51: Seth Sulkin, CEO, Pacifica Capital, Pacifica Hotels, Food-e

Seth Sulkin takes us through his journey in Japan from working as
a journalist to a civil servant to becoming the leader of three
organizations - Pacific Air Capital, Pacific Hotels, and most
recently, Food-e. Mr. Sulkin first arrived in Japan in 1987 while
working for Wall Street Journal and experienced the economic
bubble which he recalls as “an incredible time living in Tokyo
[and] a rare experience that only happens every 1000 years.”
Having worked as a journalist in New York, London and Tokyo, Mr.
Sulkin decided to change his career path and enrolled in graduate
school at Stanford University. There, he studied Japanese
political economy, specifically on how Japan uses aid, trade and
investment to promote economic development in Southeast Asia.
After graduation, he worked for Japan Development Institute to
build infrastructures all over the word including Vietnam,
Thailand, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Russia and Poland as a Project
Manager. Mr. Sulkin then worked for the Clinton Administration
working on defence policy related to Japan. Mr. Sulkin decided
that working in business and being his own boss was a better fit
and started building his own development company, first based in
the US with a focus on opening department stores and shopping
centres in Japan.


 


In Japan, Mr. Sulkin started with a team of 10-15 people working
with large Japanese partners who wanted to build US style
shopping centres. He first developed his network based on the
relationships he had established while being in Japan for nearly
10 years. Mr. Sulkin continued to expand his network through
introductions, which increased his credibility and ability to
build trusting business partnerships. Mr. Sulkin believes that as
a small organization, his company was able to bring the overseas
real estate expertise the Japanese companies needed at that time,
which would have been difficult for larger corporations to
provide. He adds: “there aren't that many Japanese who can easily
fit into the business world in the US [and] easily send people
overseas, figure out [and] learn what they need to and bring that
technology back to Japan.”


 


On hiring his staff, Mr. Sulkin says he always finds quirky
talented people by selling them on the vision of his company as
well as providing good work life balance with a competitive
salary. He says the advantage of being a foreign company is that
he is able to hire people who do not fit the traditional Japanese
environment or are not given equal opportunities, such as women.
Mr. Sulkin has been successful in hiring good managers and leaves
the management of the staff to them, as he does not micromanage
and instead focuses on key issues where he can add most value. In
order to maintain high accountability and trust, Mr. Sulkin
follows a ringi system to a certain extent to enable him to
delegate day to day decision making to other. Mr. Sulkin also
emphasizes the importance of horenso - report, communication and
consulting. He explains to his new staff that maintaining an open
communication style is critical and this means admitting mistakes
honestly before it gets out of control.


 


To maintain high engagement, Mr. Sulkin is in constant
communication with various offices in-person, over the phone and
online. He has come to realize during his leadership career that
his staff appreciate a good work life balance and freedom at work
as well as in their personal lives. Mr. Sulkin encourages people
to take time off as well, as he believes this increases work
engagement and the well-being of his team. Additionally, during
the global financial crises, the 2011 Earthquake and now COVID,
Mr. Sulkin has never laid any of his staff off, which is his way
of maintaining trust and engagement.


 


When speaking to many hotel and restaurant owners, Mr. Sulkin
discovered they were hesitant to join the online delivery service
business because they were not satisfied with the cost and
quality of the service. In order to meet these demands, Mr.
Sulkin has started a new gourmet restaurant delivery app company
called Food-e. With many restaurants struggling to keep their
business afloat, Mr. Sulkin has had over 90% prospective
restaurants join his delivery service which promises professional
delivery of gourmet meals through an app.


 


On leading in Japan, Mr. Sulkin thinks it is important for
international leaders to speak out and express their opinions
with suggestions on improvements.


On his advice to newcomers, Mr. Sulkin advises to study about
Japanese business as much as possible, and if on a short
assignment, to hire a good translator and assistant who
understands the Japanese business culture. Moreover, he advises
to meet people both during one’s personal and professional time.
Lastly, he advises to have an open dialogue with one’s team and
specifically ask for their ideas. Mr. Sulkin says: “[in doing so]
I think you'll have a much richer experience and you'll learn a
lot more and you'll contribute much more [to Japan].”