Different Place, Different Taste

Now I'm at Kobe, one of the oldest trading port in Japan. From tonight, I will be staying at this city to participate in a seminar called "Navigation Seminar" which instructs us how to deal with children and how to support their learnings and growing.

In my personal life, it is getting more and more important to decide how to deal with my daughter after she began to do things by her own will. I need some guidance or certain level of philosophy when I must scold her, when I must leave her, when I must support her, when I must teach her.

In the seminar, it will be introduced how "Learn-net Global School" have educated their students and how do they "navigate" them. It will be quite helpful for me to think about the attitude toward my daughter.

Kazuteru Kodera

Shock from Developing Countries

From today, I would like to write about my experience and learnings from Executive Program for Leadership Development which I participated as a facilitator this month. That experience was really a “Shock” for me. In the end of Edo era (Tokugawa Shogunate), black ship from the US came to Japan and Japanese people forced to realize the existence of “world” by its powerful cannon attack and by the size of the ship. My experience in EPLD course was similar to that experience caused by black ship 200 years ago in Japan.

First of all, I will write an article titled “What we can learn from them”. In that article, I will summarize what is their strength and what we can learn from these talented leaders.

After that, I will change my viewpoint to their perspective and point out what they can learn from us. By writing this article, I will be able to find out what is the strength of Japanese, Japanese organization and Japanese way of management.

Developing countries are not only target for ODA, or not only they are competitors, but also they are the partners to whom we can tell about what we have learned in the experience of rapid economic growth. We can share our knowledge how to manage organizations with harmony, how to continuously improve productivity in manufacturing industry.

By doing so, we are able to see the new style of globalization where Japan and these developing countries cooperate with each other and learn from each other.

At the end of the series of articles, I will conclude them by writing “Then our actions are....”. How Japan and Japanese should act in order to make this world to be a better place, I would like to express my thoughts.

Kazuteru Kodera

Life is made by Time

Time is the most difficult thing for us to handle. Time is the most fare thing for us because each person has 24 hours a day, no more, no less. However rich the person is, time is surely one thing he/she cannot purchase.

When we have plenty of time, we do not care about what to spend . In my high school years, or college years, time was everywhere. No need to take care of it. No need to think about it. Time is there, and more important thing was how to spend it.

When we have a lot of things to do, time becomes the most precious resource of our lives. Then prioritization comes into our lives. Which should be the first, and which should be the second, third, fourth..... Everything are put number on them and stand in lines before us.

The point here is, it is ourselves to decide which should be the first, second and so on. It is not other people to decide, nor it is not the thing which is ordered by someone else. It is ourselves.

We should be responsible for our decision and should take responsibility if the prioritization hurt someone. It is us, ourselves who only can decide what to do first.

Kazuteru Kodera

Business Plan Workshop TODAY

Today, I will facilitate "Business Planning Workshop" at a private school called "Kokorozashi-Juku" in Tokyo. This time, I will focus on the overview of business planning and try to make it easy to understand what is business plan and how it is created.

Business plan is crucial for both creating a new business and rebuilding the strategy of existing business.

When you try to create a new business, you must make other people understand what you are trying to realize through your business. Business, especially growth oriented business, can not be built without the supports from other people. Supports such as financial aspects, and people aspects.

One of the most important thing for the business planning process is "passion" of the person who is writing the plan. If he/she is not believing in his/her success and the value of the business, nobody would not support him/her. Not only entrepreneurs but also managers in the certain size of company need to be passionate for their plan. The passion would make their subordinates motivated and eager to contribute to the business.

Without passion, no business success can be achieved.

Cherry blossoms and Memory of the birth

It's blooming! The cherry trees in the park near my place started blooming. The most beautiful and comfortable season in Tokyo is coming close.

My daughter was born on 3rd of April last year and I gave her a name Sakura which stands for cherry blossoms. On the way of coming back from the hospital where she was born, I saw very beautiful cherry trees in the park. That was when I decided to give her a name Sakura.

Looking at the cherry blossoms, I can clearly recall what I felt when I saw my daughter's face for the first time. I can clearly recall what I swore when I hold my daughter for the first time. One year have passed since my daughter's birth. The year full of change and full of events. After passing through these busy days, now cherry blossoms come and remind me of the fresh feelings what I felt last year. Again, it's blooming. It's blooming to congratulate my daughter's first birthday. Kazuteru Kodera

Start writing this blog in English

From today, I would like to write this blog in English as frequently as possible. The reason why I try to do so is that I have a strong sense of urgency that we Japanese must be globalized as soon as possible. By writing this in English, I can train myself to express my opinion, thoughts in English and I will be able to have the feeling that I am connected to the world by writing this blog.

Why English? English is surely a global language in this world, and will be staying in that position in 10 to 30 years in the future too. Some people say that Chinese will be the next global language, but I do not think so. China will surely become a world superpower within 5 years from now, but Chinese language is quite difficult to learn especially for Western people.

How about Japanese? Never be the global language. Keep on writing this blog in Japanese means that I send my message or thoughts only to 120 million Japanese people. Off course I do not think my opinion is precious enough for global stage, but trying is always better than not trying.

Kazuteru Kodera