Previously Rodrigo was Managing Director Danone Oceania, Managing Director Danone Nutricia Oceania, Managing Director Early Life Nutrition Danone Australia and New Zealand, Managing Director India, Sales and Commercial Director Medical Nutrition Division Sao Paulo, Brazil, Affiliate General Manager Columbia Eli Lilly, Regional Brand Director Europe…

Holding people accountable is essential for any leader, yet many struggle with it, leading to missed deadlines, poor performance, and incomplete work. Often, this happens because people aren’t deliberately failing; they’re simply lacking the structure and guidance needed to perform at their best. As leaders, we must start with ourselves, particular…

We have seen Hollywood pumping out comic heroes as movie franchises to get the money flowing into the studios. The premise is always the same. The super hero comes to the rescue and saves everyone. What about for leaders when coaching their team members? Fortunately, we have four super heroes we can rely on to help us do a better job as the leader.…

If we try to hide the bad news for the buyer will that work? How long with it work for? Bernie Madoff died in prison, his wife left in a perilous state, one son dead from suicide and the other from cancer. I call that family devastation. He got away with his lies and cheating for quite a while. He offered modest, but steady returns. He told people …

It makes sense to be authentic when presenting, because this is the easiest state to maintain. As someone wise once noted, “if you are going to be a liar you need a stupendous memory to keep up with who you told what”. Presenting is something similar. Maintaining a fiction in front of an audience takes a lot of skill. In fact, if you have that much…

Previously, Rose worked for Pernod Ricard Japan as a Brand Manager for Ki No Bi and White Spirits, Brand Manager for Jameson Irish Whiskey, and Wine Ambassador. Her earlier roles also included Sales Support Executive at iSeek Communications, Guest Relations at Tokyo Daiichi Hotel, and Guest Relations at Whitehorse Hotel. Rose holds a Bachelor of Co…

Our mindset is key to success in any activity, whether it's sports, business, or public speaking. Yet, many of us forget this vital aspect when preparing for presentations. We dive straight into the content, logistics, and technicalities without pausing to ensure we have the right mental attitude. Since a presentation puts both our personal and pro…

The chain of command is a well established military leadership given. I have three stripes, you have none, so do what I say or else. In the post war period, this leadership idea was transposed across to Civvy street by returning soldiers. This worked like a charm and only started to peter out with the pushback against the Vietnam War, when all auth…

The buyer is King. This is a very common concept in modern Western economies. We construct our service approach around this idea and try to keep elevating our engagement with royalty. After living in Japan for 36 years and selling to a broad range of industries, I have found in Japan, the buyer is not King. In Nippon the buyer is God. This differen…

When I read this quote from Nobel Laureate Herbert Simon from 1971 that “ a wealth of information would create a poverty of attention” I thought about its ramifications for presenters. Today, we are firmly swimming against a King tide of information overload, so Simon’s dystopian prophecy has come to fruition. This is the Age of Distraction for aud…

Alex previously was an analyst for Marche Industriel Europe (Alternance), Assistant Commerciaux Grand Comptes, Assistant Commercial Manager Le Jardin Gaulois. He is an alumnus of ISEAM (Institut Supérieur d'Études en Alternance du Management), Marne-la-Vallée, France. Summary Alex shares his experience leading a niche luxury brand specializing in h…

Getting Japanese clients to agree to share case studies can be tough due to their cautious approach to divulging company information. The “no” response often feels final, and persuasion can fall short because company policies prevent employees from deviating from established rules. It’s not uncommon for clients to fear favoring one provider over an…

Japan has a wonderful year end tradition where the entire house is given a massive clean up. Dust is dispatched, junk is devolved and everything is made shipshape. We need to do the same with our business and I don’t mean cleaning up your desk. We have two types of people working for us. There are those who receive a salary of some dimension, be th…

Confidence sells. We all know this instinctively. If we meet a salesperson who seems doubtful about their solution or unconvinced it is the right thing for us, then we won’t buy from them. The flip side is the con man. They are brimming with brio, oozing charm and pouring on the surety. They are crooks and we can fall for their shtick, because we b…

The largest meeting venue in the office complex was big enough to handle hundreds of people and it was packed. This presentation involved all the senior heads of the Department going through their strategies for the coming year. One after another, we took to the stage and spoke about our areas of responsibility. I was one of the five who spoke. My …

Previously, Carl was President of ODU Japan, Technology Support DMG Mori. He graduated with an MA in Business Administration from the University of Augsburg Carl’s journey from discovering Japanese sword arts to leading a German machine tool subsidiary in Japan illustrates the fusion of cultural appreciation and professional growth. Carl began his …

