This time, Inamori shared, as a top leader, how we should find the problem and how we should make decisions.
The former means how to listen to our staff, and the latter refers to how to make the correct decision quickly from what we listen to.

To make decisions, I take most of the time at least one day. When I try to decide, I ask myself, “Wait a moment, think twice.” In the early morning, I come up with good ideas and say to myself, “Oh, let’s do that, well, I was about to jump to the conclusion without any thoughts. ” This is probably, we human beings are more insightful, especially in the early morning. However, it can be seen as taking a long time to make a business decision.

Like Mr. Inamori, I think it is necessary to always “concentrate completely” on each business topic in front of us with our full energy. This time, I would like to demonstrate the following three steps for us to get fully “concentrated”.

  1. What is “concentrate completely”?
  2. Why is that needed?
  3. How can we “concentrate completely” ?

 

Mr. Inamori’s words are quoted with “”.

1. What is “Concentrate completely”?

2Focusing on what you do with clear intention is called ‘concentrate completely’. We must work diligently at any time, in any environment, and even on trivial topics. This sounds difficult at first, but as you continue to do this intentionally, consciously, and continually, you would be able to naturally deliver such attitudes. Ultimately, we can deliver such a full concentration mode for every topic in the management, we can figure out something which does not go well. Instead of conducting business practice without paying much attention, we must get used to paying utmost attention to every little thing in our daily lives.

This ‘concentrate completely’ means paying all your intention, caution, and awareness. Antonym of this ‘concentrate completely’ is ‘ unconscious reaction ‘. For example, when you hear something behind you and look back, this is ‘ unconscious reaction ‘. In our work, we should never deliver such an ‘ unconscious reaction ‘, but actively focus on what we are doing.”

I’m not good at concentrating completely on just one thing. I think about several things in my mind at the same time. However, I think this is also part of the meditation training, and I would like to try this practice by keeping my mind empty.

2. Why is that needed?

“Some top leaders listen to their staff without thinking too much, just because ‘ It’s not a big deal ‘. In fact, there are a lot of leaders who neglect such small events. I have said to those guys
, ‘A great leader must be able to make the right decisions in an instant, otherwise he would not be able to maintain the employment of tens of thousands of employees as the company grows in the future.How come those leaders who can make correct decision to tiny things could do the right ones for big issues?’

Mr. Tempu Nakamura also explained that ‘It is totally meaningless unless you follow your life with ‘concentrate completely, no matter how trivial it may seem you must have an attitude to deal with it as a big issue to decide. ‘

On the other hand, those who take even the smallest things seriously have an excellent sense of management, so they can make the right decisions quickly at any time. So, the moment you find an issue, you would spontaneously find the right solution. This is not because you’ve had similar experiences in the past, but you can focus at a tremendous speed on the issue and come up with the best solution. “

” No matter how many employees you have, say either 10 or 100, you should learn and deliver this ‘concentrate completely’, simply because your decision could change their lives.

→ Once again, I learned how important it is for top management to make the right decisions. I think it’s also a capability of tension and concentration. I should learn such attitudes and deliver as early as possible.

3. How can we “concentrate completely” ?

“Whether you are smart or not, it does not matter. We can learn this attitude by thinking very seriously and deeply even the smallest things.
At first, you may think slowly, but while practicing, say after keeping this training for 10 to 20 years, you’ll be able to demonstrate great brilliance. Let me tell you an example. Under the tight schedule, if the content you were talking about a couple of minutes ago remains in your mind, it will be difficult to switch your mind and completely focus on the new topic in front of you. I feel this is not efficient. So, before I get into the next topic, I erase everything I was talking about from my mind. Every day I do the same training like an acrobat: focusing, drawing conclusions, blanking my mind again, and meeting the next person. If you do that from morning till evening, you’ll be exhausted. While consuming such great energy, I have trained myself so far. Repeating and training allowed me to deliver such miracles.

(Listening to staff who catch Inamori in the corridor), that happened so many times and at one point, I stopped simply discussing our business in the corridor. I started telling our staff,

‘We can discuss it in my room or in the corner of the office, so that I can concentrate completely.’

 

In other words, when listening, you must focus all your consciousness. You should never make a ‘simple’ decision just by superficially listening to something. This is a necessary attitude for business leaders regardless of the size of the company. It’s not too late now, so try to start training ‘concentrate completely’. That way, your judgment will surely be improved. “

→ I think it is important not to be prejudiced when making decisions. Such a prejudice simply comes from your memories associated with the topic that you are talking about. If you do so, you will not be able to concentrate and you will not be able to reach the deep meditation mindset. I admit that I still lack concentration. However, I thought that if I keep practicing, I will get closer to the great business leader Inamori.

 

Further queries or doubts, please email to ytomizuka@abrilsjp.com

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