Smooth and Simple from Tokyo
Smooth and Simple from Japan
What are the odds of walking down the streets of Tokyo, a place I worked almost 15 years ago and run into a group of people that I would know?
At first I thought, “no way”, “not a chance”, and then I remembered who was making me the bet. It was Kato kun, one of my first mentors of Japan, a brilliant numbers guy, an information devouring entrepreneur who has made millions betting with and against the odds! Back to this story a little later.
Top Secrets to Becoming an Entrepreneur
I flew into Tokyo to conduct a Keynote Talk on Social Entrepreneurship as well as a two day workshop called the XL Entrepreneur Wealth Shift weekend program. During my first talk, I surveyed 45 Japanese entrepreneurs and asked them “what does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?” The answers were varied though the most popular responses were passion, perseverance, integrity, flexibility, ability to spot and seize opportunity, ability to communicate, an eye for innovation.
Does it surprise you that these were the same answers that writer Lisa D’Cruz found out when she collected the insights and distinctions from the 156 nominees for the 2007 Spirit of Enterprise awards in Singapore (www.soe.org.sg). Peculiar, if the knowledge and strategy is there, why is that over 90% of new businesses do not make it past the first five years.
It reminds me of the words of Lao Tzu “to know and not to do is not yet to know” and fuels my curiosity to learn more and to be an even better entrepreneur.
Culture Influences
This past weekend, I had the pleasure of working with Japanese and international entrepreneurs and intra-preneurs in Tokyo. The program was conducted in English with a Japanese interpreter, Ms Masami. Masami did a great job sharing my message, emotions, and intentions. On average I observed that the foreign participants, were a little more active, lively, curious and inquisitive. The Japanese counterparts, were, on average, a little more, time conscious (arrived early), diligent (stayed later and took many notes), and consensus focused (groups stayed behind class to review).
These passing observations would support the work of cross cultural and leadership expert Philip Merry, who has completed extensive research on the influence of culture in teams and leadership. Merry shared recently that the concept that the “nail that sticks up often gets hammered” still in prevalent in Japan and greatly influences leadership, entrepreneurship, and team building in Japan. Fortunately for me, there were not nails that got hammered this past weekend in Tokyo.
Brilliant Experiences
During the visit to Japan, I had some time to meet up with a gentlemen who I have known since first grade. Nicknamed Clint in our youth for his resemblance to Clint Eastwood, Steve Crockett has been living in Japan for the past ten years and has engaged in entrepreneurial ventures in sports, education, and magic. An amateur magician, Clint can mesmerize a group with “everyday magic, and his specialty location is any establishment where alcohol is served. As an sportsman, he is an active coach with Japan’s Olympic Curling team and has tried his hand a competitive level billiards.
As an educator, he is an experienced English teacher and has been conducting home stay English programs in Canada the past two years. His DREAM is to have 7 countries involved in his innovative cultural and language exchanges by 2012.
Bright Futures
The sharing of knowledge, network, and experience was a RICH component of the XL Entrepreneur Wealth Shift program this past weekend in Tokyo. For starter entrepreneur Mariko, at times it was a little overwhelming. An “amateur photographer”, she left her safe and secure job this past month and has set out on the road of entrepreneurship. She brought some of her pictures with her on the weekend, and people were WOW’d by the quality pictures. Suggestions flew around the room with what she could do to start generating some cash flow. 7th Degree Black Belt, Guerilla Marketer, Speaker and Trainer William Read gave her a name of a website that would sell her pictures and an introduction to a leading clothing design house, Education Entrepreneur Chiyo shared some tips and will follow with her to mentor and support her growth and Clint really stepped up with a purchase order for two of her albums – her first sale of her pictures, her first cash flow from her passion, and a real boast to her confidence!
To top off the weekend, she was chosen as the inspirational entrepreneur of the weekend!
Magic is Everywhere
During the weekend, I also met up with one of best friends during my days in Japan – Kato kun Kato manages money in Japan and during our time together he shared some of the challenges of managing investment funds in Japan. He is well aware of the upcoming changes ready to occur in Japan such as releasing share holder value, unseating incompetent senior management, and reaching international corporate governance levels, and he shared his situation using the metaphor from surfing.
He used the metaphor of a group of surfers – there are about 20 surfers all out in the water (getting really wet) and all of them will be charging with skills, expertise, and experience to get that BIG WAVE. Only one will get the wave and the wave will be one awesome ride! Kato was referring to opening up the value tsunami that is going to happen in Japan.
In the next five years, just like T Boone Pickens and Carl Icahn are known by all serious financial people in North America, a new round of value investors in Japan will be emerging, a few of these investors will be catch the wave and I know that Kato kun will be right out there. Who will catch the wave in Japan? I know where my money is!
Back to the story, we were walking down the street from Wolfgang Puck’s Roppongi, a street that we had not walked together for more than eleven years. As we walked down some of our old tracking spots, we came across a new sports bar called Legends. A big crowd had gathered for the English – OZ game. Kato, always up for a bet, wanted to bet me that I would know someone in the crowd.
At first I doubted it, I had not worked in Japan since 1993, almost 15 years since leaving Japan. What are the odds of meeting someone in a city of 30 million people? At first the bet sounded absurd, improbably absurd, as we continued to walk, I remembered who I was with, Kato kun the master of numbers, the digester of information - one second I was going to take the bet, the next second, I gave him a big smack on his back and passed on the bet.
Within three minutes I recognized a group of guys at the game. It was the rugby boys from Singapore. A group of them were at the front making the most noise – the last time I saw them was seven years ago at their Singapore farewell party. I went over said hello congratulated them on England victory and then returned to Kato who was standing there grinning ear to ear.
He taps me on the back saying – see Debu, pretty weird uh! “Pretty weird? Pretty magical I think, “It really is a small world!”
Make Magic Happen,
Dave