Running a successful business requires sharp focus on cost control, maintaining quality, building the brand, staying alert to competitors, and appealing to stakeholders. However, a growing challenge in today's business world is managing people. In Japan, there’s a rising concern about attracting and retaining qualified staff. The once abundant pool…

I met the owner of a successful business recently. He had bought the company twenty years ago and then pivoted it to a new and more successful direction. So successful, that he employs over 230 staff and was recently listed on the local stock exchange. It was a business meeting to discuss collaboration and I was expecting an entrepreneurial leader,…

Buying from people we like and trust makes a lot of sense. Sometimes we have no choice and will hold our nose and buy from people we don’t like. Buying anything from people we don’t trust is truly desperate. So when we flip the switch and we become the seller to the buyer, how can we pass the smell and desperation tests? How do you establish trust …

I listen to some podcasts on writing, trying to better educate myself on the craft. I was hopeless at English at school, so the rest of my life has been a remedial fix in that department. Fundamentally, these podcast authors are aimed at fiction writers, rather than non-fiction scribblers like me. A lot of what we do in business on our dog down day…

Previously she was General Manager Nutrition and Health BASF Japan, Deputy Region Head Asia Pacific and Sales Head Japan, BL Home & Personal care, Ciba Inc. She has a BA in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Tokyo University and an MBA from INSEAD Her leadership philosophy reveals a thoughtful, people-centered, and culturally nuanced approach. As Preside…

When delivering a great presentation, it's easy to feel satisfied, especially when the audience is soaking up your content. But the challenge comes when things are going well, and you want to elevate them to the next level. I recently attended a presentation where the speaker nailed it: the content was relevant, the room was packed, and the deliver…

The ad on social media said, “we are looking for sales A players”. I know the guy who put out the ad and he had recently moved to a new company, a new entrant into Japan and they were aggressively going after market share here. I was thinking I would love to be able to recruit A players for sales as well, but I can’t. The simple reason is that A pl…

Is selling telling or is it asking questions? Actually, it is both. The point though is to know what stories to tell, when to tell them and how to tell them. We uncover the opportunity through asking the buyer questions about what they need. Once we know what they need, we mentally scan our solution data base to find a match. This is when the stori…

Presentations have become tediously monochrome. The speaker speaks, the audience sit there passively taking it all in. After the speaker’s peroration, they get to offer up a few questions for about 10 to 15 minutes or so and then that is the end of it. With the pivot to online presentations, the fabric of the presentation methodology hasn’t changed…

Previously Alberto was Sales Director-Industry APA in HoChiMinh, Sales Director-Industry APA Shanghai, Sales Director -South/East China Shanghai, Purchasing and Logistic Assistant Manager CTC Clatronic Padova Italy, HR & Market support Driving Force Asia Shanghai, Timesharing sales Representative Interval International Italy He has a BA and MA from…

In Japan, politeness and formality go hand in hand, shaping interactions in ways that might feel unfamiliar to people from more casual cultures like the United States, Australia, or Canada. While some European countries may find Japan’s structured approach more familiar, many Western visitors are surprised by just how much etiquette matters—especia…

Years ago I inverted the pyramid and promoted the best salespeople to become the branch leaders. The existing branch leaders were shuffled around to new branches and they provided the grey hair and the credibility needed by the older rich clientele, but didn’t have responsibility for driving revenues anymore. They were moved because if they had sta…

Japanese salespeople really care about their clients. This is good, except when it isn’t and that is usually when they are prioritizing the client over the firm which employs them. Japan is a relationship driven, risk averse business culture, where longevity is appreciated. This often translates into the salespeople being captured by a type of “Sto…

Many people break the rules of presenting, usually unknowingly. They have Johari Window style blind spots, where others know they are making mistakes, but they themselves are oblivious and just don’t know. This is extremely dangerous, because when you don’t know, you keep hardening the arteries of your habit formation. It is diabolically difficult …

Previously Maxime was General Manager Klimpton Shinjuku Tokyo, Food and Beverage Performance Manager IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan, Senior Champagne Brand Ambassador Pernod Ricard, Restaurant Manager & Chef Sommelier IHG ANA Hotels Group Japan, Restaurant Manager & Sommelier Relais & Chateaux, Restaurant Manager Windsor Hotel Toyo Resort and Spa Hokka…

Bosses get this wrong. The younger generation demands a new type of boss—someone persuasive, focused on their career development, and who is skilled as a communicator and coach. Japan’s demographic crisis makes meeting these demands even more critical. With fewer young people entering the workforce, competition for their loyalty is fierce. Employer…

Time is the enemy of good leadership. It takes time to develop a team of individuals. A common metaphor is the orchestra conductor. Each instrument player has a specific role and it is the job of the leader to meld them together to work harmoniously and effectively. The conductor takes a significant amount of time to get this working correctly. Tha…

