Blogs and Articles from Third Way Forum Membrs
May 26, 2022
Japan's infamous "Reading the Air" concept. What is it in reality?
Blogs from The Third Way Working Group
・ The situation could be pretty different if a Japanese leader is managing non-Japanese teams in Japan or aboard.
・ Depending on which country, the culture and social situation is vastly different. So it is difficult for companies to prepare expat Japanese leaders for their each specific overseas market. However, we can still prepare them to be curious and respectful enough to learn the local people and culture and also to be agile enough to adapt and handle the situation.
・ Japanese leaders could learn local market specifics of the assigned location and individual specifics of non-Japanese subordinates once they are assigned to the role. However, their mindset and attitude should be fine-tuned to get out of their Japanese comfort zone before commencing their international assignment.
・ The typical issues many foreign people have experienced with bad Japanese leaders are as follows.
・ The lack of transparency (lack of open communication, holding something close to their chest)
・ No explanation of “why”. If you ask “why” about the job and the performance evaluation etc, you could be seen challenging your superiors.
・ Asking for conformity and discouraging different ideas and ways of working.
・ On the other hand, good Japanese leaders always give non-Japanese a warm and open feeling that the opinions of non-Japanese really count and are valued.
・ In conclusion, we believe any Japanese leader who wants to successfully manage non-Japanese teams have to be able to explain “why of wok” clearly.
・ Depending on which country, the culture and social situation is vastly different. So it is difficult for companies to prepare expat Japanese leaders for their each specific overseas market. However, we can still prepare them to be curious and respectful enough to learn the local people and culture and also to be agile enough to adapt and handle the situation.
・ Japanese leaders could learn local market specifics of the assigned location and individual specifics of non-Japanese subordinates once they are assigned to the role. However, their mindset and attitude should be fine-tuned to get out of their Japanese comfort zone before commencing their international assignment.
・ The typical issues many foreign people have experienced with bad Japanese leaders are as follows.
・ The lack of transparency (lack of open communication, holding something close to their chest)
・ No explanation of “why”. If you ask “why” about the job and the performance evaluation etc, you could be seen challenging your superiors.
・ Asking for conformity and discouraging different ideas and ways of working.
・ On the other hand, good Japanese leaders always give non-Japanese a warm and open feeling that the opinions of non-Japanese really count and are valued.
・ In conclusion, we believe any Japanese leader who wants to successfully manage non-Japanese teams have to be able to explain “why of wok” clearly.
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