Podcasts about Adjunct professor

December is where sales years are won or lost, and nowhere is the timing trickier than Japan, where the fiscal year runs to March rather than December. As of 2025, with hybrid work stretching the traditional bōnenkai season and travel schedules compressing the final weeks before the holiday break, salespeople who ease off in December are handing rivals a head start into the new year. Research on sales productivity cycles suggests this pre-holiday slump can cost as much as 8% of annual output — a gap that disciplined pipeline-building in December can close before January even begins. Why does sales productivity drop in December, and why does Japan's calendar make it riskier? Salespeople naturally ease off as year-end approaches, but in Japan this coincides with a fiscal year that still has three months left to run. Unlike US or European firms closing their books in December, Japanese companies operating on an April–March fiscal year are mid-cycle, not wrapping up — so prospects and decision-makers are still budgeting and planning, not disengaging. Sales teams who treat December as "dead time" waste a window when competitors are quiet and calendars, while busy with bōnenkai (forget-the-year) parties, still have room for a well-placed conversation. The productivity dip is real, but it's a choice, not a law of the calendar. Do now: Block two hours this week purely for December pipeline-building, before year-end social commitments fill the diary. How does an Opportunity Matrix uncover sales hidden inside existing accounts? An Opportunity Matrix lists every available solution across the top and every client down the side, using check marks for current purchases and A/B/C ratings for follow-up priority. This turns a vague sense that "there's more we could sell them" into a structured account-by-account plan. Enterprise software vendors and B2B service firms alike use similar account-mapping tools to spot cross-sell and upsell gaps that individual reps, focused on their own patch, often miss. The matrix works whether the client base is five accounts or five hundred — the discipline is the same. Do now: Build your matrix this week and flag every "A" opportunity for a call before the holidays. Why is December the right time to reconnect with "orphan" clients? "Orphans" are former clients who drifted away — through staff turnover, budget shifts, or economic pressure — and December is an ideal, low-pressure time to reach back out. Contacts change roles constantly in Japan's corporate structures, and a client lost under one decision-maker may be very much in play under their successor. A reconnection call in December doesn't need to close anything; it just needs to re-establish the relationship, with a meeting pencilled in for January once new-year budgets are live. Firms that systematically track lapsed accounts consistently recover more revenue than those treating churn as final. Do now: Pull your last twelve months of lost or dormant accounts and send three re-introduction messages this week. How can look-alike targeting make prospecting more efficient than cold calling? Look-alike targets are companies in the same industry as existing clients, likely to share similar needs — and they convert far better than random cold outreach. Instead of working through a generic list, salespeople can lean on the pattern-recognition already earned from serving comparable firms: the same pain points, procurement cycles, and competitive pressures tend to recur within a sector. This mirrors how B2B marketers build lookalike audiences from existing customer data — the sales version simply does it through direct calling and referral requests rather than ad platforms. Compared to sectors like manufacturing, industries with tighter networks (finance, professional services) tend to yield especially strong look-alike results. Do now: List three current clients' closest industry peers and draft one tailored opening line for each. Why is finding the right decision-maker harder in Japan than in Western markets? Decision-maker information is less openly available in Japan than in the US or Europe, making annual reports, referrals, and credibility statements more important than cold digital research. LinkedIn penetration remains comparatively low in the Japanese market, so the tools Western salespeople default to often come up short. Annual reports can surface key personnel names, but referrals through an existing network — colleagues, partners, or satisfied clients — remain the most reliable route past the gatekeeper. A well-rehearsed credibility statement becomes essential when a referral isn't available. Do now: Ask two existing clients this week whether they can introduce you to a contact at a target account. How should salespeople use credibility to get past gatekeepers and reach decision-makers? Leading with direct competitor experience, backed by concrete evidence of past results, is what earns a salesperson the right to a direct connection with a decision-maker. A general statement about services alone rarely clears a gatekeeper; pairing it with a specific, verifiable example of success with a similar company signals relevance immediately. This combination — competitor familiarity plus proof plus a confident ask — works across sectors, from consumer-facing retail accounts to complex B2B enterprise deals, because it answers the gatekeeper's real question: "why should this call go through?" Do now: Rewrite your opening credibility line this week to name a comparable client result in the first sentence. Conclusion December in Japan, known as "shiwasu" — literally, the month when even teachers are too busy to stand still — is not a time to coast. It's the last real window before the fiscal year's final stretch to build a pipeline strong enough to carry into the new year: mapping existing accounts, re-engaging lapsed clients, targeting look-alikes, and sharpening the credibility that gets a call past the gatekeeper. Salespeople who stay active through December set up not just a stronger January, but a stronger finish to the entire fiscal year. FAQs Does the December slowdown affect every market the same way? No — in fiscal-year-end markets like the US, December closes the books, but in Japan's April–March cycle, prospects are still mid-year and open to conversations most competitors have paused. Is an Opportunity Matrix only useful for large sales teams? No, it scales down easily — even a handful of accounts benefits from mapping current purchases against unclaimed solutions. Should salespeople expect to close deals in December? Not necessarily — the goal is pipeline-building and relationship-repair, with meetings and closes often landing in January once new budgets are active. Quick Actions For Salespeople •          Build an Opportunity Matrix for your top accounts before the holidays. •          Reach out to three "orphan" clients this week. •          Identify look-alike targets from your best current accounts. •          Ask your network for two decision-maker referrals. •          Rewrite your credibility statement around a specific competitor win. Author Bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across all leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programs, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews, which are widely followed by executives seeking success strategies in Japan.