Luck is the nexus of hard work and persistence. Salespeople need some luck, even if they have to create it themselves. That old blues refrain “If it wasn’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all” can’t apply. We have to make our own luck and here are seven luck creation principles we can start using immediately to help us get there. No fancy varsity…

Bonseki is a Japanese art creating miniature landscapes, on a black tray using white sand, pebbles and small rocks. They are exquisite but temporary. The bonseki can’t be preserved and are an original, throw away art form. Speaking to audiences is like that, temporary. Once we down tools and go home, that is the end of it. Our reach can be transien…

Previously Tim was President of Consumer Products at D+M Holdings, General Manager Johnson Electric China, Director Marketing & Manufacturing Black & Decker, Controller and Sales Manager Cavalier Corporation. He has both a BBA Finance and an MBA for Loyola University Maryland Summary Tim Bailey shares his journey, reflecting on the challenges he fa…

Don’t get this wrong. Good posture never goes out of style, yet many presenters struggle with it. Standing straight projects confidence, enables better breath control, and conveys energy. However, the presenting environment often tempts us into poor habits. Even seasoned performers—actors and singers—struggle with posture during award acceptance sp…

An ideal work week for salespeople would start everyday with sales role play with colleagues. When we do serious exercise we warm up to get into prime condition for becoming better at our activities. It is the same with sales, we need to warm up before we interact with clients. We need to get our communication vehicle into top well maintained condi…

In Part One, we looked at the ideas of primacy (the first thing we remember) and recency (the last thing we remember) and what this means for speakers. Now in Part Two we will go deeper with our entry and exit points of the chapters within the talk and how to choreograph the big crescendo for our polemic’s sparkling conclusion. We naturally have to…

Previously Yuichi was Head of Business Development, Misaki Capital, Senior Managing Director/Global Head of Sales (International Business) Nikko Asset Management, Managing Director Tokio Marine Asset Management, Senior Analyst/International Equity, Mizuho Trust and Banking, Portfolio Manager International Equity, Chuo Mitsui Trust and Banking Summa…

Nemawashi, translates to “groundwork” and is rooted in the practice of moving large trees. This intricate process—preparing roots, wrapping them, and relocating the tree—serves as a metaphor for meticulous preparation before decisions in business. In Japan, decisions are typically made before meetings, with the gathering itself serving as a formali…

I remember reading once about a President reflecting on the cost controls he had instituted inside his organisation. The industry had emerged from a recession and even though the economy and the company had recovered, he had forgotten to ease the strict controls he had instituted to protect the company. Covid-19 has forced many of us to institute s…

In Part One, we talked about Jan Carlzon’s insights into the importance of consistent service being provided to clients. The buyer mantra is know, like and trust in sales. We also talked about the basics of sales – prospecting and closing. Now are we going to continue the errors, shortcomings and mistakes of last year into the new year or not? Are …

Primacy refers to the beginning of something, as it enters our brain. This new entity has a powerful impact on our memory and our concentration. To muscle itself into our existing brain thought stream, takes a lot of mental energy. If successful, the new direction grabs us more powerfully than continuing with the same existing thought pattern. Rece…

Previously Rami was President of Moderna Japan, CEO of Ferring Pharmaceuticals, VP Head Medical Affairs Division Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Corporate Officer, Business Development Eisai. Summary Rami Suzuki’s leadership journey is marked by adaptability, honesty, and a commitment to empowering others. Beginning her career as a cancer researcher, she …

Don’t be delusional. Do you consider yourself moody? Perhaps not, but as a boss, your team may perceive you differently. Employees are keenly attuned to your every movement, tone, body language and expression, constantly evaluating your mood to gauge whether it's a good time to approach you with work-related matters. Your ability to mask emotions o…

Giving people orders is fine and fun, when you are the leader. Not so great when you are on the receiving end though. Collaboration and innovation are two seismic shifts in workstyle that are fundamentally different from the way most leaders were educated. Command and control were more the order of business back in the day. Hierarchy was clear, bos…

Journeymen salespeople are starting another year of selling. Maybe their financial year is a calendar year or maybe the year wraps up in March. It doesn’t matter, because there is a mental trick we play on ourselves that January 1st represents a new start, a new year. Sales can be exhausting and 2025 will not go down as a bumper year for the vast m…

Bruce Springsteen’s song Glory Days lyric, “Boring stories of Glory days yeah, they’ll pass you by” pops into my head sometimes, when I hear a speaker reminiscing about their glorious past. I was sitting there at a chamber function when the speaker began to talk at length about his start in sales and his experiences. It was fascinating for him no d…