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

Born and educated in France, Malik Roumane details his journey to Japan, revisiting his experiences at Saint-Gobain, Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpels, Carrera y Carrera, Classic Fine Foods, and now Edenred, where Mr. Roumane is the company President and CEO.

Mr. Roumane shares valuable insight in leading in Japan through patience, persistence and an open attitude. In order to enhance communication with his staff, Mr. Roumane actively participates in social events and has breakfast or online meetings with small groups to share about his life outside of work to create a more personal bond. By doing so, he believes his employees will in turn open up as well and be more trusting. He explains: "[In Japan] it takes more time for people to listen to you and to believe in your ideas…but when they [do believe it], they go for it. And they are extremely precise, they want to do things perfectly."

Additionally, to increase employee engagement, Mr. Roumane encourages his team to take online classes, practice speaking English and take full advantage of digital tools. Mr. Roumane claims: "In order for people to develop, they need to be exposed to the outside world. And the outside world is education training seminars, talking to people, getting inspired." Mr. Roumane leads by example and constantly pushes himself to be exposed to new ideas, which he believes has helped him manage business in Japan.

Based off his own experiences, Mr. Roumane gives fantastic advice for any foreigner who is looking to successfully lead in Japan. He emphasizes the importance of opening up and sharing one's personal side to establish a more trusting bond, but advises to maintain a good balance and not overpromise in order to run a profitable business. Mr. Roumane adds the value of patience and persistency to win trust. He explains: "if you're persistent, people around you will say, "wow, this is somebody we can trust because this person has a view, has a vision, and he builds on this vision."

Robert Noddin first arrived in Japan as an exchange student when he was at university. He attended Kansai University of Foreign Studies, before eventually going back to the United States where he started his career in the banking industry. Very soon after, Mr. Noddin received a job position with AIG, who he has been with ever since, and formerly served as President & CEO at AIG Japan Holdings.

Mr. Noddin gives fantastic insight to his experiences, detailing the importance of communication, trust, and accountability. Mr. Noddin states: "to me, leadership is about inspiring people to go somewhere that they wouldn't necessarily go on their own. Management is about, I got a set of tasks to do today." Mr. Noddin holds open discussions across department on how to achieve clearly set objectives through each stakeholders' point of view. These discussions help create a sense of ownership and accountability amongst his staff in producing quality work.

Additionally, attending social events outside of work and showing his "human side" has allowed Mr. Noddin to better engage with his employees. By building trust in this way, Mr. Noddin finds that his employees are more willing to seek advice when they are in conflict. "[Japanese people] have to put this façade on because that's what culture expects…so give them the opportunity to break with that…it makes a big difference."

To encourage innovation, Mr. Noddin launched a venture capital-like operation within AIG in which a select number of employees worked on a short-term project to launch a product from scratch. Mr. Noddin explains: "that [project] was probably the single most effective thing we've done here, in my stint, to be able to prove to people it's okay to be creative, it's okay to think differently. We even let them change their work hours."

For newcomers to Japan, Mr. Noddin advises to stay resilient, focus on the objectives, and respect Japanese history and culture, commenting that anyone coming to Japan to lead should "try to show how you can use that to become competitive and unique and different in the Japanese market."

Originally from the United Kingdom, Gordon Thom graduated from the University of Aberdeen and started learning Japanese before his career started in Japan. Mr Thom is the current Director of Nobasu Consulting, and shares his fascinating career progression leading Dyson's growth in the Japanese market and turning declining businesses around through patience and persistence.

When Mr. Thom initially joined Dyson, he was entering a challenging market that was 99% dominated by Japanese products. He gradually built up his Dyson Japan team starting in 1998 and took a "hands-on" approach in selling and promoting the product by meeting up with potential buyers along with the Japanese Sales Director. Early on, Dyson's product was seen as "too big, too heavy and too noisy," so Mr. Thom became determined to develop the right product for the Japanese consumers. He explains: "I think Japan is a fabulous place to be because the customer is very demanding, in terms of quality, obviously, reliability, appearance." Overtime, Dyson developed a powerful, lightweight vacuum cleaner with a "No Loss of Suction" tagline and had a successful nationwide launch. The company's market share grew from 0.5% in 2004 to 16% in 2005.

Mr. Thom moved on to lead the company's US branch. Even when dealing with a much larger scale business with thousands of stores to distribute to and 100+ employees to manage, Mr. Thom held on to his "hands-on" sales approach and sold directly to buyers instead of using distributors. After successfully turning around declining multinational businesses including Electrolux and Bodum in Japan, Mr. Thom led the launch of Shark Ninja, a US-based appliance manufacturer in launching their products in Japan.