Covid changed the relationship between employees, offices and commuting, particularly in cities such as Tokyo. For many people, working from home eliminated hours spent standing in packed trains every day. That time could suddenly be spent sleeping, exercising, enjoying hobbies, being with the family or simply getting more work done. The bigger leadership question is what happens when working from home stops being an emergency response and becomes a permanent part of working life. Hybrid work brings obvious benefits, but it also removes many of the informal interactions leaders once took for granted. That means leaders need to deliberately create opportunities to spend real, face-to-face time with their people. One surprisingly powerful answer may be very simple: have more meals with the team. Why do leaders need more face-to-face time in a hybrid workplace? Hybrid and remote work reduce the spontaneous personal interactions through which leaders often discover what is really happening with their people. Zoom, Teams and other online meetings are excellent for conducting business, but not every workplace issue fits comfortably into a scheduled video call. When everyone worked in the office, leaders had numerous opportunities to notice things. A brief corridor conversation, a chat after a meeting or a spontaneous discussion could reveal concerns that would never warrant someone scheduling a formal meeting with the boss. Hybrid work removes many of those moments. That matters because employees may be dealing with difficult clients, strained relationships with colleagues, concerns about their boss or other sensitive workplace issues. If there isn't an easy opportunity to raise them, people may simply keep quiet and let the problem fester. Do now: Don't assume that because nobody is raising problems on Zoom, there aren't any problems. Deliberately create opportunities for private face-to-face conversations. Why can sharing a meal improve communication between leaders and employees? A meal creates a more relaxed environment than a formal meeting and can make difficult conversations easier to begin. Lunch or dinner changes the atmosphere and gives the leader and employee time together without a computer screen dominating the interaction. The objective isn't fine dining. The important ingredient is communication. This is especially valuable when discussing tender subjects such as difficult customers, problems with colleagues or frustrations inside the organisation. Sitting opposite the boss in a meeting room and being expected to explain a sensitive issue can feel intimidating. A restaurant creates a different dynamic. The conversation can move naturally between work and other topics. Silence doesn't have to be immediately filled. The employee has time to decide whether there is something they want to discuss. The leader also gets something increasingly scarce in the hybrid workplace: uninterrupted one-to-one time. Do now: Use occasional lunches and dinners as leadership opportunities rather than treating every employee conversation as another formal meeting. Why don't important employee issues always surface on Zoom? Employees naturally filter what they discuss in formal online meetings, so leaders can mistakenly believe they know more about what is happening inside their organisation than they actually do. This is one of the troubling things about those chance encounters when someone suddenly tells you what has really been going on. You find yourself thinking, "I wonder what else I am not across, which I need to know about?" Online meetings generally have an agenda and a purpose. Everyone knows why they are there. Sensitive issues don't necessarily fit neatly between agenda items. There is also a psychological difference between clicking "Join Meeting" for a scheduled discussion with the boss and gradually raising an issue during a relaxed conversation over lunch. Leaders therefore need to think preventatively rather than reactively. Don't wait until the employee requests the meeting because the situation has become unbearable. Do now: Ask yourself what information your current communication system is unlikely to uncover, rather than assuming scheduled meetings are telling you everything. How often should leaders have meals with their team members? Meals with employees work best when they become a regular leadership cadence rather than occasional events triggered by problems. The objective is to systemise informal communication before issues become serious. Birthdays can provide one opportunity. Taking someone to lunch on their birthday is a nice recognition element within the team culture and creates natural one-to-one time. But once a year isn't enough. Leaders should consider regularly rotating through their direct reports. There may also be important people outside the direct reporting line who would benefit from occasional one-to-one time. This doesn't need to become an expensive corporate entertainment programme. You have to eat lunch anyway. The restaurant doesn't need Michelin stars, and the meeting doesn't necessarily need to take place near the office. In a hybrid environment, a mutually convenient location may actually be easier for both people. Do now: Create a simple rotation so every direct report receives regular informal face-to-face time rather than waiting for chance encounters. How can leaders make employee lunches psychologically safe? The lunch must feel like a genuine conversation, not an interrogation disguised by food. Leaders need to create an atmosphere where employees feel they can speak openly if they want to, without feeling pressured to reveal something. Sometimes nothing magical will emerge. That doesn't mean the lunch was wasted. Simply spending relaxed time together can strengthen trust, and trust may make a future conversation possible. I once spent an hour sitting in silence in a small meeting room with a female employee in her early twenties. She was experiencing a problem involving her boss, who was more than 50 years old. Eventually she told me, "I can't tell you the problem." That was that. I still don't know what the issue was. But I have often wondered whether getting out of the office and talking over a meal might have made it easier for her to open up. Do now: Don't measure the success of the meal by how much information you extract. Measure it by whether you are strengthening the relationship and building trust. Can regular face-to-face contact help leaders retain employees? Strong personal relationships with leaders can become increasingly important for retention when talented employees have plenty of alternative employment opportunities. Recruiters are actively looking for people who might be persuaded to leave their current employer. If the leader has little personal contact with team members, problems can grow unnoticed. By the time the leader discovers the employee is unhappy, a recruiter may already be having the conversations the leader should have been having. That doesn't mean lunch is some magical retention technique. Employees leave organisations for many reasons, including compensation, career development, management quality and better opportunities. But regular personal contact gives leaders a better chance of understanding what is happening before the resignation letter arrives. There is a simple competitive reality here. Someone may be prepared to spend time building a relationship with your best people. It would be smart if that someone were you. Do now: Treat regular personal contact as part of leadership and retention, rather than waiting for the annual engagement survey to discover how people feel. Leadership in the Hybrid Workplace Requires Deliberate Human Contact Hybrid work has changed many of the assumptions leaders previously made about communication. When everyone was in the office, relationships could develop through dozens of small interactions. Leaders could observe behaviour, have spontaneous conversations and notice when something didn't seem right. Those opportunities are much less reliable when people are working remotely. Leaders therefore need to deliberately recreate some of the human contact that disappeared when the workforce left the office. That doesn't mean dragging everyone back into the building five days a week just so the boss can see them. It means finding intelligent ways to create meaningful face-to-face contact. A regular lunch with direct reports is hardly a revolutionary management technology. It is simple, inexpensive and easy to organise. The critical point is the purpose behind it. Don't interrogate people. Don't turn lunch into another performance review. Don't arrive with a checklist of questions and start taking notes between courses. Have a conversation. Listen. Build trust. Give people the space to tell you what is happening — including the things they would never raise on Zoom. In a hybrid workplace, your employees are going to have lunch with someone. Better that it is occasionally you rather than the recruiter trying to lift them out of your shop. Author Bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across leadership, communication, sales and presentation programmes, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews, which are widely followed by executives seeking success strategies in Japan.

