Professional and Organisational Development
Executive Coaching
Our Executive Coaching practice focuses on accelerating the development of leaders based in Japan, or across APAC, with a focus on facilitating the development of skills, attitudes and behaviors that characterize effective global leaders.
Focus areas include:
Case Study 1
A newly-appointed expatriate COO of the Japan branch of a U.S. Trust Bank sought support in transition to this larger role.
Success was contingent upon his mastering workflow, restructuring his units, and rapidly developing and advancing key members of his multicultural team. The organization’s culture (holdover from Japanese acquisition) was resistant to change and stakeholders did not embrace reassignment.
Coach and client mapped the cultural landscape; designed an individual and organizational development plan by which:
1) COO modeled new behaviors,
2) coached and developed key players, and
3) implemented change leadership across his unit.
The participant was subsequently advanced to President and, in this capacity worked with coach to design a systemic coaching program targeting the development of high-potential Japanese leaders.
Outcome: the advancement of four key players (Japanese women) and the alignment of
organizational vision among members of a multicultural executive team.
Case Study 2
Upon succeeding a charismatic male expatriate, a Japanese female MD (financial services industry) struggled to win the respect and trust of her local, and global stakeholders. Competency-based leadership assessment evidenced ample capability.
Coach and client worked to surface and resolve ambivalence toward role and to address challenges in interacting with local peers. The participant learned to modulate her leadership style (channel switching) so as to be effective with both local and global stakeholders.
Outcome: a successful assignment, enhanced by the client achieving a positive profile in the local organization as leader of its Woman’s Network.
Group Coaching
Executive Team Alignment & Development
Regional Work Groups – Skill Development Cultural Integration
Focus areas include:
Case Study 1
A tier of Japanese business sector consultants (Big Five firm) was transitioning to global leadership roles. As part of this transition they were tasked with collaborating in and leading the alignment of the local branch with a global change in business model.
Coach worked with five key leaders with a focus at individual level on leadership development: (strategy formation; cross-functional communication; team leadership & development), and at organization level: (thought leadership across the global group, innovating and aligning new systems locally).
Outcome: one participant was chosen for a global leadership role; and a second received a Global CEO award for most improved leader.
Case Study 2
Business-unit leaders (BUL) of the Japan-branch of a Global Energy Drink giant wished to rapidly develop a tier of newly-appointed team leaders positioned in globally-facing roles.
Coach worked with BUL leaders to assess needs and create a customized coaching, training and action learning program that addressed the branch’s needs on individual, team, and organization level. Participants received individual coaching, engaged in group learning activities targeted at building cross-cultural communication, team leadership, and negotiation skills, and engaged in group projects to enhance cross-functional collaboration.
Additionally, coach addressed career path challenges enabling young Japanese leaders to fully participate in global learning and development opportunities (HQ).
The six-month program continued through three iterations (participant groups) and resulted in: significant gains in leadership bench strength; improved cross-functional and cross-border collaboration; the alignment of the branch with global talent frameworks.
Accelerator Programs
Our Accelerator programs target the development of key leadership skills in emerging leaders in Asia.
Focus areas include:
Case Study 1
A Japanese leader tasked with his first international assignment needed to rapidly develop credibility with his Chicago-based team; assess organizational dysfunction, and create a change leadership plan.
The coach and client assessed communication challenges, and devised a means in which a #2 could mediate; developed a staged plan for organizational assessment, and created a plan for communicating needed changes to both local and global stakeholders.
Key skills acquired: effective delegation of work; formulating and delivering concise messages to all stakeholders; planning, staging and leading organizational change.
Case Study 2
A Japanese female newly assigned to an HRM role (international firm) needed to quickly understand and revamp this function in her downsizing firm.
Coach and client created a staged development plan that enabled her to effectively delegate work; focus on key and strategic learnings related to HRM; ASK FOR HELP as she needed it; and coach and develop others into new roles.
Key skills acquired: self-management and delegation skills; developing and articulating clear messages for international stakeholders; planning, staging and leading organizational change; coaching and developing talent.
Cultural Development
The most successful organizations are those that are able align their culture to their strategy. The challenge entailed in this task increases exponentially as firms operate across boundaries and cultures. While many international firms have approached this challenge by, essentially, by adopting ‘American’ models, we recognize that this solution may not be adequate to the needs of globalizing Asian firms.
Starting at the top with the CEO and the Executive team, we are highly experienced at enabling the delivery of a new strategy to an organization at every level – inspiring and motivating to ensure that everyone operates at their best.
Focus areas include:
Case Study 1
The senior leadership team of a globalizing Japanese clinical research firm wished to align branches across Asia and in the U.S. with a new business strategy, and newly formulated organizational mission and values statement.
Coach collaborated with the leadership team to create a global communication plan, CEO-led orientation events in multiple locations, and on-going virtual coaching of seven off-shore teams.
Results included integration of global strategy into business planning activities in each location; integration of organizational values (behaviors) into individual development planning, and performance management in Asia and U.S. branches. Subsequent work involved coaching and skill development for a regional sales team (five branches), and, on-going coaching of Japanese leaders positioned in global branches.
Case Study 2
Coach worked with CEO and founder of Tokyo-based bioscience start-up (the business model of which required recruitment and alignment of academic sponsors and technical experts in both Japan and the U.S.), in creation of communication protocols, and promotional campaigns in both Japan and the U.S.
Key to the success of this venture has been the ability to leverage Japanese technical talent, and investment resources while maintaining interest and active participation among U.S. stakeholders. What were two organizational cultures are now being merged into a unique value proposition, specific to one geography but generative of new technology in both country contexts.