On leading in Japan, he advises to ensure whatever product or service is "right enough" for the Japanese consumer and to hire good people who can build on it. Mr. Thom further emphasizes that "people are critical" but "be prepared to take risks" and understand that "one can only change oneself. And the way to get people to change is, in a sense, to lead by example and behave the way you want your people to behave."

Michael Magee previously worked as a Product Manager for Johnson & Johnson in Japan before working at EMC Japan, then 3M Asia Pacific, before finally stepping into his current role as the Managing Director of BRITA Japan.

Having been born and attending school in Japan, Mr. Magee already has the critical knowledge of Japanese language and culture that he recommends understanding before leading in the country. Through his experiences, Mr. Magee learnt that it is important to build relationships and trust with Japanese people and further comments that "the joy of working in Japan is really the relationships… If you have a friend, you can have friends for life." His wealth of knowledge about Japanese business and people lead him to give fantastic advice about competitive dynamics, the importance of listening, and how to relate to people on a deeper level rather than a professional level.

Spencer Wolfe is the current Director of QuickerWeb Cloud Services, the Managing Director of CIRCLE, the Manager of TRIBE Support, and the CEO of AINEO Networks. Having first worked on a farm in Oregon (U.S), and studied both judo and Japanese in high school, Mr. Wolfe soon moved to Japan to begin his career journey in technology. He explains how he realised that he could deliver tech services better than what other companies were providing, and so his entrepreneurial journey began.

Throughout his story, Mr. Wolfe gives insight into how to manage people, including how to effectively communicate with Japanese employees. Additionally, Mr. Wolfe emphasises the importance of 'running with champions,' which he believes will greatly aid anyone who wants to be a champion themselves. His life and career experiences have given him an incredible work ethic and insight for advice to give those who want to lead in Japan.

Thorsten Pohl, Ex-President CEO of Boehringer Ingelheim Japan, talks about his global leadership experience in the pharmaceutical industry, having worked across continents in Brazil, Spain, and Japan. From a young age, Mr. Pohl aspired to work abroad, growing up in Germany in the age of the European Union where he saw opportunities beyond the limits of his home country. Mr. Pohl joined Boehringer Ingelheim shortly after graduating from university with an Economics and Business Administration background, being drawn to the human centric values of the family-owned pharmaceutical company.

Mr. Pohl started working in Brazil during the first few years at the company, then became the Head of the Spain branch, before moving to Japan. Working in various cultures around the world, Mr. Pohl shares valuable insight on leading and motivating employees in the unique Japanese business culture. Moreover, Mr. Pohl values consistency, communication, and gaining consensus in order to build trust and effectively manage a team of 1600 people.

For newcomers in Japan, Mr. Pohl advises to "listen, watch, try to understand people…build relationships with people and see things through their eyes and be patient. But also say what you want and make people understand how you want to lead."

Mike Alfant, Group Chairman and CEO at Fusion Systems and Chairman and CEO at Binfinity AG delves into his experiences leading in Japan. Mr. Alfant previously held the position of Vice President for The American Chamber of Commerce in Japan and currently is the President of the Tokyo American Club. In addition to this, he is also on the Board of Newport, Pasona Tquila and Healios KK, and has also advised at Stanford University and lectured at Keio Business School, Kyoto University and Temple University.

Mr. Alfant's wide range of experiences clearly shows that he is true leader in the fintech industry of Japan. Mr. Alfant originally grew up in Brooklyn, New York and worked on Wall Street for roughly 10 years in the technical side of investment banking with his Computer Science background. Mr. Alfant became fascinated with Japan after a business trip, prompting him to move to Tokyo to start his first company, Fusion Systems.

Mr. Alfant explains the difference in work culture and leadership style between the US and Japan, in which he describes the former to be achievement oriented, and the latter to be process oriented. He explains, "what I needed to do [in New York] was clearly articulate a goal and essentially get out of the way. What I found in Japan was that I really needed to flush out the process and the process would then enforce itself based on the characteristics of the employees and the culture here." Mr. Alfant additionally points out that Japan-based leaders need to have a long-term mindset like a marathon-runner to achieve definite results.

In order to increase employee engagement and motivation, Mr. Alfant tries to avoid interjecting and let others take initiative. He also makes many of his employees shareholders of the company so that they feel more ownership within the company. In order to build trust with his employees, Mr. Alfant talks about being consistent with his behaviour, and understanding how people pay attention to action rather than just words. He also adds leading a healthy lifestyle with meditation, exercise, and eating well has helped him achieve this.

