Most Kyocera staff have respected Mr. Inamori very much. By looking into comments said by Kyocera management team members, I would like to figure out the fundamental criteria for the leader whom every staff respects very much.

 

The features of such leaders are as follows.

1 Judge people by personality, not by their background

2 Impress and surprise staffs

3 Don’t be afraid to be hated

4 Maintain the ethical value and conduct the best practice

5 Listen to others by putting yourself in their shoes

 

4 Maintain the ethical value and conduct the best practice

Mr. Inamori was talking about JAL. The first year’s financial results of the JAL, under its rescue program, were sales of 1.3622 trillion yen, operating profit of 188.4 billion yen, and a profit margin of 14%, which were the best financial results since the company was founded, and this profit was the highest among many airlines in the world.

 

Andy, the former Kyocera management team member, recalled the story of Kyocera’s M & A. The management team and department heads of the merged company were called by Kyocera. They had to wait for hours, and the place where they were guided to was like a hall with a lot of tatami mats, where sake bottles were placed on the tables and the party suddenly started. Each department head was called to Inamori’s table, and they talked with Mr. Inamori over glasses of beer. Inamori asked what kind of work they were doing and what kind of troubles they had had. After the group discussions were over, Mr.Inamori declared, “I finally met all of you, guys, the people at XX company are really good guys. Let’s get married!”

Andy, who was an officer of this XX company said. “It was actually the rescue merger, but Inamori described it as marriage. That was very touching. “’ Inamori continued, “Before getting married, everyone was born and raised in different environments, so both of us have strengths and weaknesses. Do not criticize deficits the partner has, let’s do our best together. I feel this is the nature of the marriage.” This impressed very much Andy and XX company’s people.

 

“I myself was embarking on an air transportation business, which was a completely unexplored field for me. I didn’t have good skills and knowledge so my abilities were low in  the life formula  (life / work result = ability x enthusiasm x ethical value).  Therefore, I have been working hard. At the same time, I have asked (to employees) to have the enthusiasm to revitalize JAL. Moreover, it changed the mindset of JAL staff that they admit they had been arrogant as Japan’s national flag carrier, learning humbleness is the key to revitalization. Conducting such practices made such a wonderful change. ”

In addition, there is an episode of Alex, the president of Kyocera after Inamori’s era. When Alex went to Panasonic for sales promotions, the procurement head said that Panasonic wants to do business with only the top three companies. There was no room for Kyocera. Alex remembered Mr. Konosuke Matsushita’s words and told the procurement manager. Matsushita was the founder of Panasonic.

 

“I heard what Konosuke Matsushita said. What he said didn’t seem to be what you, the procurement manager,said. Konosuke said he would do business with anyone as long as the products are good and cheap”

 

Then, the procurement manager’s attitude had changed.He became serious in listening to Alex. Alex called Mr. Inamori that day. Mr. Inamori was very pleased. Alex returned to the office almost around 10 pm. Then Alex found someone standing at the company gate. It was Inamori who was waiting for Alex. As soon as Inamori saw Alex, he approached and shook hands, saying, “Oh, Alex you did a great job! Well done!!” At that time, Alex thought, “I swear to do my best for Inamori.”

 

Mr. Inamori was proud and cherished Alex who did the right thing as a human being. This overlaps with the second point, which is surprisingly impressing employees.

 

5 Listen to others while putting yourself in their shoes

The top management of the Bank of Kyoto says: “When we have trouble, go to Kyocera and ask Inamori’s advice, he really listens to me. Mr. Inamori ,on his large personal agenda , started taking notes. When I asked him what he was doing, he said that he could concentrate only on what he should think at the moment, which means our bank’s trouble. Human beings are not God, but if you concentrate with such attitudes, you could make a lot of right decisions. If your mind is occupied with a lot of thoughts, you can’t concentrate and you’ll make a mistake. At least for 5 minutes, like a meditation, you should make your mind blank and be prepared to concentrate thoroughly on one thing demonstrated in front of you.

Also, if you think about whether or not your response can please your clients or counterpart, you would fail to make the right decision. Mr. Inamori is thinking about what he can do for the company, employees, and society, and whether or not it will be useful for those stakeholders, not to himself. If you come up with the decision to protect yourself, you would fail.” Bank of Kyoto recalled this episode.

Mr. Inamori made a speech for the celebration of the Bank of Kyoto. Inamori told how to identify the prominent presidents of venture companies, for which they should finance.

The qualifications of a president that financial institutions can trust are as follows.

 

  1. Have high professional technology
  2. Have a dream and the challenging spirit
  3. Keep strong desires that were embedded into the subconscious
  4. Clarify the significance and purpose of the business
  5. Make the right decisions as a human being

 

When these qualifications can be seen through actual business conducts of the president, I think employees start respecting leaders. No arms or weapons are needed, just the management attitudes, people spontaneously think “I want to work for you.”

I humbly learn such lessons and start incorporating those tips into our business.

 

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

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