40: Timothy Langley, CEO, Langley Esquire

Timothy Langley has been in Japan for over 40 years and has an
intriguing career in American and Japanese public affairs. Mr.
Langley originally grew up in Okinawa where his father’s military
post was stationed. After graduating from the University of
Georgia, Mr. Langley taught English and played for the Santa
Monica Rugby Club. He set his path to become a lawyer through the
Monbusho scholarship and attended Tohoku University to study law
but was rejected from taking the bar exam as a foreigner since it
had “never been done.” Unable to sit for the bar, Mr. Langley
landed a job at the Japanese National Parliament after writing to
a prominent Japanese politician and sending his resumes. Since
this was the first time a foreigner was working inside the
Japanese government, Mr. Langley was featured in the media within
and outside of Japan including the American CBS show, 60 minutes.


 


Mr. Langley eventually became an official lawyer after completing
a law program at Georgetown. After working in Atlanta for a few
years at a law firm, Mr. Langley was hired as an attorney for a
manufacturing company in Kyoto to deal with a trade issue they
were facing with the US government. Mr. Langley calls this
experience working for a traditional Japanese company to be “a
valuable experience in seeing how the Japanese work…how decisions
are being made.” He also notes the difference in leadership that
he observed: “basically since it's a Japanese company, you're
going to be there until you die. So that leadership and that
aspiration that you might have to be a leader is applied very
differently than it might be in a competitive environment, such
as in the United States…and [Japanese] people [are] very risk
averse as, as people know. And they're punctual, they get the job
done, but they follow the manual.


 


Mr. Langley then became the representative for the Commonwealth
of Kentucky in Japan where he served for two years and gained
some early leadership experience managing several staff. He then
became General Counsel for Apple for four years where Mr. Langley
essentially established the legal division from scratch. Since
Apple was a growing company at the time, Mr. Langley recalls many
challenges, including hiring the right staff and gaining
commitment. Mr. Langley then transitioned into Amway for a brief
period, before returning to Denver, Colorado with his family to
start a law firm. He was not away from Japan for too long after
being approached by General Motors to become their General
Counsel and Director of Government Affairs in Asia although his
term was cut short due to the 9-11 attacks.


 


But this time, Mr. Langley was committed to staying in Japan.
Realizing his value add as General Counsel, having represented
global companies like General Motors and Apple, Mr. Langley
started Langley Esquire, a public affairs consultancy where he is
the President and Representative Director. He describes his
earlier challenges on recruitment, including convincing his sons
to join the organization. Mr. Langley also highlights the
importance of building trust and avoiding a breach of trust to
maintain good relations, which he calls “an asset that can be
transitioned from generation to generation.”


 


To new leaders coming to Japan, Mr. Langley advises to have
language familiarity, carefully observe others and ask questions
to pick up on social cues that will help with decision-making. He
adds that holding back and pausing in conversations is also a
great way to communicate, claiming that in Japan, the “things
that are being left unsaid carry as much weight as what [people]
are verbally saying.”