The Leadership Japan Series By Dale Carnegie Training Japan

PM Abe Deletes Soft Skills Development   On June 8th this year Education Minister Hakubun Shimomura told Japanese universities to take “active steps to abolish (social science and humanities departments) or convert them to serve areas that better meet society’s needs”. There was no wiggle room on interpreting the message – he clearly said do what we say or we will cut your funding. So far 26 have gotten the message and have complied with the new policy position of the Japanese government.   The justification was that this was needed “in light of the decrease of the university age population, the demand for human resources and the function of national universities”. Abenomics declares that the role of national universities is to produce “human resources that match the needs of society by accurately grasping changes in industrial structure and employment needs”. Abe himself declared in May last year in his OECD speech that “rather than deepening academic research that is highly theoretical, we will conduct more

It is rare to see a presentation completed well, be it inside the organization, to the client or to a larger audience. The energy often drops away, the voice gradually fades out and there is no clear signal that this is the end. The narrative arc seems to go missing in action at the final stage and the subsequent silence becomes strained. It sometimes reminds me of classical music performances, when I am not sure if this is the time to applaud or not.   First and last impressions are critical in business and in life, so why leave these to random chance? We need to strategise how we will end, how we will ensure our key messages linger in the minds of the listeners and how we will have the audience firmly enthralled, as our permanent fan base.   Endings are critical pieces of the presentation puzzle and usually that means two endings not just one. These days, it is rare that we don’t go straight into some form of Q&A session, once the main body of the talk has been completed. So we need an ending for the pr

That Vital Two Second Window    How long does it take on average to form a first impression?  My students tell me two seconds.  Wow.  What does this mean for the speaker?  It could be in the boardroom, at the networking event or at the pitch to the client. Regardless of the location, one thing is sure – everyone is a critic.      Think back to the last time you saw someone present – be it an update, a project submission, an overview or a fully fledged speech.  Were you indulging in a little mental aside, “I hope this is good”, as you swiveled around in your chair to view the speaker?  Did the speaker get right into it or was there some logistical finessing of the laptop, the lapel mike or the notes sitting on the rostrum?  Was the speaker looking at the audience, up at the huge screen behind or down at the laptop?  Did we have some good old hand mike thumping to see if it was working properly?  If there were any such diversions, then our two seconds have come and gone completely.   What would help us to maxim

Chaos, Mistakes and Idea Popping   Doing more, better, faster with less, screams out for innovation.  This could be at the incremental level – a kaizen approach of continuous improvement or it could be breakthrough leaps that forge new businesses.  Either way, there is a dynamic in play here between processes and people that is critical for our success.  How much scope can we allow in the creative process?  At the practical level, this is really asking how many and how huge are the mistakes you will tolerate to achieve idea popping?   Managers manage processes. Leader also manage processes, but they also have an important role to build people with ideas.  In any workplace there will be some degree of compliance required around regulations, laws, safety concerns etc.  If these are overly tight, then there is usually not a great deal of tolerance for errors.  If it is a complete laissez-faire environment, with no controls, then we will wind up in court and possibly in jail.  Somewhere between compliance and cha

Market Yourself In Under One Minute     Meeting new business contacts, expanding personal networks, promoting a reliable, trustworthy “Brand You” are the basics of business.  By the way, even if our job title doesn’t explicitly mention “sales and marketing” we are all in sales and marketing.  In modern commerce, even professionals in non-traditional sales roles like accountants, lawyers, dentists, engineers, architects, analysts, consultants all need to pitch their expertise to get new clients.  This may not have been the case in the past, but this is the “new black” of the professions.  When we try to influence a decision – buy my widget, use my service, fund this project, open a new market or even where shall we go for lunch - these are all sales and marketing efforts to get others to follow our ideas.  Don’t miss this change and instead master the process, such that you get the business and not your competition.   By the way, first impressions are so critical.  When I ask my class participants during sales

Negotiating With Mr. and Ms. Huge Pain   Sadly, not everyone is like us – wonderful, charming, amusing, attractive.  Despite our best efforts to be a role model of perfection, setting them a good example, others persist in being a major pain.  Here are 12 selective tips on negotiating with the difficult amongst us.   1. Have a positive attitude Sounds like a motherhood statement but deciding to see the negotiation as a learning experience in the real laboratory of life, as a means to enhance our win-win negotiating skills, changes the starting point of the discussion in our favour.   2. Meet on mutual ground Try to meet, rather than engage in a protracted email war or discuss complex issues over the phone.  Face to face is best and preferably on neutral ground for both of you.  Away from the workspace is often best, such as over coffee or lunch, away from the office.   3. Clearly define and agree on the issue Sometimes we are arguing about different things under the same banner.  By defining the issue in comm

