38: David Sweet, CEO & Founder, FocusCore

Dr. David Sweet initially worked in the US Treasury Department in
labor relations and organizational development for 10 years
before moving to Japan. He has been working in executive search,
having worked in en world Japan and serving as Director of the
Tokyo consultancy Wall Street Associates, Dr. Sweet is currently
the CEO and founder of FocusCore, a recruitment company focused
on mid to executive level search for small to medium sized
businesses. He is also the author of Sweet Sales, Sweet Success
and host of the podcast series, Barefoot Lunch. 


 


One of the biggest leadership challenges Dr. Sweet faced was
encouraging open communication and having his diverse team of
people from various backgrounds all work together in the same
direction. He found that having open forums enabled people to
express ideas without fear as well as having offsite training and
team building opportunities. Delegation and trust are also key
factors, especially when the team grows to over 30 and it becomes
important for mid-level management to take on more leadership.
Dr. Sweet adds: “you need to really care about their wellbeing
and follow up.” By doing so, he notes that the managers overtime
learn to manage through outcomes instead of micro-managing, Dr.
Sweet mentions the need to adapt to the Japanese style of
communication, which is “high context,” and the importance of
nemawashi before finalizing a decision. He adds, “[decisions are
made] a little slower oftentimes, but I think there's a lot more
buy-in and less mistakes along the way.” Dr. Sweet also notes the
long-term trust and relationship building component of Japanese
business that drives workers to always maintain a high standard
of product and service quality. This strong sense of customer
service and emphasis on softer communication skills such as
listening to the buyers needs was something Dr. Sweet brought
back to the US when he returned to run a sales training company.


 


Dr. Sweet believes that employee development is crucial in
leading and keeping engagement high. For new recruits, FocusCore
has a six month training program and for staff, there are weekly
training opportunities. Dr. Sweet also encourages people to run
projects. He finds that employees who take the training usually
increases their performance and improves their time management.
On Friday nights his team are free to join a zoom call to hold
casual conversations where people exchange ideas in a more
relaxed environment. In order to bring those ideas to
realization, Dr. Sweet keeps track and follows up with people. He
does however recognize that not 100% will be implemented.


 


On building trust with the team, Dr. Sweet emphasizes the
importance of listening. Some tips he uses include, asking a
question and counting to 10 to let the other have time to give a
thoughtful response. Dr. Sweet also asks the question “what
else?”to dig deeper into the answers to get to the heart of what
really matters to his team. He also says using different
management styles for different people is essential, whether it
is micromanagement, coaching, giving public praise, or holding
one-on-one meetings depending on what is best suitable for the
particular employee.


 


Dr. Sweet advises newcomers to Japan to recognize 85% of
leadership done in Japan is the same elsewhere, but be aware of
the 15% that is different, learn it quickly. Dr. Sweet also
points out the importance of forming good relations with 1 or 2
key players of a company who are the main drivers of the
organization. He recommends going out for drinks and dinner with
the team to build further trust, as it is an important part of
Japanese culture.