The Foreign Leader In Japan   We know leaders who are friction magnets. They upset those working with them on a regular basis. They are quick to point out their opinion and their view. Their rights are paramount and we are soon informed of them. They are highly driven, powerful, even intense individuals. They are upwardly mobile and have sharp elbows. Basically they are a pain in most countries, but they are a disaster in Japan.   Crash or crash through sounds cool, but it is not a great formula for getting change embedded in the organization. Often Japan can drive everyone nuts because it is so hard to introduce change here. This is not just the frustration of Western leaders sent to Japan on assignment. Japanese leaders are also frustrated that they cannot get the changes they want implemented fast enough.   The forceful expatriate leader in Japan soon discovers that their will is not everyone’s command. At some point they find that force of status won’t work here. Japanese employees have a social contract with the company, such that just firing some of the troops for insubordination isn’t so easy.   Japanese business people value their relationships and so the command to damage those because of the whim of the newly arrived boss is met with stiff resistance. The staff know that in three years or so, this new foreign boss will be winging their way to another assignment, but they will all still be here to pick up the pieces.   The idea of waiting out the new guy or gal is well established. A rear guard action is inaugurated to slow down the change, hide as many facets which no one wants to change as possible and to control how much the new boss finds out. What looked like “we crashed through” actually turns out to be just a “crash”.   There are better ways to do things here, but they involve diplomacy and tact on the part of the leader. Temper tantrums are a part of some Western leader’s management tool kit. Exploding in anger and venting rage at things that they thought were being done, but actually aren’t being done, is part of the package. Venting here doesn’t change things much. People are people everywhere and nobody enjoys being forced to do things against their will. The local staff see themselves as the business experts in Japan. The new boss is seen as so ignorant of how things work here, that they are a danger to the business.   Losing one’s temper is seen as childish and demonstrating a lack of control. A serious business person stays in control and uses their communication ability to persuade others to follow them. They are very tactful when listening to ideas they think are stupid and useless. They control their body language so the other person cannot gauge their animosity to the proposal. Japanese language is a big help here because it is so circuitous and indirect, it is genius at disguising what is really being thought. English and most western languages are much more clear and direct.   Rather than telling everyone what they need to do, to fly straight, which is the usual Western boss proclivity, it is a good idea to ask people’s opinions. Asking for them to volunteer their thoughts is not going to get very far though. Japanese people are hesitant to volunteer that information for fear of getting it wrong. It is probably easier to ask why what you think should be done is going to be difficult. That is a great word “difficult”. In the Japanese context it means “impossible”. The critique ability of Japanese business people is pretty well honed and so they will find the thousand reasons why this suggestion of yours is a bad idea.   The more taxing part is getting everyone to think how to get it done anyway. This is where listening skills and encouragement are major assets for the leader. There needs to be some persistence applied here. The typical first blush replies will be half hearted, superficial answers about how to make it work, with no real belief that any of this effort is even worth it. This is where t