Play Nice At Work     The New York Times recently carried an article about the growth at work of rudeness and bad behaviour over the last twenty years.  Christine Porath, the author, noted, “How we treat one another at work matters.  Insensitive interactions have a way of whittling away at people’s health, performance and soul”.  These interactions release hormones called glucocorticoids leading to potential health problems.   The more interesting part of the research on this topic looked at why we are uncivil and more than half said they felt overloaded with their work and 40% said they have no time to be nice.  Nearly half linked career progression to using their position power and being nice was seen as weak. Boss’s attitudes were enlightening.  Twenty-five percent believe they will be less leader-like if they are nice at work.  Nearly 40% feared they would be taken advantage of if they weren’t projecting a tough manner.    There seems to be no shortage of bosses who can only muster position power, know i

Become A Rockstar Coach   A consistent issue our clients raise with us concerns effective coaching. Becoming a leader is usually the result of demonstrating your own ability to get results.  We promote the performers in the hope some of the pixie dust will get sprinkled around. The outcomes are often underwhelming.  For the organization to grow, it needs talent to be fostered right throughout the whole organization.  The natural owners of that fostering effort are the leaders.   Coaching fails because of the poor quality of the process being applied.  In many cases there is no real process at all.  Here is a 7 step process which will vastly improve the coaching outcomes.   1.     Identify Opportunities The need may be obvious or circumstances may reveal a need. For busy leaders, selecting who to coach is a critical decision.  The staff with the most untapped potential are probably the most attractive candidates.  You can’t do everything at once, so start with the option that will create the most value.  We wi

Our Habits Define Our Success   We are all the product of our habits.  What we do regularly defines our level of success.  Bad habits, good habits are all the same, in terms of the production of results, so the input point not the process, becomes very interesting for those wanting to succeed.  How do we ensure that we are adding good habits and eliminating bad habits?    Part of the input process is selection of priorities.  Going to the gym rather than the sports bar is a choice.  Eating that donut rather than an apple is a choice.  Discipline is a famed part of military life and various slacker generations are recommended compulsory military service as a way to fly straight.  Where does this military discipline come from?  Regular habits are a big part.  Doing specific things at the precise same time, in the same way without variation instills habits.  Doing things that must be done, regardless of how you feel about wanting to do them, instills disciplines, which become habits.  You don’t have to join the

Hip Hop Rapper Advice for PM Abe     Vince Staples, American Hip Hop Rapper, was recently quoted in a Financial Times interview, “You have to paint the picture because everyone doesn’t come from the same background”.  Having just attended the Japan Summit 2015 at the Okura Hotel Ball Room run by the Economist and sitting there listening to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Minister for National Strategic Zones Shigeru Ishiba and Minister for Economic and Fiscal Policy Akira Amari, I was struck by the lack of picture painting and storytelling in their presentations.   By the way, Abe has improved since I last saw him live.  Whether it was some coaching before the Olympic bid or thereafter, the man is much better.  More animated, using bigger gestures, more eye contact, using those see through glass prompters to help engage the audience rather than looking down at a page of notes. He had humour, pauses for clarity and some voice modulation.  Hey Japan, take note, it is possible to be better at public speaking!   I can

Romancing Japan   Japan’s ignominious end is being triggered by a lack of romance.  This retarded romantic environment is whittling away vital procreation efforts, which in turn is creating shortages of corporate fodder for the captains of industry.  The end of the world is nigh.  Well that is what is being served up to us, following the Cabinet Office’s June release of statistics, which show nearly 40% of 20s and 30s singles, the prime marriage target group, are not wanting a romantic partner.  Relationships are bothersome, according to 46.2% of those singles surveyed.  Who knew?   Drivers for this end of epoch trend are long work hours for the young, insufficient leisure time, 70% of women quitting work to have babies and not returning to the workforce and less face time because we have screen time instead.  The surge in part-time workers, means young guys not in the mainstream are the working poor.  As young women say they will only marry someone with income of over JPY5 million a year, that is a bit of a

SMILE !     Grumpy, angry looking, unfriendly customer facing staff  - welcome to America!  Dale Carnegie's Human Relation's Principle Number Five is "SMILE".  It may sound a bit simplistic but actually the idea is very profound and has a lot of depth.  You would never guess that this idea to smile when you meet people, especially when in a customer facing roles, had been around since "How To Win Friends And Influence People" was first published in 1936.   I was in the US attending  our Owner's Meeting in Chicago, but had also spent time in New York and Washington DC, so my observations were not influenced by one location.     The idea of smiling when you answer the phone, hasn't made it to some of the staff working in major hotels yet either.  Very angry voices would pick up the phone and repeat the name of the Hotel.  I asked one lady if she was angry? That threw her and she said "no", so I asked her why she answered the phone with such an abrupt, unfriendly, angry voice?  Her self-awareness factor was tren

