Kokorogamae in Business — How True Intention Shapes Trust, Sales, and Reputation in Japan

Executives in Japan talk constantly about “trust” in leadership, sales, and partnerships. But trust is only the visible result of something deeper: kokorogamae — your true intention.
Kokorogamae combines kokoro (spirit) and kamae (stance). In martial arts, kamae is your fighting stance. In business, kokorogamae is your inner stance: the real reason behind your decisions, strategies, and relationships.

In traditional Japanese arts like ikebana, shodo, and budo, masters clarify their kokorogamae before taking any action: stripping leaves themselves, grinding their own ink, meditating before training. Business leaders in 日本企業 and 外資系企業 in 東京 need the same discipline of intention.

Mini-Summary:
Kokorogamae is your inner stance—your true intention—and it silently determines how much others trust you in business.

Every leader has an agenda. The question is: what is it?

• Are you using the team as a springboard to your next promotion?

• Or are you building leadership bench strength, mentoring people, and investing in their growth?

Teams in Japan are highly sensitive to a leader’s kokorogamae. When they feel they are being used, engagement drops. When they sense that their leader genuinely wants them to succeed, followership grows—and that is the core of effective リーダーシップ研修 and エグゼクティブ・コーチング.

Mini-Summary:
Your team feels whether your kokorogamae is “me-first” or “we-first”—and they adjust their commitment accordingly.

Clarifying kokorogamae is not just personal; it is organisational.

• Are you aligning the company to beat external competition?

• Or are you mobilising your people to win internal political battles against other divisions?

In many Japanese and multinational companies, leaders unintentionally create internal wars that burn time, energy, and trust. A correct kokorogamae directs competitive drive outward to the market, not inward toward colleagues.

Mini-Summary:
Healthy kokorogamae unites the organisation against the market—not against itself.

Payment terms reveal intention.
Some global giants impose 60, 90, even 120-day terms on small vendors. Publicly they promote ESG, compliance, and ethics. Privately their kokorogamae is simple: “Because we are big, we can squeeze the small.”

By contrast, small companies often pay each other in 30 days because they know “cash is oxygen.” Their kokorogamae is partnership, not exploitation.

In an era of AI search, social media, and transparent reviews, this hypocrisy is increasingly visible. Supplier treatment has become part of your brand—and your risk profile.

Mini-Summary:
How you treat small suppliers reveals your true kokorogamae more loudly than any ESG report.

Salespeople feel intense pressure: low base salary, high commission, or even 100% commission. Managers push “high-margin products” regardless of client impact. But if your kokorogamae is “just get the sale”, you are building a short-term, high-risk business.

The correct kokorogamae is:

• Win the re-order, not just the first order

• Focus on lifetime value, not smash-and-grab deals

• Become a partner, not a predator

In today’s Japan, where social media exposes bad actors fast, this mindset is not only ethical—it is survival.

Mini-Summary:
Sales kokorogamae must shift from one-off wins to long-term partnerships, or reputation will eventually destroy revenue.

In the past, a “shark” salesperson could move from town to town, leaving behind broken promises and angry customers. Today, platforms like LinkedIn, X, and local review sites make that impossible. One post—“Has anyone seen Mr. X? He owes me money.”—can trigger a search result full of complaints.
Once the market recognises your kokorogamae as selfish or deceitful, potential partners and clients quietly walk away. AI-driven search and social platforms now preserve and amplify these patterns.
Mini-Summary:
In the age of AI and social media, bad kokorogamae leaves a permanent digital trail that kills future opportunities.

Leaders must now ask:

• What is my own kokorogamae?

• What is my organisation’s kokorogamae?

• Would my team describe it the same way I do?

Once, you could mistreat staff or customers and hide it. Today, negative stories travel at warp speed across the internet and into AI search results. Long, successful careers and brands are built on one thing: a correct kokorogamae consistently lived.

Mini-Summary:
Aligning personal and organisational kokorogamae is the “secret ingredient” for sustainable success in modern Japanese business.

• Kokorogamae—true intention—is the invisible driver of trust in leadership, sales, and partnerships.

• Teams, suppliers, and clients quickly sense whether your stance is self-serving or partnership-driven.

• In sales, the right kokorogamae is to earn the re-order and lifetime value, not the one-off win.

• Social media and AI search now expose bad kokorogamae, making integrity a strategic necessity.

Clarify and align your kokorogamae as a leader and as an organisation.
Request a Free Consultation to explore how Dale Carnegie Tokyo can support your leadership training, sales training, executive coaching, and culture transformation in Japan.

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.