Japan's Top Business Interviews Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan

Marco Breitfeld, Representative Director and Head of Shared Services Draeger Japan, started working in Japan in 2007 for NEC/Schott Components Corporation. He moved to Plansee Japan in 2010 as the CFO and in 2016, he joined Storopack Japan as CFO. In 2017 he joined Pitney Bowes as Senior Manager Business Operations before becoming Finance Director and Representative Director for Pieroth Japan. He took over as head of Draeger Japan in 2022. He has a Bachelor Degree in International Management from HSB Hochschule Bremen City University of Applied Sciences

In 1995 Joachim was working as a Manager in Tokyo for BASF, eventually becoming the President and Representative director of BASF Agro Japan KK in 2005. Thereafter he became President and Representative Director for Catalent Japan KK in 2010 and then in April 2015 the Country Director Japan for CPKelco. He has a degree in Chemistry from the University of York.

William Boesen is the President of the East Asiatic Company Japan. Originally from Denmark and like me, martial arts drew him to Japan to further his training and to advance his career. In 2001, with ISS he became General Manager in Japan reorganising the company here with their partner the famous Mitsui Trading company. In 2004 he became the President of Carl Hansen & son In Japan. In 2013 he became the President of the East Asiatic Company Japan. From 2006-2008 he was the Chairman of the Danish Chamber of Commerce in Japan. He has an Executive MBA from the Henley Business School and a BA from De Montfort University

Andrew Hankinson is the President of Zwilling J.A. Henckels Japan and host of the podcast Now and Zen. Originally from Seattle, Washington, Mr. Hankinson's passion for Japan grew at a young age, having been exposed to Japanese culture by family members living in the country, leading him to learn the language from high school. After briefly teaching English in Osaka, Mr. Hankinson returned to Japan with a degree in international business and Japanese language from the US. He shortly began working at a Japanese department store as a menswear buyer which he describes as an "eye-opening" experience and a "great foundation to be living and working in Japan."

Mr. Hankinson's next move was in the travel industry, where he worked for a travel publishing company as a salesperson. He explains the company to be "very flexible and very open" as they originally hired Mr. Hankinson in hopes of increasing innovation. Mr. Hankinson was quickly able to gain the trust of the organization due to achieving success early on where his suggestions led to better results for the organization. Mr. Hankinson's first official leadership role was working as country manager for a European-based office product company where he managed seven employees. He describes his work there as hands-on, especially with client facing aspects of the organization.

Currently, as head of a much larger organization, Mr. Hankinson leads about 250 employees. Mr. Hankinson says jumping into an organization that he had no previous knowledge of required lots of catching up, and building trust with the people had its challenges. To overcome this, Mr. Hankinson interviewed his staff in the Tokyo office to build rapport and connect with them at a more individual basis. In order to lead a much larger team, Mr. Hankinson is mindful of the Japanese way of thinking through group consensus. He explains: "if we do it all together…[and] if it fails, nobody's responsible." He is also conscious of fostering empowerment amongst his employees to give them a safe space to express their thoughts and encourage innovation. Mr. Hankinson also leads through other managers by delegating to ensure everybody is providing input to determine the direction of the organization. The Japanese office of the global kitchenware manufacturing company have introduced many innovative products such as Japanese kitchen knives and pots that have become popular on a global scale.

Mr. Hankinson sums up his ideals of leadership as being able to "deliver results, have good people skills, being engaged and having market intelligence,"

To newcomers leading in Japan, Mr. Hankinson advises to enjoy travelling and exploring the culture and sharing that with one's team, which is a wonderful way to connect with others on a human level. Secondly, Mr. Hankinson advises to earn some "quick wins" as a fast-track way to earn credibility and trust amongst Japanese staff when trying to implement change. Thirdly, he recommends finding the perfect balance between adapting to local culture and retaining your personal management style in order to find the best of both worlds.

Tom Reich has been working in various roles for BAE systems in America and recently in Japan. Originally he worked in the US State Department including a stint as American Consul-General in Okinawa as well as working in the US Department of Trade. He has a Masters Degree in International Relations from Georgetown University.

Ryan McGuire established Cutters Studios Tokyo in 2012. He graduated from Sophia University Tokyo in 2002 and set up the Los Angeles branch of his father's Cutters Studios business, before moving to Japan.

Ruth Jarman is the founder of Jarman International. She graduated from Tufts with a BA in International relations, studied Japanese at Nanzan University in Nagoya and joined recruit in 1988. While at Recruit she worked closely with the CEO Hiromasa Ezoe and credits him with teaching her about business. She launched Jarman International in 2012.

Robert Roche, Founder and Executive Chairman of Oak Lawn Marketing and Founder and President of Roche Enterprises originally trained as a lawyer and has become one of the most successful foreign business founders in Japan. His company, Oak Lawn Marketing found a niche opportunity to bring popular North American TV shopping products to Japan. In 1997 he took the same concept to China and established a business there. He and his partners later sold part of the TV Shopping business, rebranded to Shop Japan, to DoCoMo for one of the biggest exits ever achieved by a foreign start-up in Japan.

Mr. Amane Nakashima is the Chairman of Kewpie Corporation, the manufacture of Kewpie mayonnaise, one of the most famous food products in Japan. The firm started in Tokyo in 1919 after the founder Toichiro Nakashima returned from studying in America, where he had encountered mayonnaise for the first time. It has retained the number one spot for mayaonnaise sales in Japan since its launch in 1925, which is an amazing record. Kewpie Corporation had sales of USD$5b in 2020. Mr Nakashima graduated from Waseda University with a BA in Economics and later received an MBA from Cornell. He became Chairman in 2016.