How To Retain Your Millennials (Part 2)   In Part One, we looked at what were the drivers for retaining and engaging Millennials, based on The Dale Carnegie MSWOARS research.  Personal life issues we have already covered, so now let’s look at the issues around the work environment and organizational leadership.    Being recognized by their immediate supervisor was important to Millennials.  This sounds simple, but in the real world how many supervisors give meaningful positive feedback to their staff? Being told “good job” is basically useless, unless what we did is actually specified.  In Japan, the older generation of leaders do not have a habit of handing out anything other than “tough love”.  Are your middle managers recognizing the work of your Millennials – if not it might be a good time to do some more leadership training in this area.   Millennials are also looking for support and help in their work.  The amount of free time bosses have is limited and though honoured in principle, in practice not a l

How To Retain Your Millennials (Part 1)   Kids today! Each generation struggles to understand why their successors are so different (and usually, by definition, “useless”).  The Millennial cohort are those born between 1982 and 2000.  This is a key group, especially in Japan, because they are not making enough of them any more.    Over the last 20 years, the population of 15-24 years olds has halved.   Recruiting and retaining young staff has become a big pain for all of us.  The war for talent means we have to learn quickly how to understand them and what they want.  To those firms who just don’t get it, a big Arigatoo!  Please keep training these Millennials so we can poach them.    Dale Carnegie and MSWOARS have been doing major research on engaging employees and recently focused specifically on Millennials.  The overall results show that 30% of Millennials are fully engaged, another 56% are partially engaged and 14% are disengaged.  So what? Well, engaged staff are more likely to stay and so let’s dig d

Today's podcast was recorded at a live session in Nagoya for the American Chamber Chubu Branch.     Whether we realise it or not we are all in sales.  Remarkably, the vast majority of people in sales are untrained and certainly very few understand the importance of asking questions.   Even amongst those who get it and do try to understand the client's needs, probably very few understand that they need to vary the language they are using, depending on who they are talking to.   In this podcast, we explore these issues and explain how we need to ask good questions and also how to vary the way we ask them, to ensure we are having the maximum impact possible with our clients.

Japan Is A Marathon Not A Sprint   There are specific work rhythms for Japan.  Spring is hopeless because of kafunsho (allergies) killing our concentration.  May is no good because of gogatusbyo (May miasma). Everyone is adjusting to the start of the new financial year in April and many are struggling with their new environments and situations.    Also, after the Golden Week break, people are exhausted from the crowded travel and from all the family activities which take place during that time. Summer is also bad because the heat makes us feel drowsy (natsubate).    Of course we also have tsuyubyo or summer sickness thanks to the endless rain, high humidity and associated joint pain. The Obon season is no better because you have to travel back to your hometown to worship at the ancestor’s grave and the roads are clogged and the railways packed.  Recently, we have added a new one - akibate or Autumn drowsiness - to our woes.  Those long dark days of winter are seriously depressing and the bitter cold seeps i

Hey Boss, Your Nightmare Begins Now!   Here is a collection of indicators that should send a shiver down the spine of all employers in Japan.  The average job securement rate of graduating University students in April 2015 was 97%.  Also keep in mind that this is already a relatively small pool of higher education talent, from which we want to recruit.  In 2013, figures showed that only 50% of High School Graduates went to University compared to an OECD average of 62%. There is no major change in the offing though, because currently 99% of High school graduates found a job upon graduation.    Official numbers also tell us that over the last 20 years, the number of 15 to 24 year olds has halved.  From another angle, the number of Japanese turning 20 was 2.76 million in 1976 and in 2015 it is 1.26 million.  So youth recruitment demand is likely to outstrip supply, forever!   They are just not making enough future workers here.  The required birthrate for stopping population decline is 2.1 but currently Japan is

Hussle Hassle   Is speed expensive?  Pushing ourselves is getting crazier.  Constant hussling can lead to large and small errors of judgment.  We get so caught up in living 24/7 lifestyles that we start missing big pieces of the success puzzle.  People are the key to most businesses, but look at how we treat them.  We push past them to get into the subway car or we block the train exit corridor, because we are transfixed by a tiny screen.  We cut drivers off in traffic to get a 10 second edge.  We try to barge into elevators before the inhabitants have all moved out.  We hit the panic button on a piece of work and make everyone jump through hoops to make sure the deadline is met.  We either end the sentence for the person we are speaking with or we cut them off and lunge in with our own preferred words and ideas.   Doing more, faster with less, we are constantly hustling to gain time.  The process becomes addictive.  The unrelenting daily email tsunami pushes us to gain extra time - all the time.  You would n