85: Yasunori Takeuchi, Advisor & ex-CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Japan

After graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Law from the
University of Tokyo, Yasunori Takeuchi began his career in the
financial sector by working for 12 years with the Long-Term
Credit Bank of Japan. This was followed by positions with
Commerzbank, The Royal Bank of Scotland, ABN Amro Bank NV, WestLB
Tokyo and Credit Suisse First Boston. Mr. Yasunori joined
Standard Charted Bank Japan in 2012 as the Managing Director,
Head of Corporate & Institutional Clients and Co-Head of
Wholesale Banking, before becoming the current advisor/former CEO
of Standard Chartered Bank Japan in 2015.


When reflecting on his career Mr. Yasunori describes his role as
a team leader in Japan for European banks partly being that of a
translator or interpreter. He explains how many European banks,
like the country they originate from, have a very direct culture.
This does not always align with the Japanese culture of arriving
at decisions through consensus building via official and
unofficial methods. Mr. Yasunori states one of his leadership
roles was to try and act as a cultural translator between these
two conflicting styles.


Soon after becoming the CEO of Standard Chartered Japan, Mr.
Yasunori led the company to create a country vision document. At
first, they tried doing it amongst the leadership but quickly
realised that wouldn’t work and it needed input from across the
organisation. Mr. Yasunori explains how, apart from giving some
opening comments and instructions, he deliberately excused
himself from the process so that junior staff would feel more
comfortable sharing their ideas in an open discussion. The result
was a productive and interactive process.


In his career in leadership, Mr. Yasunori has tried to develop
positive corporate culture by breaking down the divisions within
organisations, or silos, and increase interdepartmental
interaction. He believes this can be achieved through unofficial
means such as Diversity & Inclusion events. Events like
International Women’s Day, Mental Health Day, and a charity run
that Standard Chartered has been hosting for 10 years that
encourage staff participation are all opportunities for staff to
engage within various departments.


To foreign executives coming to work in Japan, Mr. Yasunori
advises that while their core leadership style does not need to
change, they need to understand how Japanese may respond. Are you
getting silence in return? What will you do next? He also advises
patience and the ability to create an atmosphere where Japanese
feel comfortable to talk. On the topic of Japanese language
skills, Mr. Yasunori does not believe they are of vital
importance for a foreign businessperson - a useful tool but you
can certainly get by without it.