Lastly, Mr. Alfant leaves excellent advice for those who wish to successfully lead in Japan.

He advises newcomers to "limit the scope of your vision and goals" and focus on achieving one or two business goals. Secondly, he advises people to have thick skin, and accept that Japan is a unique culture that will not easily change. Thirdly, Mr. Alfant advises people to explore the beautiful places in Japan as "the real Japan is not Tokyo. The real Japan is outside."

Hideki Matsubara Summary

Mr. Hideki Matsubara began his career in government banking but switched into cosmetics, working for globally renown brands including L'Oreal, Lancome and Unilever. He then moved on to Miele, a German manufacturer of high-end household appliances where he currently serves as the President and Representative Director. Mr. Matsubara obtained his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania.

With a wealth of academic and real-life experience, Mr. Matsubara successfully revised a staggering business at the Swiss cosmetic company, La Prarie, as their first Japanese Managing Director and President. During this time in the early 2000s there was a boom in the high-end luxury brands and cosmetics, which Mr. Matsubara took advantage of, and increased La Prarie's profit by 2.5 times. Mr. Matsubara was also blessed with mentorship from Chris McDonald, the late President of Rolex Japan who introduced him to the Swiss Chamber of Commerce where he has made invaluable connections with other talents.

Mr. Matsubara made the switch into Miele, where he leverage his experience with high-end consumers to revive the company's Japanese market. There, Mr. Matsubara gradually turned around the business and gained the trust of his employees, which was challenging at first due to previous drastic changes. Comparing the Japanese, French, American and British way of leadership, Mr. Matsubara talks about the importance of having a framework, a clear structure of reporting lines, in order to gain trust and increase engagement in Japan.

Mr. Matsubara is often the mediator between the Japanese staff, clients, business partners, and German headquarters. He encourages his staff to communicate more by holding small group discussions, creating an internal communication committee, holding engagement surveys, and being open to implementing change through a bottom-up approach. To increase employee engagement, Miele holds celebrations, both large and small, including an annual celebration at the Roppongi Hills Club or cooking as a team building activity with Miele's appliances. To maintain creativity, Mr. Matsubara values the company's philosophy, Immer Besser, meaning better and better. To ensure constant growth in an engaging environment, Mr. Matsubara has set clear KPIs for each division so that outputs are quantifiable, while also valuing his employee's voices, in the form of encouraging presentation of new ideas in senior meetings or having voluntary committees.

To newcomers in Japan, Mr. Matsubara advises them to learn the language, understand the culture and the way of the Japanese people in order to build trust and teamwork.

Originally from Australia, Martin Spann graduated from Bond University in 1991 with a major in Finance. He first arrived in Japan in 1993 and got his first job in the bank industry as a futures and options broker. Having gone back to Australia but continuing to study the Japanese language, Mr Spann soon found himself back in Japan with a leadership opportunity with the Japanese Government Bond Repo. Mr Spann joined his current company, the Commonwealth Bank, in 2010 where he became Country Head of Japan. In addition to this achievement, Mr Spann is also a member of the Australia and New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

Through his 20+ years of industry and Japanese experience, Mr Spann delves into the challenges and success he faced leading in a country that can often be difficult to foreigners. Emphasising the importance of good communication and accepting Japanese culture, Mr Spann explains his style of management and why it is imperative to learn the Japanese language. Furthermore, Mr Spann gives fantastic advice for anyone who is thinking of leading and managing in Japan.

Peter Jennings was fresh out of Law school when he joined Dow in 1985 as an attorney. After representing the company in major legal cases, Mr. Jennings moved to Hong Kong in 1998 after accepting the role as legal counsel for Dow Asia-Pacific. He stayed in this region for six years and briefly took on major roles in the United States before stepping into his current position as President of Dow Japan and Korea. Furthermore, Mr. Jennings is the Vice President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan.

Mr. Jennings' experience in the United States, Hong Kong and now in Japan has enabled him to gain a vast amount of knowledge about what it takes to be a good leader. He reflects back on lessons he learnt from his previous bosses and associates, and delves into the key components for being successful in Japan. Mr. Jennings further explores how he has been able to change the sometimes difficult Japanese business culture, which has allowed his Japanese employees and associates to feel more comfortable and trusted. Additionally, he talks about the importance of diversity and encouragement, and explains and exemplifies this by sharing success stories about women from Dow Japan. Finally, Mr. Jennings concludes by giving three key pieces of advice for any person who is hoping to work and lead in Japan.