The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show

I am infamous in Tokyo.  I always ask the first question of the speaker at an event.  "Oh Greg, you always ask the first question", people say, as if it was a bad thing.  They don't get it.  In my case, I have found that having an interesting question is one thing, but having the chance to get it answered is another.  In the past I would be there with my hand dangling in the air to ask a question...

In the military, junior officers are the equivalent of middle management in business.  In times of warfare these middle managers are often wounded or killed in battle.  There are no replacements from officer school, so the most capable member of the team is promoted on the battlefield, as the replacement leader.  It makes no sense in business to have this as the model.  Yet, this is often what hap...

There is a saying in Japan, Kuki wo Yomu, which means read the air or be aware of the atmosphere or subtexts in the meeting.  In sales, we need to be on high alert all the time for what is the atmosphere prevailing with the buyer at this moment. What are any changes we are noticing during the meeting and what sort of changes do we want to see. I was talking to a salesman about a call he and a coll...

Usually when we hear the term "presentation", we think of a public arena, a big crowd and a lot of formality.  These public occasions are important because this is your personal and professional brand on show to the world.  There are other presentations though, which are in the family bosom of the company, away from the bright lights and the fanfare.  This is when you are addressing the troops, pe...

Wayne Gretzky is famous for the ice hockey quote "skate to where the puck is going to be"  about anticipating where and when the critical actions have to be taken, rather than just following what is already happening.  This metaphor applies even more in business, because the complexities are much higher, the team is usually a lot bigger and the ramifications much larger.  In reality though, we oft...

"We Don't Have Any Budget".   Yes You Do! In the profession of sales, this is one of the most widespread pushbacks on our sterling offer.  It also a false flag as well.  We should never believe it when we hear this, because they certainly have budget.  What they really mean is they are not prepared to allocate any of their budget for this product or service.  Why would they be that crazy and not m...

This was a gala affair for a very worthy cause.  A grand setting. Beautiful ladies in evening gowns, men resplendent in their tuxedos.  The host of the charity event was duly introduced, to give an opening speech.  The speech actually started quite well.  He told a powerful story about a young person struggling in their life.  The trials, tribulations and barriers described in the lead up to the p...

How do we set up a positive mindset?  More importantly how do we set it up from morning when we awake and when we start work?  What are we feeding our mind?  What things are occupying our thoughts?  How do we control what we allow into our mind?  Who has influence over our mindset?  Are we in control or are we being controlled?    Usually, our start of the day begins with a quick scan of our email...

In the profession of sales, "We Don't Have Any Budget"  is one of the most widespread pushbacks from buyers to our sterling offer. It also a false flag as well.  We should never believe it when we hear this, because they certainly have budget.  What they really mean is they are not prepared to allocate any of their budget for this product or service.  If we fully believe that what we are selling i...

A businessman reached out to me after attending my speech on "The Seven Deadly Fails Of Selling In Japan", which I gave to the American Chamber of Commerce here in Tokyo.  He wasn't interested in hearing about how to sell in Japan, but he was frustrated that he was too low profile in his industry.  The consequence of being invisible in your industry sector is that people don't look for you or find...

When we are writing, we can create a style of our own.  The way we use certain vocabulary, the phrasing we apply in our sentences, the types of subjects we tackle.  What about when we are speaking?  What would we like to be known for?  When people hear we are speaking, are they saying to themselves, "I need to attend that talk"?  The answer to can we create our own style is definitely "yes" and yo...

Rising in a company in Japan requires talent, but this is often held hostage to time. Your age, longevity and seniority in the system are factors that often trump talent.  The usual internal talent development programme is based on OJT (On The Job Training).  This is fine if your boss is a great practitioner, communicator and coach.  Not many of those floating around Japan. There is also a degree...