Getting a buyer interested in our solution is only the beginning of a B2B sale. In many organisations — and particularly in Japan — the person sitting across from us may have very little authority to make the final decision. Instead, we need that person to become our internal champion. They have to take our idea back into their organisation, explain it, defend it, overcome resistance and put their own reputation behind recommending us. That creates an important responsibility for salespeople. We are not merely asking someone to help us win a deal. We are asking them to take a professional risk on our behalf. What is an internal champion in B2B sales? An internal champion is someone inside the buyer organisation who believes in your solution strongly enough to advocate for it when you are not in the room. Usually, we meet our initial contact through a cold call, referral or networking. We explain what we do, perhaps mention another client we have helped and then ask permission to explore their situation. If we are doing professional consultative selling, we ask questions and go deeply into the issues facing the organisation. Eventually, we start suggesting solutions matched to those needs. That is often when reality appears. Our contact may be enthusiastic about solving the problem but discover that managers, executives, Finance, Procurement or other divisions are not nearly as enthusiastic. We cannot personally attend every internal conversation. Our contact therefore becomes our representative. They have to carry the sale forward for us. Do now: Identify who inside the client genuinely wants the change to happen. Interest alone isn't enough — you need someone willing to advocate internally. Why are internal champions particularly important when selling in Japan? Japanese corporate buying often involves multiple stakeholders, so the salesperson's original contact may be only one participant in a much larger decision-making process. In traditional Japanese organisations, a proposal can move through several layers of internal review. Divisions affected by the purchase may conduct their own due diligence. Section Heads may approve the proposal before it moves to Division Heads. Depending on the scale and nature of the decision, senior executives may then become involved. The traditional ringi process illustrates why internal consensus matters so much in Japan. That can mean a tremendous number of people are involved. Meanwhile, we may only know one of them. The person sitting opposite us may not even have final approval authority, yet we depend upon them to help navigate the proposal through the organisation. This is why Japanese B2B selling cannot simply be about persuading one individual. We need to help that individual persuade everyone else. Do now: Ask, "Who else will be involved in evaluating or approving this decision?" Then help your champion prepare for each stakeholder's concerns. What risk does an internal champion take when recommending a supplier? Your champion puts their credibility and sometimes their career reputation behind your solution, because if your company fails, they may be blamed for recommending you. This is something salespeople can easily underestimate. We naturally think about our own risk. Will we win the contract? Will we achieve our sales target? Will we earn the commission? The buyer's champion is considering something completely different. "If I recommend these people and it goes badly, what happens to me?" Their colleagues are unlikely to say, "Well, that supplier made an unfortunate operational decision." They may say: "Why did you choose them?" That makes trust central to the sale. Our champion has to believe we are credible, reliable and capable of delivering what we promise. They also need confidence that supporting us won't make them look foolish in front of senior management. When viewed from their perspective, choosing a new supplier can be a significant personal risk. Do now: Before asking a champion to advocate for you, ask yourself, "What professional risk am I asking this person to accept?" What can go wrong when a salesperson fails to protect the champion? If the supplier fails after an internal champion has fought to get the deal approved, the damage can extend far beyond the contract — it can damage the champion's standing inside the organisation. I learned this lesson painfully while selling imported mobile telephone antenna steel towers in Japan. The towers were sourced from Australia, and we could install them for around 30% of the price being offered by local suppliers. Imported towers were new, however, so getting agreement wasn't straightforward. The buyer was a joint venture whose executives had come from several shareholder companies. Some arrived with relationships with preferred Japanese suppliers. My champions had to fight internally to get the Australian solution accepted. There was even resistance from the local supplier group, which reacted aggressively to the cheaper imported competition. Eventually, my champions got the deal through. Then things went wrong. The Australian supplier decided to move production to Malaysia to reduce costs. Quality problems followed. Eventually, the business collapsed. Do now: Winning internal approval isn't the finish line. Once your champion has backed you, delivery becomes part of protecting their reputation. Why does supplier failure damage the salesperson personally? From the champion's perspective, the salesperson represents the entire supplier organisation, so internal operational failures can become personal failures of trust. I hadn't personally made the decision to move production from Australia to Malaysia. That distinction didn't matter. To my champion, I was their guy. I had brought the supplier into the company. I had made the promises. They had trusted me enough to fight internally for the deal. Then the supplier let them down. The relationship was destroyed. They stopped talking to me, which I took as a very bad sign indeed. My name was mud. That experience taught me something important about mutual responsibility in selling. Salespeople sometimes think, "That problem came from Operations", "Head Office made the decision" or "Manufacturing caused the failure". The customer doesn't care about our organisational chart. Neither does our champion. We own the promises we make on behalf of our organisation. Do now: Never recommend something internally that you aren't confident your own organisation can deliver. Your credibility travels with the solution. How can salespeople help their champions win internally? The salesperson should make the champion's internal selling job easier by providing the arguments, evidence and risk reduction they need to persuade other decision-makers. Think about what your champion will face after you leave the meeting. Their boss may ask why the company should change. Finance may question the economics. Procurement may challenge the supplier. Users may worry about implementation. Senior leaders may ask what could go wrong. Your champion needs answers. We should therefore provide more than a proposal. Give them a clear business case. Provide relevant evidence. Explain implementation. Anticipate objections. Identify risks and explain how those risks will be managed. Make the recommendation easy for them to explain to other stakeholders. Most importantly, remain conscious that your champion is lending you something precious: their internal credibility. If the deal succeeds, you want them to look smart for having backed you. That is how long-term trusted-adviser relationships are built. Do now: Ask yourself, "What does my champion need to make this recommendation safely and convincingly when I'm not there?" What should salespeople remember about their internal champions? The sale isn't only about getting agreement from the organisation. It is about protecting the person helping us obtain that agreement. Find your champion. Build their trust. Understand the stakeholders they need to influence. Give them the evidence and arguments they need. Reduce the personal and organisational risk attached to choosing you. Then deliver what you promised. My steel-tower experience taught me this lesson the hard way. A champion who fights internally for us deserves much more than our gratitude. They deserve our protection. When we begin the sales process with that responsibility in mind, we make better decisions about what we promise, what we sell and how we deliver. And there is another benefit. Protecting our champion also protects our own personal brand and reputation in the marketplace. Author bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie One Carnegie Award (2018 and 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver programmes globally across leadership, communication, sales and presentations, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including the best-sellers Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery and Japan Presentations Mastery, as well as Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have also been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery and Japan's Top Business Interviews for executives and professionals seeking practical strategies for succeeding in Japan.

