Be transparent in management―Do not betray yourself―

Inamori shared his views with Seiwajuku members with regard to this motto: – Be transparent in management-, What Inamori mentioned is quoted with “”.

“In Kyocera, management has been conducted based on our mutual trust. In Kyocera, everything is open, including the management philosophy, and all the systems are quite clear. For instance, the hourly profitability system precisely discloses to all employees the operating results of all departments. Everyone can easily understand how much their amoeba (small business unit) generates the profit and where it comes from. At the same time, each of us is expected to be open in discussing and business conduct. This transparent system allows us to put our full effort into our work.”

Ultimately, this motto encourages leaders to be consistent between words and behaviors. Although we understand this is important, we hardly conduct this motto in our business practices, and so-called market practice sometimes prevails on the high road. I think the reasons why we should maintain such consistency are principally as follows.

1 To be empowered

2 To establish a trust

Let me elaborate one by one.

1 To be empowered

If your words and behavior show a discrepancy, there should be a conflict in your conscious minds. Even though we say that A is correct, our mind denies the importance of A, saying that A must not be carried out. For example, Mr. Inamori said the following.
“Top management often believes that they must discretionary spend entertainment expenses to manage the business administration smoothly. However, under the conscious level, you may be feeling guilty towards your staff because you are entertaining yourself with corporate expenses. Your sense of guilt would make your words unconvincing. You can not openly, fairly, and directly speak to your staff due to such a sense of guilt. You may always be confident that -This company does not either cheat you or do anything illegal. I have been living on a fixed salary- This kind of attitude empowers what the management says. ”

Even though top management says they are fair and honest, they hide their entertainment expenses, and do not put clear separation between the public and the private spending. In that case, he does not actually believe what he says. He may end up always looking for justifiable reasons. He believes that what he does must be justified as he sacrifices his life for the company.

This discrepancy disturbs the clear contact between your spirits and so-called “something great”, which means something that can empower your capability and can bring good luck. This also looks like keeping two opposite personalities in one person and each of them has been arguing with each other. This inconsistency of consciousness causes both physical and mental disorders in humans. Such discrepancies in one person may lead to some misfortune in the company. The unbalanced mental and physical conditions would prevent you from having God’s help.

On the other hand, when your words and deeds are consistent, your mind must be clear. You don’t have to lie to yourself. You can be relaxed both mentally and physically. This will make it easier for you to connect with Heaven (in other words something great). You can feel that your intuition is clear and inspiration comes out more and more. Just at the right time, various coincidences overlap and bring good results to your company. I think that running a business with transparency refers to the mental state of the top management.

2 To develop a trust

If your words and behaviors don’t match, you can’t build trust with your clients. Even if you intend to please your client by hiding your emotion, you will not be able to build trust because your fundamental intention can be obvious to your clients. Such negative interaction would be seen between the management and the employees. The staff may raise doubts towards the top management and wonder if this leader speaks his mind honestly or not. What’s worse is that such dishonesty can be seen as distrust and dishonesty to himself. In other words, those who unintentionally cheat others are always lying to themselves. They always betray themselves, so when they speak out, their avatars say to them, ‘You can’t believe what this guy says to you, can you? ‘

I believe that this is not only a psychological problem but also an issue for an entity or country. A country where the majority of people distrust authority looks hard to lead and govern. There is no harmony, unity, or integration among people’s communities.

So to sum up, I think it is very important to manage a company in a fair and transparent manner. I think that the most important thing for managers is to have no dual faces, clear separation between private and official matters. I realized that we must keep our mental status always clean and clear so that we can build trust as well as the best connection with ‘something great’.