In Part 1, I talked about the necessity of follow-up after promoting a young person considering the success rate of the promotion in Japan is about 40%, and the importance of raising the overall strength of the company.

Although luck plays a part in everything, you need to give a chance to young employees. It may not be common in Japanese culture, but I think it is better to give young people a chance to promote themselves -. A person who does not hesitate to express his opinions is precious. You need to value such a person.

In this new era where less than three out of hundred ideas become hits, people tend to become more and more quiet and not to express their opinions. If you have a person who is not timid about giving opinions and ideas, you should value him even when you think he is rather annoying.

For those who are outspoken, I urge you not to think that you are no good because no one pays attention to you. Your idea may be adopted at some point. Even when top executives or managers don’t take on your idea right away, they store it as an alternative in case their current projects fall through. They may hold your idea as a plan B. That is why I urge you not to get discouraged. Nothing would be in vain.

In this sense, “creating opportunities” and “giving a shot to an individual who exhibits a challenging spirit” are the key.

Never mind minor mistakes. It is important to give a second chance to young employees once more.

Build “Tomorrow’s Fighting Strength” for Business Entity

For those who are promoted, I encourage you to strive hard to improve your character. People can follow you if you are respectful regardless of your age. If you are not so respectful, people find it hard to follow you.

When a young person is in a higher position than his seniors, if the seniors think he sees everyone’s job fairly, they can follow him.

Overall, it is better to work things out and not to cancel each other out in a negative way.

A person who can’t think about building “tomorrow’s strength” in the company shouldn’t be climbing the ladder to top executive. A person who only cares about his own safety and doesn’t make enough effort to develop “tomorrow’s manager” and “tomorrow’s executive” is incompetent. This kind of person will make the company go south. It is painful for me to say this, but you need to create a company structure that can stay afloat even if you are gone.

In wartime, you never know when you might get shot and die, so the order that of who comes next as a commander is already decided. These things happen. So, it is better to have a structure which can keep feeding a person who can withstand crisis.

When the company is in a stable condition and the is not collapsing, you can promote a young person to a higher position as often as you can and have him experience various positions.

Photo:PIXTA

When Necessary, You Need to Say What You Have to Say Boldly But Also Be Careful, so People Don’t Think You Are Arrogant

When things start to get spoiled, it usually starts from the head. When the higher-ups in the company are no longer competent, it is common for them to throw in the towel. However, I suggest that you need to say what you have to say boldly to turn the situation around.

I left my company which I was employed in in 1986 when the Japanese economy was booming. I was working in their financial department and the cost of everything was escalating. My company started buying unnecessary items such as golf courses even though it has nothing to do with our business. They believed the cost of things would continue to soar and they borrowed the money from banks to buy unnecessary items.

For example, trading companies have nothing to do with golf courses, but the higher-ups wanted to play golf, so they wanted to possess them.

What were they thinking? Trading companies don’t know how to manage a golf course. They don’t have such know-how. They wanted it so they could invite their customers to play golf with them even on weekdays. They were making a lot of money then, so they bought unnecessary items because they thought the cost of things would continue to soar.

When bowling became popular, everyone wanted to buy bowling alleys. My company also bought them because everyone else was buying them and they didn’t want to be left out.

Amid the golf and bowling boom, many companies were investing in buying golf courses and bowling alleys. I thought we should not follow this trend, so I opposed the company’s policy by saying; this economic bubble will end soon; we should not invest in golf courses and bowling alleys just because everyone else is doing that; We should reduce our debts from banks instead; we are borrowing too much money from them; we should pay them back now when we have money to do so.

I wrote my opinions in an internal essay addressed to the company CEO and submitted it. It was rejected before it reached the CEO by an executive director. He said that my essay intends to criticize the CEO’s management policy. My essay went all the way to the executive director, but a lid was put on it there so the CEO didn’t see it.

However, a year later, things started to shift in the direction which I predicted. The debt from the golf course purchases ballooned, causing interest payments to mount, and the company subsequently went into decline. It seems that the company began to go awry in some areas because it had lost “a future finance director.”

You may not be able to believe what young people say, but it’s best to value people who voice their opinions. Even if their opinions aren’t taken up right away, I think people should voice them because it can be useful at some point. At that time, I think it’s best to try not to appear too arrogant.

Photo:PIXTA

Combine People With Deep Knowledge and Experience With Young People Who Are Motivated and Courageous

You may worry about many things, but there are things that you won’t know until you try them.

It is safe to say that people gain knowledge and experiences as they age, but lack courage. On the other hand, young people lack knowledge and experience but are motivated and courageous. You need to combine these two types of people.

You need to use young people to a certain extent at the international division level. Young people can go to countries with high risk without hesitation, but older people become cautious. At a division which requires “defense”, you need to assign people with experience. However, where you should “attack”, you need to assign more people with a spirit of challenge. If you don’t know whether he or she was a can-do spirit or not, try to use a young person.

Of course, some older people are young at heart, so you can’t judge just by their age. If top executives keep in mind to combine strengths of various people to make progress, things will advance in a good direction for the company.

Humility will be displayed in correcting your own mistakes when you realize it. People make mistakes. As the saying goes, “Don’t be afraid to correct your mistakes,” it is important to correct it if you think you made a mistake.

Photo:PIXTA

In an Era of Increasing Unemployment, It Is Wise to Aim for Lifelong Employment in a Skilled Job

During economic recession, more people face unemployment, but if you have a certain skill, you can prove your productivity.

When people are transferred or demoted within the company, they can’t be help but feel disappointed and desperate. In an era of increasing unemployment, you would be better off utilizing your longtime skill to contribute. You can prove that you have a right to receive a salary. It is likely less successful if you try a new thing even if you make it work at a timer of economic uncertainty

There are some countries in which the unemployment rate is 10-20%. In some countries in Europe, it is 20% (at time of this lecture). It is a big problem. You need to cast off your pride and aim for longtime employment with your skill.

The movie, “Railways”, in which Tomokazu Miura had a leading role, was a tearjerker depicting a 60-year-old railway worker who is about to retire in a month. He is a stubborn military type of guy whose life is at a deciding point — whether he retires at the age of 60 or continues working after 60. He was too prideful to continue working at a lower position. He wanted to leave his job gracefully, but after family discussion, he decided to continue working.

Even when your salary or position lowers, you need to change your pride and focus on contributing with your seasoned skill, knowledge, and experience. If you can seek lifelong employment in your skilled area, it is wise to walk on that path.

You can satisfy yourself outside of the workplace. You can enjoy your hobbies or learn new things. I think now we are entering the era in which you shouldn’t give up your job and seek a new job so easily.