  A pitch contest is not really about squeezing as much company information as possible into a short speaking slot. It is about creating a stronger, more useful and more memorable impression than everyone else in the room. When I was unexpectedly added to a Chamber of Commerce pitch contest in Japan, I approached the ten-minute presentation as a genuine competition: control attention, give the audience value, demonstrate expertise and leave them with something worth keeping. What is the best speaking position in a pitch contest? If you can influence the speaking order, go first or last rather than getting buried in the middle. Going first lets you establish the benchmark everyone else must follow; going last gives you the final impression immediately before judging or voting. In my Chamber of Commerce pitch contest in Japan, I landed in the middle of the batting order, which was not my preference. The first speaker has the opportunity to blitz the room and own the opening impression. The last speaker has recency working in their favour because their message is freshest when the audience makes a decision. Of course, you may not control the order, but if organisers give you a choice, treat that choice strategically rather than casually. Mini-summary: If you have a choice, take first or last. If you do not, make your opening strong enough that the audience forgets where you appeared in the order. How should you use slides in a ten-minute business pitch? In a short pitch, slides should create immediate visual impact rather than force the audience to read. Ten minutes disappears quickly, so every second spent decoding dense text is time taken away from you and your message. Several contestants used conventional slide decks filled with lines of text. One represented a people business, yet there were no people in the slides. I would have shown customers enjoying the service, happy families and behind-the-scenes images of how the service is delivered. Those visuals would help the audience identify with the business immediately. If your slides are merely your speaking notes projected on a screen, they are competing with you for attention. In my own pitch, I used no PowerPoint at all, so the audience had nowhere else to look. Mini-summary: Use powerful, relevant visuals or consider using no slides. Never make the audience choose between reading your screen and listening to you. How can content marketing make a business pitch more persuasive? Give the audience a useful sample of your expertise instead of spending the pitch telling them how wonderful your company is. Content marketing builds credibility because people experience some of your value before they are ever asked to buy. Before my presentation, I gave everyone a wallet-sized card called "6 Impact Points For Persuasive Power". The principle is the same whether your proof of expertise is a white paper, testimonial, video, podcast, book or practical tool. The item demonstrates that you have something useful to contribute. More importantly, it changes the nature of the pitch. Rather than making the audience endure ten minutes of corporate propaganda, you give them something they can apply themselves. That makes the presentation relevant to them, not merely important to you. Mini-summary: Demonstrate expertise with useful content. Give people evidence of your value rather than asking them to accept your claims about it. How do you make a pitch relevant to everyone in the room? Choose a subject with broad applicability and make the audience the beneficiary of the presentation. People are naturally more interested in what helps them than in the history, structure or virtues of somebody else's company. I spoke about persuasive power because leaders, salespeople, colleagues and anyone seeking cooperation from others can use it. That cast a wide net across the room. I said very little about Dale Carnegie beyond enough information to establish credibility and indicate the scope of the business. The rest of the time went into explaining the six persuasion points and how the audience could use them in their own presentations. This is a much stronger approach than reciting company facts that matter mainly to the presenter. A pitch can still promote the business, but it does so indirectly by demonstrating relevance and expertise. Mini-summary: Start with the audience's interests. Make your expertise useful to them and let that usefulness sell the credibility of your company. Why must a presenter 'walk the talk' in a pitch contest? Your delivery has to prove the claims you are making, especially when your business sells expertise. If you teach presenting, leadership, sales or communication, the pitch itself becomes a live demonstration of whether you can actually do what you recommend. I was explaining persuasive presentation techniques, so I had no room for a weak performance. I had to model the six points rather than simply describe them. That creates a powerful credibility effect: the audience can see the expertise operating in front of them. The contrast with other speakers also becomes more obvious without you needing to criticise anyone. In my contest, the speaker after me publicly remarked that I would be hard to follow. That was exactly the competitive advantage I wanted to create through preparation and delivery. Mini-summary: Make the presentation itself your proof. Whatever expertise you claim, demonstrate it visibly while you are on stage. What should the audience take away from a winning pitch? Give people something memorable, useful and easy to keep after the presentation ends. A strong takeaway extends the life of the pitch and keeps your expertise physically or mentally present after everyone leaves the room. One contestant offered spare copies of an A4 PowerPoint handout, but there was little enthusiasm. My business-card-sized summary of the six persuasion points was compact, robust and immediately useful. It fitted into a wallet and reinforced the exact ideas I had demonstrated on stage. That was deliberate. The physical format, the usefulness of the content and the presentation all supported the same message. A takeaway should not be an information dump or a souvenir of your slide deck. It should be something the audience has a reason to keep. Mini-summary: Design the takeaway as carefully as the pitch. Make it compact, practical and directly connected to the value you demonstrated. Conclusion A winning pitch is planned as a competitive performance, not treated as a miniature corporate brochure. Think about speaking order, remove unnecessary slide clutter, choose a subject the whole audience can use, demonstrate your expertise in real time and create a takeaway people genuinely want to keep. Whenever you are presenting alongside other speakers, assume you are competing for attention and memory. Your job is to make sure your presentation is the one that lingers. Author Bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across leadership, communication, sales and presentation programmes, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery and Japan's Top Business Interviews, which are followed by executives seeking success strategies in Japan.    

