

We recently completed an in-house Leadership Training for Managers programme for a local Japanese firm. The President founded the firm as a spin-out from a well-established international accounting company many years ago and has successfully grown the organisation. He is now considering succession planning and aims to develop his senior leadership …

n the West, we often emphasise that inaction doesn’t necessarily mean safety for the buyer, and there is a real cost to taking no action. We talk about the “opportunity cost” of doing nothing. A buyer’s competitors aren’t stagnant; they’re actively seeking new advantages with something better or more advanced. The market is never still either, as i…