Podcast

Episode #396: Working Through Others Who Are Not Working

The chain of command is a well established military leadership given. I have three stripes, you have none, ...

Episode #395: Modern Micro-Planning For Leaders

Best laid plans of mice and men. That was 2020 wasn’t it. We all started that year with our plans, hopes, ...

Episode #394: The Three Circles Of Leadership

Most leaders are not properly trained for leadership. This is especially the case in Japan. Here you study...

Houseclean The Team Every Year

Japan has a wonderful year end tradition where the entire house is given a massive clean up. Dust is dispatc...

Episode #392: The 2021 Leader

Looking back, 2020 started quite well and then rapidly descended into a nightmare for most of us. Very few ...

Episode #391: Is Japanese Leader Charisma The Same As Western Charisma

I met the owner of a successful business recently. He had bought the company twenty years ago and then pivo...

Episode #390: Leadership Silk Purses From Sows' Ears

The ad on social media said, “we are looking for sales A players”. I know the guy who put out the ad and he...

Episode #389: Namby Pamby Kids Today And Tough Love Leaders

Years ago I inverted the pyramid and promoted the best salespeople to become the branch leaders. The existi...

Episode #388: Micro Leadership Techniques

Time is the enemy of good leadership. It takes time to develop a team of individuals. A common metaphor is...

Episode #387: The Leadership Equation

I remember reading once about a President reflecting on the cost controls he had instituted inside his organ...

Episode #386: Effective Teamwork is No Accident During COVID-19

Working from home can easily become working apart. Japan is a group oriented society and now the group has b...

Episode #385: As A Leader, How To Provide Guidance Your People Will Follow

Giving people orders is fine and fun, when you are the leader. Not so great when you are on the receiving e...

Episode #384: Leadership Principles Are An Absolute Must

Harvard Business School, Stanford Business School and INSEAD Business School are all awesome institutions. ...

Episode #383: How Decisions Are Really Made Inside Japanese Companies

The President of a company is a very powerful force. They drive the direction, the strategy and the culture...

Episode #382: Leaders Need To Empty Their Cup

Tokusan the scholar visited Ryutan the Zen Master to learn about Zen. Tokusan was a very smart fellow and v...

Episode #381: Key Competencies Needed To Lead Others (Part Two)

In Part One we looked at two broad categories of leadership competences around being Self-Aware and having A...

Episode #380: Key Competencies Needed To Lead Others (Part One)

Leading is super easy. You are given the title, the authority, the budget, the power and then you just tell...

Episode #379: The Slings And Arrows of Outrageous Fortune Running A Virtual Team

Japan has some set pieces around leadership. The Middle Manager boss sits at the head of an array of desks ...

Episode #378: How To Have Executive Presence

Clients sometimes ask us to help their Japanese executives have more “presence”. This is rather a vague con...

Episode #377: Why We Need Phase Three Thinking

In business we live in the world of shallow statements of opinion. Imagine there is a topic for discussion ...