Episode #5: Kervin Go Country Manager Curvature Japan

Because it is easy to let your inner pride at being a leader override the humility that is necessary as a leader, it is important to meet with other people to remind you to be humble.

Managing people in Japan is like having an extended family, you have lots of different children and go through their various growing pains.

Communication is the most important thing for a leader. I always leave my door open even when I am working on something and do not want to be disturbed, because most Japanese who have never worked for a foreign company think that a closed door means they cannot speak to you. When you are communicating, it is important to remember that you are connecting with a person. Remember we are all the same at the end of the day, we all eat dinner and get on trains, no matter what our titles are.

Work-life balance is a better phrase to lead by since work-hard, play-hard is getting old. Personal success is affected by things outside of work and a leader needs to consider how they can make their employee`s welfare better since all employees have friends and family that are important to them.
360-degree performance evaluations are not very popular nor common in Japan. It is often just seen as more work that people have to do. The scores are always low in Japan.

Culture cannot be forced on people. I think the company comes first, the employee comes second and the client comes third; and these are basically the decision points we try to use. We have open plan seating, lunch is eaten together, and we try to do sporting events that encourage people to engage without talking about work.

New blood is always good because it creates new ideas, different perspectives and more engagement.

We do not have walls in our offices. People often just shout out ideas and we have a conservation about that. We try and innovate that way.

Some big leaders in Japanese business would make good politicians. They always know the right words to say but it does not always translate into action. I don`t want to be like that. When I say something, I want to execute it. I would rather cut out the middleman and make sure things go ahead.

Trust and rapport have to be side-by-side. You have to listen to what people are complaining about, what they are trying to do and why they are trying to do it. That`s how you build trust. That is why sport events are very good, you build relationships through your mutual goals and learn to communicate and trust each other. Two-way traffic for communication is the key to building trust, once you have it, it is rock-solid.

When learning English or Japanese, do not worry about learning difficult words, use simple words but how you present them is more important. Written communication is useful when communicating with Japanese people but give them 1 – 2 days for it to sink in.

No one person can have all the answers so make sure you pick the brains of many people around you. The best way to grow is to have the good traits of others rub off on you, so don`t just hang out with other executives, it is too limiting.

Kervin Go, Country Manager of Curvature Japan.