90: Hideyuki Takahashi, Chairman, State Street Corporation

Hideyuki Takahashi is the Chairman of State Street Japan, an
American financial services and bank holding company.


 


Mr. Takahashi established his career at Nomura Securities where
he stayed for 21 years, becoming an Executive Account Manager for
retail business and eventually moving on to manage international
business. Mr. Takahashi has experience living and working
globally in places including Australia, England, Amsterdam,
Luxemburg, and Frankfurt through Nomura.


 


When in Amsterdam and Luxemburg, Mr. Takahashi built his sales
team from zero, starting from the recruiting process, hiring many
local workers. Mr. Takahashi says he made sure that he clearly
communicated there were no division in how the local and Japanese
hires were treated in his team of six people in the beginning. He
explains that the most essential aspect of building a team and
delivering results is defining the goal and planning out how it
can be achieved, as well as the reward. Mr. Takahashi says his
experience working in Australia and London enabled him to manage
the international team who tend to be more assertive than
Japanese workers.


 


As the CEO of Nomura Bank Deutschland, Mr. Takahashi led an
organization with 300 staff and was first tasked with the role of
restructuring, eliminating certain sections, and dealing with
litigation matters. Mr. Takahashi recalls this as a tough
experience, and required him to be very decisive, without any
compromise. He wishes he had been better with constantly and
clearly sharing information including his vision and direction of
the company as a leader. For example, having a town-hall meetings
in addition to communicating in smaller groups.


 


When in London, Mr. Takahashi was the European Equity Division
Head. There, he managed a team of approximately 150 people. Mr.
Takahashi initially struggled due to his English skills as his
team were mostly English speakers and found the speed of
communication to be very fast. When Mr. Takahashi arrived in New
York as the COO, and then CEO, he was now leading over 1400
people. He noticed in New York, his staff were very vocal and
quick to speak their mind. He recalls working with this team to
be “very tough but at the same time, very simple” since there was
constant clear communication and everybody was treated equally.


 


After 7 years in New York, Mr. Takahashi returned to Japan as the
Global Head of Internal Audit of Nomura Group for a year and a
half, then moved on to become Global Head of Research to
integrate Lehman Brothers’ and Nomura’s research organization.
There, he led a team of approximately 1000 people. Mr. Takahashi
explains leading a team of researcher was a challenging
experience, as they are highly intelligent and in a specialized
discipline with a clearly set career path. After his time at
Global Research, Mr. Takahashi then moved to corporate
communication with non-Japanese media for a year and a half. Mr.
Takahashi finally moved into State Street where he currently is
the Chairman.


 


On increasing workplace engagement, Mr. Takahashi advises to
clearly outline and communicate the vision and goal of the
company, as well as the benefit of each individual joining the
team. He adds the importance of clearly defining the role and
accountability of each person. In large organizations, Mr.
Takahashi points out having a strong and trustworthy middle
management team is essential. It is crucial to train these middle
management staff to make sure they understand the leader’s vision
and goals so that they can consistently communicate the same
message to the rest of the team. Giving people accountability and
letting them know what they will gain from the work they are
doing and the future prospect is also important to keep them
engaged and motivated. With Japanese people, Mr. Takahashi
explains they need to be encouraged to speak up, but once they
gain the confidence, they will be more likely to communicate
their ideas openly.


 


On advice to foreigners leading in Japan, Mr. Takahashi advises
to be mindful when recruiting people to understand that Japanese
people have a tendency to not communicate their strengths clearly
as English-speaking people. He recommends not jumping to the
conclusion that people who cannot market themselves well are
incapable and encourages seeing the real value of the more
traditional Japanese staff. Secondly, Mr. Takahashi advises to
stay committed to the job, as people will not trust managers who
leave in a short period of time. Thirdly, Mr. Takahashi advises
that in business, it is wiser to use one’s own language to
clearly communicate the message.


 


Mr. Takahashi defines leadership as a very strong conviction of
one’s own vision and the ability to communicate that with others,
as well as winning in business.