Episode #341: Want To Be A Great Leader - Then Be Yourself

Masa Namiki

While you can be ready for a position from a capability or mindset perspective, it does not necessarily mean you are ready from an actually `doing the job` perspective. One of the biggest struggles is that I did not have a viable local leader reference point when I was not sure, because my managers were regional leaders but their advice inevitably did work in Japan because they were drawing from their own experiences in different countries, with different people and different cultures. I also was not resourceful enough back then to have an outside of company network to draw upon.

The key in leadership for me has been understanding that I do not have to be some big CEO type, I need to be authentic to who I am, building personal connections and showing vulnerability helps me lead by being able to connect with staff as a real person.

Change is also not effective if it is leader-driven because once the leader shifts their attention elsewhere, the change shows up as the temporary illusion that it was. I have found that I have to get the staff taking ownership of the process. Things like give them more responsibility, empower them more, show them how they can benefit from the direction I want to go in so they feel that by driving the change, they personally will benefit from it as well as the company.

To encourage innovation and risk taking in a traditionally risk-adverse culture, I try to publicly acknowledge the risk first and stand behind the risk-takers so they feel more empowered to continue. We also try to make sure we capture when people are taking risks so we can talk about it in their evaluation.

With engagement surveys in Japan, we need to explain what the scores mean to try and avoid that Japanese unspoken conservatism loyalty score of 3/5, so that people feel empowered to rank as they really want to.

Having confidence in your intuition as a leader and being open about is very helpful. You can say `I understand that logically but it isn`t sitting right, so let`s discuss further`. It is helpful not only to avoid making decisions that you felt in your gut was not the right decision at the time anyway, but also to show your staff that you are a person who does not have all the answers and that is okay.

Do not assume you know why something is happening. Connect personally with people. Be respectful of Japan.