Former American President John F. Kennedy left us with a great quote: "Let's never negotiate out of fear.  But let us never fear to negotiate".  Actually, we do fear to negotiate though, don't we.  We worry about asking for too much or too little.  We usually imagine a "negotiator" as someone totally unlike ourselves, a tough individual with ice coursing through their veins.  Ironically, we are al...

A businessman reached out to me after attending my recent speech on "The Seven Deadly Fails Of Selling In Japan", which I gave to the American Chamber of Commerce here in Tokyo.  He wasn't interested in hearing about how to sell in Japan, but he was frustrated that he was too low profile in his industry.  The consequence of being invisible in your industry sector is that people don't look for you...

Dynamic, powerful, driven, single-minded leaders get stuff done.  They are resourceful, disciplined, patient, highly demanding of themselves.  They are often poor listeners.  They are so focused on making things happen, getting decisions executed, pushing through, that conversations become monologues rather than dialogues.  They are so into their thing, that they want to talk about that and not mu...

This is a pretty big subject, so I will pick up a few of the more noteworthy differences.  In the West, salespeople, for the most part, are involved in an occupation for which they have received no training.  They are thrown into sales, to sink or swim.  If they don't sell, they don't eat, because of the sales commission structures.  Total commission based remuneration is a normal thing in most co...

Sometimes we read that when we are presenting it should be just like a conversation with your friend.  The idea is we should be relaxed, inclusive, totally focused on the people we are speaking to.  Now will that work in the boardroom when presenting to the senior executives, none of whom are particularly friendly?  Will this work with an audience of legitimate experts in your field?  Will this wo...

  Our education moves through many transitions.  We do our basic academic education at school and university and then we hit the university of life.  Company education programs begin with very basic induction sessions.  We may be studying technical subjects for regulatory requirements or the firms specified areas for further study.  We might get some rudimentary soft skill education, although the...

Japan is a big small place.  It is about the same size as the UK, but is covered in mountains, the latter making up 70% of the land area.  We have very few of those horizon stretching field vistas like they have in England.  This mountainous aspect has led to quite strong sub-regional differences here, especially reflected in language, customs and cuisine.  England has these too, but I think Japan...

In business, we are asked to present as a team.  We may be pitching for new business and the presentation requires different specialist areas of expertise.  This is quite different to doing something on your own, where you are the star and have full control over what is going on.  One of the big mistakes with amateur presenters is they don't rehearse.  They just turn up and fluff it.  They blow up...

Brace yourself for everything to take a big hit twice a year.  Speed, attention to detail, output, results are about to fall off a cliff.  No this has nothing to do with currency rates, wars, supply chain issues, trade regulations, tariffs, gunboat diplomacy or anything politicians may do.  This is here in Japan, every year and mainly relevant in the major cities.    Roughly one third of your team...

How I hate those four words – "send it to me".  I get that heavy feeling in my stomach and around my shoulders.  I know we are now on the path to sale's hell.  I particularly hate it when I hear that request after I have tried for the second time to secure a meeting to go through things face to face be that online or in person.  After you have requested the meeting and they push back, you can go b...

Brace yourself for taking some big hits in Japan.  Speed, attention to detail, output, results will fall off a cliff.  No this has nothing to do with wars, currency rates, trade regulations, tariffs, gunboat diplomacy or anything politicians do.  Every season there is something going on here which will harm the work flow and the desired outcomes.   Spring is usually seen as a happy time and a reli...

When you contemplate this title you are probably thinking about heroic sales efforts, massive privations, sacrifice, striving, discipline, patience and forbearance.  Actually I am not talking about any of that mighty stuff.  I am talking about your client.  The really irritating thing about sales is trying to get someone to buy who doesn't need what you are offering.  You know they should have it,...

When we are presenting, we can be mentally separating out personal selves from the content of the talk.  There will be facts, data, statistics, details, examples, evidence, etc., which is all rather far removed from the individual presenting.  It is almost like we are doing third person presentations rather than first person. Technical people, in particular, like to remove themselves from the proc...