Seiichiro Asakawa, Previous President Tokyo Chemical Industries

As a leader, I learned to not compete on things I did not have
expertise in. I had a financial background, not a technical
background, so there was no use trying to convince technically
strong employees on that front – I had to use financial data as
facts in order to convince my employees to accept that things
needed to change in order to grow on the global scale that I
wanted.


While I accept there are differences in practices between
cultures, I think the basics of people are the same. People are
motivated to learn, to grow, to advance. Young people
particularly, regardless of culture, are willing to challenge
themselves and are not afraid to try and even fail.


We invested heavily in the company computer systems so that all
staff can, at the touch of a button, contact any other member of
our overseas team. So, apart from being conscious of time
differences, there is no excuse for a lack of communication. We
communicate, even at the Japanese headquarters, mainly in English
and what I encourage the most is everyone just having a go, it
can be horrible English with just a bunch of words together but
there will always be someone in the meeting who can translate so
it is vital that people gets a chance and just tries. Bit by bit,
they will realise no one`s English in the company is perfect and
that just trying to communicate is the key.


We never fire people for making a mistake, even if it is a big
one because they tried, so they are not penalized and in fact we
set up challenge systems within the company to recognize
employees globally who met the challenge, made the contribution
and tried.


We also bring managers to Japan and take Japanese managers to our
other offices in India and China and Europe etc, so as many
people as possible, can see first-hand how our business operates
in different cultures. It is expensive to do this, but I see it
as an investment in my people, in team building and in my
company.


I think while money is important to people, they have bills to
pay after all, but recognition in so far as being trusted to take
on certain roles and responsibilities is a bigger motivating
factor in my company.


When I took over the company, and instigated the global
expansion, I had to be very precise and transparent about my
messages. I would send the messages in English and Japanese to
the employees about where we were and where we wanted to go. I
would outline the broad plan and then ask different groups into
meetings to plan, plan, plan – down to the detailed plans. This
was how I built ownership from the employees into the global
plan, and changed the company culture from a One-King culture,
top-down strong leadership style that my father used, to a style
that was more suited to me and what I had learnt in the US


I think a problem in Japan is we ask people to choose a
specialization at far too early an age. For example, once you go
down a science path, you do not learn management or business
skills, so we end up with highly skilled workers but only in
their particular field, and that puts us at a competitive
disadvantage because in many other Western countries, even if you
major in science, you still get a liberal arts education, which
basically teaches you the leadership and communication skills you
need anyway.


In Japan, a well-mannered conversation is based on listening, to
fully understand and make an in-depth comment. Feedback is only
considered appropriate at work, feedback to people at your own
level is considered aggressive. You need to be very careful
giving feedback to Japanese people, listen carefully to what they
are trying to do and the reasons they are doing that.


Personal relationships are key in Japan. Japanese have
hospitality in their DNA, so show some interest in the culture
and people will be more likely to engage with you. It helps build
trust.