Our mental approach to what we do has a huge influence on the result. We recognise this easily in sport and business, yet when it comes to presentations and public speaking, we often forget it. For many people, the problem starts long before they walk onto a stage or into a meeting room. We may carry old fears about speaking in front of others into adulthood. Then, as our careers advance and presenting becomes unavoidable, we focus immediately on slides, content and logistics rather than first getting our mindset right. That is a mistake. A presentation puts our personal and professional brand on public display. How we think about the presentation influences how confidently we deliver it, and confidence has an enormous impact on how the audience judges our credibility. Why is mindset so important for presentation success? Your presentation mindset affects how confidently you speak, how your audience perceives you and ultimately how much impact your message creates. Many professionals approach public speaking with negative self-talk. They imagine forgetting their words, being judged by the audience or making a mistake. Sometimes that fear may stretch back many years. I certainly experienced this myself. I successfully avoided public speaking until I was around 29 years old because I was fearful of it. Eventually, career progression makes avoidance impossible. Presentations, meetings, conferences, sales pitches and leadership communication all require us to stand up and communicate ideas. The danger is concentrating entirely on mechanics—slides, timing and logistics—while ignoring the mental preparation required to perform confidently. Confidence and credibility are closely connected when we present. We may feel nervous internally, but hesitation and uncertainty weaken the delivery of our message. Do now: Treat mindset preparation as part of presentation preparation. Before thinking about slides, decide how you want to think, feel and appear when you speak. Does confidence matter more than having great presentation content? Excellent content is important, but audiences also judge whether the speaker appears confident and credible enough to make that content worth listening to. I recently watched a speaker whom I initially thought was impressive. When I analysed the presentation afterwards, however, I realised he had not actually provided much breakthrough information or many particularly valuable insights. What impressed the audience was his confidence. He stood in front of everyone looking completely comfortable being there. The audience was buying his confidence as much as his actual message. This is an important warning for presenters who believe their content will somehow compensate for poor delivery. We sometimes tell ourselves, "My information is excellent, so the presentation technique doesn't really matter." That is rarely a sensible strategy. Most presenters are competing for attention. Their audience has other priorities, other thoughts and, increasingly, a device sitting directly in front of them providing unlimited alternatives. Do now: Never rely on content alone. Build both sides of the presentation equation: a valuable message and a confident delivery. How can presenters compete for the audience's attention? Presenters have to combine worthwhile content with engaging delivery because the audience can mentally—and digitally—leave the presentation almost instantly. Modern audiences are accustomed to multitasking. While supposedly listening to us, someone may be checking email, searching Google, scrolling through LinkedIn or looking at social media. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and countless other digital distractions are competing directly with the speaker. That means our presentation needs sufficient energy, confidence and value to hold attention. We have to sell two things simultaneously. First, our message is worth hearing. Second, we genuinely believe in what we are saying. Reading paragraphs of text from notes while barely looking at the audience makes both objectives much harder. Instead, know the material well enough to speak naturally from key points. Work the room. Look at people. Communicate the ideas rather than simply reading words. That becomes considerably easier when we have created the material ourselves or thoroughly adapted material someone else prepared. Do now: Know the content well enough to engage with the audience rather than hiding inside your notes. What is the best structure for preparing a confident presentation? Start with a strong opening, organise the presentation around three to five major points and deliberately design both your conclusion and your final close after questions. Presentation confidence becomes easier when the structure itself is clear. Begin with a powerful opening and introduce the central message you eventually want the audience to remember. Then isolate three to five key points that make your argument. Support those points with evidence, examples, stories or other material that gives the audience a reason to believe you. The close also needs planning. I recommend having your first close ready before the question-and-answer session and then a second close after the Q&A. Why? Because finishing with the final random audience question allows somebody else to determine the last thing everyone hears. Instead, answer the questions and then reclaim the room with your final message. A clearly organised presentation also reduces nervousness because you always know where you are going next. Do now: Build a visible presentation roadmap: opening, three to five key points, evidence, first close, Q&A and final close. How much should you rehearse a business presentation? Rehearsal is essential because knowing the information is different from being able to deliver that information confidently in front of an audience. One of the most common mistakes is spending nearly all the preparation time making slides. People adjust fonts, move boxes around, search for images and keep rewriting content until the presentation date arrives. Then they discover they have hardly practised actually delivering the talk. In effect, the first full rehearsal takes place in front of the audience. That is not preparation. That is experimentation. Rehearsing shows us whether the timing works. It identifies awkward transitions. It reveals sentences that looked fine on paper but are difficult to say naturally. We also discover where to pause, which words require stronger emphasis and where the energy of the presentation needs to change. Once we understand the cadence and flow, confidence increases because fewer elements of the presentation feel unpredictable. Do now: Protect rehearsal time in your schedule. Don't allow slide preparation to consume the time needed to practise the actual delivery. Can visualisation and positive self-talk improve presentation confidence? Mentally seeing yourself deliver the presentation successfully helps replace a fear-based starting point with an expectation of control and competence. In the weeks leading up to an important presentation, we naturally think about what we want to say. Use that process deliberately. Look for useful examples, quotations and evidence. Think about how you will explain the important ideas. Then play the presentation through in your mind. See yourself speaking confidently. Imagine the audience paying attention, nodding and responding positively. See yourself enjoying the presentation rather than enduring it. This is also where our internal language matters. If we repeatedly tell ourselves that public speaking is frightening and that we are terrible presenters, we reinforce exactly the mindset we are trying to escape. Change the conversation. Think instead about the professional opportunity. Every presentation allows us to strengthen our personal brand, demonstrate expertise and become better at communicating ideas. Do now: Rehearse physically and mentally. See the successful presentation before you deliver it and replace negative self-talk with purposeful preparation. Presentation success starts before you begin speaking The biggest change we can make may have nothing to do with PowerPoint, microphones or presentation technology. It starts with how we think. When we know the content, rehearse properly and understand the flow, we can relax. We know the timing. We know where to pause. We know which words deserve extra emphasis and how the argument fits together. Instead of dreading the presentation, we can start enjoying it. We should also actively look for opportunities to speak rather than avoiding them. Presentation confidence is developed by presenting. Change the mindset and you change the starting point. Change the starting point and you dramatically improve the possibility of producing the presentation result you need. Author Bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across all leadership, communication, sales and presentation programmes, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers—Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery and Japan Presentations Mastery—along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery and Japan's Top Business Interviews, which are widely followed by executives seeking success strategies in Japan.

"Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." "One of the things that I think helps is that you show that you're not working for yourself, but you're working for the team." "You need to be very mindful about who you interact with and how you bring the message to where you want it." "You need to show up and be in front of the client and live what you preach." "Be curious about people, connect with people. Be ready to spend some time on that."   Philippe Sommer is CEO of Aon Reinsurance Solutions Japan and an experienced international insurance and reinsurance executive whose career has taken him from Switzerland to the United States, the United Kingdom and Japan. Sommer began his career with Swiss Re, one of the world's largest reinsurance companies. After initially working with international European clients, he moved to the United States before being offered an opportunity in Japan in the aftermath of the 2011 Tohoku earthquake, tsunami and Fukushima disaster. At the time, Japan's insurance industry had an acute need for international reinsurance expertise. In his first Japan assignment with Swiss Re, Sommer led sales activities and a team of approximately 40 people. After four years, he returned to Europe before an opportunity emerged to return to Japan with Aon, this time operating from a different part of the insurance and reinsurance value chain. His experience leading in Japan has required considerable adaptability. Sommer has learned that effective leadership cannot simply be transplanted from a Western corporate environment. Understanding hierarchy, nemawashi, indirect communication, client dedication, consensus building, patience and the importance of personal relationships has been central to his approach. As a Swiss executive working for global organisations in Japan, Sommer sees himself as an important translator between headquarters and the Japanese organisation: explaining to global leaders why Japan sometimes needs a different approach while also explaining to Japanese colleagues why not everything can be different from global standards. Narrative Summary Philippe Sommer's experience leading in Japan illustrates why successful global leadership is less about importing a proven management formula and more about learning how people around you actually think, communicate and make decisions. Sommer arrived in Japan through the world of reinsurance. Following the devastating 2011 Tohoku earthquake and tsunami, Japan required significant international reinsurance expertise. Having worked in Switzerland and the United States, Sommer accepted the opportunity to move to Japan and eventually found himself leading a substantial sales organisation. One of his earliest lessons concerned communication. Japanese expressions that appear positive or ambiguous to a Western executive can carry a very different meaning. A response such as "maybe" may actually represent an extremely strong "no". Translation alone therefore does not solve the problem. Leaders need interpretation: an understanding of the context and intention behind the words. Hierarchy presented another adjustment. Western executives may be accustomed to relatively flat organisations and feel comfortable contacting anyone necessary to achieve an outcome. In Japan, bypassing a counterpart and approaching that person's boss can cause embarrassment, loss of face and damaged trust. Sommer learned that respecting organisational relationships is essential. Yet Japanese hierarchy operates alongside nemawashi. Decisions may ultimately be approved at the top, but the groundwork is often built from below. People who will execute a decision need to be involved before the decision becomes official. Skipping that process can make implementation substantially harder. Sommer consequently favours what he describes as a "pull" rather than "push" leadership style. Instead of simply telling employees how something must be achieved, leaders can establish the desired outcome and then involve colleagues in determining how to reach it. This requires patience, but it produces understanding, involvement and commitment. Trust is built through similar behaviour. Sommer believes leaders need to demonstrate that they are working for the team and for the client rather than themselves. Leading by example matters. A leader should be visible in front of clients, participate in the work and demonstrate the behaviour expected from others. Curiosity is another foundation of his leadership approach. Rather than constantly talking about themselves, leaders should learn about other people, their interests, motivations and culture. Open questions help, but so does silence. Western executives accustomed to filling conversational gaps need to become comfortable waiting for Japanese colleagues to formulate and express their thoughts. Sommer's advice to incoming leaders is therefore deceptively simple: connect with people. Spend time with them. Share meals. Learn something about the Japanese language even if fluency is unrealistic. Understand how communication works. Most importantly, do not arrive believing that a powerful presentation or headquarters mandate will automatically create followership. His preferred definition of leadership, borrowed from Dwight D. Eisenhower, captures the central lesson: leadership is getting someone to do what needs to be done because that person wants to do it. In Japan, once genuine commitment has been established, Sommer believes the organisation can become almost unstoppable. Q&A Summary What makes leadership in Japan unique? Leadership in Japan requires an unusually strong awareness of context, hierarchy, relationships and indirect communication. Philippe Sommer discovered that literal translation is insufficient because leaders also need to understand the interpretation behind Japanese words and expressions. Hierarchy remains important. A foreign executive who bypasses a counterpart to contact that person's superior may believe they are simply accelerating communication. The Japanese counterpart may instead experience embarrassment and loss of face, damaging the relationship. At the same time, hierarchy coexists with bottom-up consensus building through nemawashi. The formal decision may come from above, but effective implementation frequently depends upon groundwork being completed throughout the organisation beforehand. Why do global executives struggle? Global executives can struggle because methods that generated results elsewhere may produce resistance in Japan. A leader arriving under pressure from headquarters may immediately begin pushing for rapid change. Sommer warns that this can become a "suicide mission" if headquarters does not understand that achieving sustainable change in Japan may require additional time. The leader also occupies a difficult intermediary position. Sommer sees himself as a translator between Japan and the global organisation. He must explain to headquarters why Japan is different while simultaneously explaining to Japanese colleagues why global requirements cannot simply be ignored. Is Japan truly risk-averse? Sommer recognises greater risk aversion in some parts of Japanese business but cautions against treating everyone as identical. Teams contain different personality types, including people who are ready to act. The leader's task is partly to identify those "doers", create circumstances in which they can contribute and ensure senior colleagues accept their participation. What can initially look like negativity may also represent an attempt to identify problems before implementation. What leadership style actually works? Sommer describes leadership in terms of "push and pull". In Japan, he has found pull leadership particularly effective. Rather than dictating every step, the leader discusses the intended destination and allows colleagues to contribute to how the organisation gets there. This helps the leader understand why people think as they do and allows solutions to emerge from the team. Sommer also emphasises leading by example. Leaders must show up, work with clients and demonstrate that they are committed to the same mission as their employees. Trust grows when people see that their leader is not merely delegating responsibility from above. How can technology help? Technology can make literal communication easier, particularly through AI-enabled translation, but Sommer's experience suggests technology does not eliminate the need for cultural interpretation. Machine translation may accurately convert words while missing the meaning behind them. Leaders still need to understand how a statement will be interpreted, what the speaker actually intends and how their own communication is being received. Technology therefore supports cross-cultural communication but cannot replace curiosity, contextual understanding or human relationships. Does language proficiency matter? Sommer believes leaders should learn about Japanese even if they never reach professional fluency. Understanding basic language structures can reveal how communication itself differs. Japanese sentence construction, including the placement of the verb at the end, requires listeners to wait longer before knowing the full meaning of a statement. That reinforces an important leadership discipline: listen, wait and become comfortable with silence. Language study can therefore provide cultural insight even when the executive continues conducting most business in English. What's the ultimate leadership lesson? Sommer's central lesson is to become curious about people and build genuine connections. Leaders should spend time with colleagues, share meals, ask open questions, listen and understand what motivates people. A presentation alone does not create followership. His preferred Eisenhower definition captures his philosophy: "Leadership is the art of getting someone else to do something you want done because he wants to do it." For Sommer, that idea has particular power in Japan. When people genuinely want to execute the agreed direction, commitment becomes exceptionally strong and the organisation can become almost unstoppable. Author Credentials Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across all leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programs, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have also been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). In addition to his books, Greg publishes daily blogs on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, offering practical insights on leadership, communication, and Japanese business culture. He is also the host of six weekly podcasts, including The Leadership Japan Series, The Sales Japan Series, The Presentations Japan Series, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews. On YouTube, he produces three weekly shows — The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews — which have become leading resources for executives seeking strategies for success in Japan.

