What
we can do to improve leadership in Japan
●The type of leadership we can
see in Nadeshiko Japan:One of most moving things I have seen this year was
the first victory of the Japanese women's national soccer team at the 2011
Women's World Cup. When the team paid a courtesy call to the Japanese prime
minister, Mr. Naoto Kan, at his place of residency, he praised the leadership of
team captain, Ms. Homare Sawa, and told her as follows:
"You have organized
and managed your team very well. I'm not sure if I'll make it in time, but I'd
like to start learning from the leadership you displayed." This speech is still
fresh in our minds.
The absence of leadership is not new in Japanese
political circles. It seems that the seriousness of this matter stands out even
more clearly amidst the current crises Japan is facing. As a result, Japan's
government bond rating dropped below that of Spain and Italy, recording the
lowest rating among the developed nations. Japan's presence at the G7 summit is
also weakening. On the other hand, the people in charge of countries such as the
U.S., Russia, China, the UK and France have been elected as representatives who
possess a certain level of leadership.
●The difference between leadership
and management:In the U.S, studies on leadership have always been popular.
The September issue of the "Diamond Harvard Business Review" has a feature on
"Great leadership." One of the articles by Professor John P. Kotter focuses on
"The difference between leadership and management."
According to the
article, management refers to the creation of an environment and systems that
enable "ordinary people to execute ordinary tasks at a higher level of
performance than normal." That is, Kotter speaks of management as "Organization
Building," "Resource Allocation," "Control" and "Problem Solving."
On
the other hand, leadership refers to moving an organization by working on
individual members and its culture. That is, Kotter speaks of leadership as
“Change," "Direction," "Motivation" and "Uniting people."
●Leadership is
not required in bottom up management: In Japan, there is a tendency to think
that leadership and management are one and the same. It might be that the
concept of leadership had not existed because of the adoption of a bottom up
management style.
Japan has traditionally been operated by a bureaucratic
management and economic circle, and even without a strong leader presence, Japan
has functioned well as the country by finding some form of solution to any
problem that cropped up.
However, this is set to change in the future.
Today the country faces many problems such as a "low birthrate and an aging
society," "radioactive contamination" and "energy concerns."
We cannot
simply get away with resolving problems as they crop up. We require strong
leadership in order to carry out reform in Japan.
●Leadership as
exemplified by Apple:In July in the U.S, Apple's market value exceeded that
of ExxonMobil, the largest energy company in the world, to become the world's
leading company in terms of market value.
I often used to visit
Cupertino in Silicon Valley, where Apple is located. At that time, I was in
charge of a Sony 3.5" micro floppy disc-related project. Apple was the first PC
company to adopt the micro floppy. With this as a starting point, the micro
floppy disk drive became a world standard.
At that time, Apple's
president was Steve Jobs. Later on, Apple was to experience a slump, and he was
banished from Apple at one time. Apple was nearly bankrupt. But 15 years ago he
helped Apple turn things around. It was largely due to his overwhelming
leadership and aesthetic sensibilities that Apple managed to recover and
eventually become the No.1 company in the world.
●The way of Job's
leadership:Steve Jobs gave a commencement address at Stanford University in
July 2005 following his return from his first medical treatment. The speech
included the following piece of advice.
"Your time is limited, so don't waste
it living someone else's life.
.... Don't let the noise of others' opinions
drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow
your heart and intuition. "
There may be a limit to the amount of time
given to a country such as Japan. If everyone were to follow their heart and
intuition ,a strong new leader would surely be born. Let's hope for the arrival
of a Japanese Steve Jobs.