Episode #61: Stop Destroying Your Business

Careers are damaged and businesses lose market share when “people problems” are ignored. Many leaders in 日本企業 (Japanese companies) and 外資系企業 (multinational companies in Japan) still believe that technical expertise is enough. It isn’t. When people skills are weak, no level of hard skills can save performance for long.

Most managers are promoted because they are smart, capable, and strong in hard skills. They know the products, systems, and processes.

However:

• Their expertise is personal and often cannot be copied or taught easily.

• Team members do not have the same level of technical ability.

• Leaders cannot do everything themselves; they must delegate, coach, and align others.

This is where soft skills become critical: leadership, communication, and people skills. Without them, even brilliant experts fail to get results through others.

Mini-summary: Hard skills get you promoted, but soft skills decide whether your team succeeds.

Technically strong leaders often:

• Focus on details and tasks, not on people and communication.

• Struggle to motivate, inspire, or give clear direction.

• Try to “fix problems” themselves instead of building the team’s capability.

As Yogi Berra said, “Leading is easy. Getting people to follow you is the hard part.” Companies expect middle managers to create leverage through people, but many never learned how.

Mini-summary: When leaders rely only on hard skills, they limit leverage and block their team’s growth.

What really drives employee engagement and loyalty?

Global research, repeated in Japan, shows three main drivers of engagement:

1. The relationship with the immediate supervisor

2. Belief in the direction of senior leadership

3. Pride in working for the organisation

All three are powered by soft skills, not hard skills. They require:

• Trust-building, listening, and coaching

• Clear, consistent communication of vision and strategy

• A culture where employees feel valued and respected

For 日本企業 (Japanese companies) and 外資系企業 (multinational companies in Japan), this is especially important in cross-functional and cross-cultural teams in 東京 (Tokyo).

Mini-summary: Engagement rises when leaders communicate well, build trust, and create pride in the organisation.

When engagement is low:

• Ideas are weaker and fewer.

• Cooperation across departments declines.

• Accountability and ownership drop.

• Quality suffers, and customers notice.

If your competitor has a more engaged team, they will:

• Innovate faster

• Serve clients better

• Go the extra mile more often

Over time, they will take your market share. The hidden “opportunity cost” of poor leadership becomes a type of leadership cancer, slowly killing the organisation from the inside.

Mini-summary: Low engagement is expensive and dangerous; it gives your competitors a long-term edge.

To fully use “people power”, leaders need practical training and coaching in core business soft skills:

• リーダーシップ研修 (leadership training):
  Develop trust, set clear expectations, give feedback, and lead change.

• 営業研修 (sales training):
  Strengthen client relationships, ask better questions, and create value-based proposals.

• プレゼンテーション研修 (presentation training):
  Communicate ideas clearly and persuasively to executives, teams, and clients.

• エグゼクティブ・コーチング (executive coaching):
  Help senior leaders reflect, reset behaviours, and model the culture they want.

• DEI研修 (DEI training):
  Build inclusive teams where diverse people feel safe to contribute and innovate.

Dale Carnegie has more than 100 years of global experience and over 60 years in Tokyo supporting both 日本企業 (Japanese companies) and 外資系企業 (multinational companies in Japan). Our programmes are practical, interactive, and designed for real business outcomes in Japan.

Mini-summary: Targeted soft-skills development in leadership, sales, presentations, coaching, and DEI unlocks the full potential of your people.

• Hard skills are essential, but they do not replace leadership, communication, and people skills.

• Engagement is driven by the direct manager, senior leadership’s vision, and pride in the organisation.

• Low engagement quietly damages innovation, quality, and customer loyalty, giving rivals a strong advantage.

• Structured リーダーシップ研修 (leadership training), 営業研修 (sales training), プレゼンテーション研修 (presentation training), エグゼクティブ・コーチング (executive coaching), and DEI研修 (DEI training) are strategic investments, not costs.

Founded in the U.S. in 1912, Dale Carnegie Training has supported individuals and companies worldwide for over a century in leadership, sales, presentation, executive coaching, and DEI. Our Tokyo office, established in 1963, has been empowering both Japanese and multinational corporate clients ever since.