Encore: Harry Hill Previous CEO of Shop Japan

Summary


When you lead people, you have to lead them in a way they are
going to follow. In Japan, when you teach a class, you line
people up in order of seniority and you stand in front of the
class. It seems very regimented but everyone is perfectly
comfortable because they know their role and where they are
supposed to be so that allows for performance to be maximized. In
the USA, that kind of a set up would make everyone very
uncomfortable and inclined to rebel. To make people feel
comfortable and improve performance in the USA, its better to put
everyone in a circle so there is no feeling of unnecessary
hierarchy. Now, sometimes its useful to put people in
uncomfortable situations as a way to challenge them but you need
to do it with a specific purpose in mind and that is a call you
need as a leader need to make.


A good culture is one where there is a shared sense of purpose
and values, and being very upfront about tying that purpose to
the actions you/your team are taking. You have to be consistent
about that, because especially in Japan, that is the difference
between creating a winning culture and a chaotic culture. A
shared sense of purpose, professionalism and empowerment create
sustainability, where your team can deal with the highs and lows.


In the Shop Japan Business, I looked at our call centre staff as
extensions of the customer. They understood the customer because
they spent so long speaking to them every day so they took on
characteristics of the customer．VOC stands for voice of the
customer but really it was at least 50% the voice of the
communicator (our call centre staff). It helped us turn morale
around because we actively listened and heard.  Especially
in Japan, if you show that the least empowered voice is going to
be listened to, you create a tremendous amount of morale. It also
creates innovation – if every new idea has to come from the top,
then you are in big trouble.


I always caution Western leaders unfamiliar with Japan is to not
fill up empty space. Ask a question and hold yourself back as the
silence drags and wait for an opinion. Also try to never have the
first word. Let someone else conduct the meeting and then at the
end bring things together.


While the easiest way to teach in Japan is to line everyone up,
the easiest way to run a meeting is to be overly attentive and
give everyone the opportunity to voice their opinion．Getting
buy-in from your Japanese team is really hard but when you get
that buy-in, you absolutely over-perform.


Japanese employees are looking to make a long-term emotional
commitment to where they work so they look for the same level of
commitment from their leaders. For foreign leaders on 3 – 5 year
postings, I recommend not just speaking with your inner circle.
Everyone is meaningful, so have different events where you can
show that you are caring about the voice of your employees and
avoid being too focused on one group over others, gives you a
balanced view of what is going on in the organization.


My acronym for leadership is VICES, which stands for vision,
integrity, competency, efficiency and sustained success.


Poor performance and good performance are easy to deal with. It
is mediocre performance that is more difficult to deal with.


Trust your people, let them know they are trusted but that it is
an open process where people are also accountable.


New leaders need to be patient. The leader that will make the
biggest changes is the one that listens and truly gains insight


Identify who are the biggest obstacles in your organization and
remove them immediately and publicly. This is the only way that
engagement, empathy and trust principles work.