Send us Fan MailWhat if one of the answers to America's drug-shortage problem isn't another pharmaceutical factory - but a genetically engineered yeast cell?For centuries, we've gone to nature to get many of our most valuable medicines - growing poppies, harvesting plants, extracting molecules and building global supply chains around them.But what if we could take the biological instructions that make those molecules and put them into a microorganism?That's the idea behind Antheia - and they've now taken engineered biology all the way to a 116,000-liter production scale.Dr. Christina Smolke, Ph.D. is a pioneer in synthetic biology and metabolic engineering, with more than 20 years of experience engineering biological systems. She is the co-founder and CEO of Antheia ( https://antheia.bio/ ), and is also an Adjunct Professor of Bioengineering at Stanford University. Her laboratory pioneered the engineering of baker's yeast to produce complex plant-derived pharmaceutical compounds - work that helped lay the scientific foundation for what Antheia is doing today.Dr. Kristy Hawkins, Ph.D. is Antheia's co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer. She has more than 20 years of experience in synthetic biology and yeast metabolic engineering, with expertise in pathway engineering, high-throughput screening and engineering microbial hosts to produce complex small molecules. Before Antheia, she worked at synthetic-biology companies Amyris and Lygos.Together, Dr. Smolke and Dr. Hawkins founded Antheia around a remarkably ambitious idea: instead of depending on farms, overseas factories and fragile global supply chains to produce the molecules we need for essential medicines, why not program biology itself to manufacture them?Antheia is now using advanced biosynthesis, genomics, computational biology and fermentation to produce pharmaceutical key starting materials and active pharmaceutical ingredients - including thebaine, an important starting material for several essential medicines.And this isn't simply a laboratory experiment anymore. The company has moved its technology toward commercial-scale manufacturing and has received substantial U.S. government support aimed specifically at strengthening domestic pharmaceutical supply chains.Today we're going to explore why the U.S. drug supply chain is so vulnerable, what it would actually take to bring essential medicine manufacturing back home, and whether engineered biology could become part of the infrastructure of American healthcare.#Antheia #SyntheticBiology #Biomanufacturing #DrugShortages #PharmaceuticalManufacturing #DrugSupplyChain #Biotechnology #Biotech #Pharma #AdvancedBiosynthesis #EngineeringBiology #SyntheticBiology #DrugDiscovery #Thebaine #EssentialMedicines #HealthcareInnovation #Manufacturing #SupplyChain #FutureOfMedicine #Science #Technology #Innovation #ProgressPotentialAndPossibilitiesSupport the show

Your football team keeps losing. The season is slipping away. One thing can be changed by Friday, and the crowd is already singing about it: sack the manager.Jan van Ours (Erasmus School of Economics, CEPR, Feyenoord fan) has looked at seven seasons of the Dutch top flight and 31 managers who were sacrificed mid-season. To work out whether any of them deserved it, he uses bookmaker odds and expected goals to distinguish bad play from bad luck. The new-manager bounce is real: results improve after a new manager walks in. But also, not real: clubs that don't sack the manager have an upturn too. The message for the boardroom, in football and business, is that not doing anything might often be the best course of action.The research behind this episode:van Ours, Jan C. 2026. "Dust in the Wind: Causes and Consequences of Managerial Replacements." CEPR Discussion Paper DP21850, Centre for Economic Policy Research. The paper is gated.To cite this episode:Phillips, Tim, and Jan van Ours. 2026. "Does sacking the manager work?" VoxTalks Economics (podcast).About the guestJan van Ours is Emeritus Professor of Applied Economics at Erasmus School of Economics, Erasmus University Rotterdam, and a core member of the Erasmus Centre for Applied Sports Economics. He is also Adjunct Professor at the Center for Health Economics, Monash Business School, and a Research Fellow of the Centre for Economic Policy Research. His research spans unemployment dynamics, labour market policy, health and well-being, and the economics of professional sport, where match data offer a rare chance to watch a labour market in the open.Research cited in this episodeThe Eredivisie sample. Seven seasons of the top league of Dutch professional football, from 2018/19 to 2024/25, covering 4,136 match observations and 126 club-seasons. In that period 31 managers were replaced during a season; about 15% had gone by mid-season and 25% by the end of it.Points surprise. The cumulative gap, from the first match of the season, between the points a club has won and the points the bookmakers implied it should have won. Bookmaker odds are used as the benchmark because they already contain everything the market knows about squad quality, home advantage and the opposition; van Ours confirms this in the data, finding that recent results add nothing to the odds as a predictor of the next match.Performance surprise. The same cumulative gap, but measured with expected points derived from expected goals rather than actual results. Points surprise catches a club that is losing. Performance surprise catches a club that is playing badly. A club can be one without being the other, which is how luck gets separated from ability.Expected goals. The probability that a given shot becomes a goal, estimated from thousands of comparable attempts and conditioned on the distance and angle of the shooter, the body part used, and the type of pass and attack. Van Ours converts expected goals scored and conceded into a distribution of match outcomes, and from that into expected points. His data come from fbref.com; the paper notes that match-level expected goals were discontinued in January 2026 after a dispute between fbref and Opta.The counterfactual replacement. The device that carries the paper. For each actual sacking, van Ours searches the same club in a different season for a moment when the sum of points surprise and performance surprise was almost identical, and the manager survived. Of the 31 replacements, 22 have a counterfactual, 19 of them unique. Clubs that sacked the manager gained 0.21 points per match afterwards. Clubs in the same trouble that did not sack the manager gained 0.38.Scapegoating. William Gamson and Norman Scotch set out the idea in "Scapegoating in baseball" in the American Journal of Sociology in 1964, describing the sacking of a manager as an anxiety-reducing ritual that participants treat as an improvement whether or not anything improves. Van Ours returns to it to explain why a decision with no measurable effect keeps being taken.Managers in regular firms. Stuart Gilson's 1989 study in the Journal of Financial Economics found that replaced executives were not employed by another firm for at least three years. Football managers are frequently back in work within weeks, which is one reason the job pays what it does. Hilger, Mankel and Richter reviewed 91 studies of top executive dismissals published between 1960 and 2010 and concluded that the effects of managerial turnover are not statistically different from zero.Related reading on VoxEU.orgWhat we can learn about economics from professional sport during COVID-19, a VoxEU column on why sport keeps producing clean natural experiments for economists.Racial bias in newspaper ratings of professional football players, a VoxEU column using match ratings to test for discrimination in a labour market where output is measured in public every week.

