Episode #252: Gaining International Executive Presence In Japan

Many Japanese companies have expanded their operations outside of Japan to enlarge their business, as the population decline guarantees to keep shrinking the domestic market. Many multi-national companies have established a strong presence on the ground here, because they like the rule of law and freedom to conduct their business, without having to hand over their IP to domestic partners. One of the things which keeps popping up as a request from Japanese and multi-national companies here is the challenge of how to ensure their Japanese leaders have more “executive presence” on the international stage.

What do they mean by “executive presence”? Usually, they are asking their leaders to be better presenters by getting to the key points concisely, clearly and convincingly. They want persuasion power. A big barrier for Japan has always been speaking in English, the international business lingua franca. Yet, this is not the major barrier to having “executive presence” when dealing internationally in business.

Mindset Inhibitors For Japanese Presenters

There are two mindset aspects which make it extremely difficult for Japanese executives to operate at the international professional presentation level. One is perfectionism. Japan is a country with no defects allowed, no mistakes tolerated and no errors entertained. It is a product and service heaven for consumers here and totally aspirational for the rest of the world. The idea that “we will make more money, if we allow for a defect rate of 5%”, doesn’t exist here and no CFO will ever be able to push this idea through the organisation. This “no error culture” extends to presenting in a foreign language.

I had the same difficulty when I first started learning Japanese. I would be forming the perfect Japanese sentence in my mind, all ready to go forth and launch it into the conversation, only to see the topic suddenly switched to something else. I learnt to launch forth perfect or otherwise, if I ever wanted to be able to speak the language in public. Japanese executives have trouble making that leap into imperfection and so are often very, very quiet in international meetings. They often avoid giving presentations if it is possible and if they have to, then they love to read the whole thing, either off a script or off the slides. Perfect English, but pretty boring and guaranteed to produce zero “executive presence”.

No “Braveheart Speeches” For Japan

The other mindset issue is that presentation skills are not as highly valued. In the West, we still hearken back to Athens and Rome, to the great orators and their stirring speeches. Hollywood has had a field day with this trope. In Japan, there were no Mel Gibson Braveheart style speeches being given by the warlords. Battle commanders would sit in a guarded, cordoned off area and receive reports and give orders from there, as the hostilities raged forth. There were no modern movie style stirring entreaties, while riding up and down in front of the troops, urging them on to fight and win. The samurai leadership class didn’t make mass public speeches. If the local authorities needed you to know something, they would post it on a notice board.

Yukichi Fukuzawa, one of Japan’s most famous Westernisers, opened the Enzetsukan or Speech Hall on May 1st, 1875 on the campus of his new Keio University. It is still there and you can visit it when travel resumes. We could call this the foundation of Western style speech making in Japan. That was only 150 years ago, so compared to Athens and Rome, public speaking is quite a recent phenomenon here in Japan.

Standing in front of people and speaking has an element of assumed superior status, which usually requires the Japanese speaker to apologise at the start for standing above others, while everyone else is seated. Often, when I was asked to give one of the 200 plus speeches I have given so far in Japanese, a table, chair and a microphone stand were automatically prepared. The idea of standing and speaking was thought to be tiring for the speaker and it also got us all seated at the same height. Quite clever because no awkward “status” faux pas were possible. Being confident and outspoken isn’t valued in Japanese culture. Here we should be humble, shy, modest and self-effacing.

Is There A Japanese Way Of Public Speaking?

Reading your speech, word for word, to achieve linguistic purity and carefully displaying no great confidence as a speaker is the accepted formula. Not a great platform for achieving “executive presence” in an international environment. Can Japanese become great public speakers? Yes, but they have to overcome a few mindset issues first. We teach public speaking here and sometimes will get pushback about the “Japanese way” of public speaking being different to that in the West. This is a false flag. It is a wily justification for a lack of competence by poor speakers. We are producing plenty of professional competent speakers in our classes, so we know it can be done and that Japanese executives can become excellent presenters. There are common basics for effective presentations that will transcend national borders.

One of our arrogant faults in the mono-lingual, Anglo Saxon West is we presume people who are not articulate, especially in English and who cannot present well, are not up to snuff. Big mistake. Skill absorption is the key. With proper training, I believe every Japanese leader can achieve “executive presence”. Some may take longer than others to throw off their mindset issues. Gaining proficiency means we will all improve international mutual trust and enjoy clearer communication. This is really one of the last global frontiers for Japan.

Many internationally oriented Japanese executives here, will eventually catch up in English communication skills. Korean, Chinese and numerous other Asian nation’s executives, for whom the international language of English is not their mother tongue, have managed it. International conferences are where you realise the gap between Japan and the rest of Asia is vast. Japanese executives can certainly manage it as well. It might be right or it may be wrong, it may be fair or unfair, but it is a reality. Being capable of giving professional presentations in English is how to garner “executive presence”.