Every leader eventually discovers the gap between being obeyed and being trusted. In Japan's corporate culture — as much as in Sydney, Singapore or Silicon Valley — a title on a business card buys compliance, but it doesn't buy commitment. As of 2025, with talent mobility rising across Japan's white-collar workforce and post-pandemic hybrid teams making face time scarcer, the question of how leaders earn genuine trust has become a boardroom priority from Tokyo to Osaka. Research from organisations like Dale Carnegie consistently shows that earned trust, not positional authority, is what unlocks discretionary effort, creativity and retention. Why doesn't positional authority earn real trust from a team? Positional authority buys obedience, not commitment — only earned trust unlocks discretionary effort. "Automatic trust" comes from a leader's title, seniority or hierarchy, and in Japan's traditionally hierarchical corporate structures, it can look like real influence because staff comply readily. But compliance is not commitment. Executives at firms like Toyota and Rakuten increasingly recognise that genuine, "earned trust" is built through consistent, authentic interactions where leaders "talk the talk" and "walk the walk" over time. Without it, delegation becomes risky: leaders doubt their team will reliably handle tasks, which chokes time management and stalls team growth. When earned trust is present, by contrast, team members offer initiative and creativity no policy can mandate. Do now: Audit whether your team's compliance is habit-driven or trust-driven — the difference shows up the moment you're not watching. How do leaders in Japan build earned trust through everyday communication? Earned trust is built through consistent, authentic interactions, not grand gestures. It compounds slowly, through explaining the purpose behind tasks, listening to concerns, and following through on commitments. This differs from the transactional, order-issuing style still common in some traditional Japanese SMEs, and contrasts with the coaching-led management style favoured by many multinationals and Western-influenced startups operating in Japan. Comparative research across markets — Japan versus the US, Europe and Asia-Pacific — consistently finds that leaders who explain the "why" behind delegated work see higher engagement than those who simply issue instructions. Mutual understanding, not authority, is the currency that compounds into loyalty. Do now: Replace one instruction this week with an explanation — tell your team the "why," not just the "what." What communication mistakes destroy leader-team trust fastest? Losing your temper, dismissing ideas outright, and breaking promises erode trust faster than almost anything else a leader can do. These lapses are magnified in Japan's business culture, where public criticism or visible frustration can cause lasting loss of face for both parties. Insufficient communication — leaders defaulting to issuing orders instead of explaining, listening or seeking input — compounds the damage over time. Across sectors, from consumer-facing retail to B2B manufacturing, the pattern repeats: teams led by low-trust managers show measurably lower initiative and higher turnover. Japan's 2023 labour reforms, which pushed harder on workplace wellbeing and reduced overtime culture, have only sharpened employee expectations around respectful, transparent leadership. Do now: Before reacting to a mistake or a pushback, pause — a leader's next ten seconds either build or break trust. Why is delegation the missing link between trust and time management? Leaders who don't delegate effectively trap themselves in a vicious cycle of mistrust and time poverty. Without delegation, leaders have less time for the one-on-one interactions that build trust in the first place — so trust stays low, and delegation stays risky, and the loop repeats. This is a particularly acute challenge for time-poor executives across Japan's multinationals and fast-scaling startups alike, where headcount pressure leaves little slack for mentoring. Breaking the loop requires leaders to prioritise one-on-one time deliberately, rather than waiting for a quiet week that never arrives. Firms that treat delegation as a growth tool, not a workload dump, consistently report stronger succession pipelines. Do now: Block a recurring weekly slot for one-on-ones — treat it as non-negotiable as a client meeting. How should leaders invest one-on-one time to build lasting trust? Understanding a team member's motivations, interests, fears and goals is what turns delegation into development.These personal insights let leaders align delegated tasks with each person's career path, giving the work a sense of purpose rather than obligation. For successful delegation, leaders should involve team members in planning and monitoring progress, not just handing over a task and disappearing. This approach requires dedicated time that's easily deprioritised amid competing obligations — a common failure point for conglomerates managing large teams versus the more agile, relationship-dense structures typical of SMEs. Committing to these conversations consistently pays off in stronger trust and accountability. Do now: Ask one team member this week what career outcome they actually want from the next twelve months. What does an ongoing trust-building system look like for busy executives? Building trust is a continuous discipline, not a once-a-year initiative. It requires leaders to change mindset, habits and time allocation rather than repeating the same annual review cycle and hoping relationships hold. Earned trust elevates team cohesion, individual motivation and collective success — and consistent attention to trust-building efforts creates a lasting foundation that survives leadership transitions, restructures and market pressure. Leaders who treat trust as infrastructure, not sentiment, are better positioned for the retention challenges facing Japan's workforce as competition for skilled talent intensifies. Do now: Schedule a quarterly review of your own trust-building habits, not just your team's KPIs. Conclusion Trust in leadership isn't inherited with a title — it's built through the accumulation of small, consistent actions: explaining rather than ordering, listening rather than dismissing, and delegating with a team member's growth in mind. The leaders who get this right in Japan's evolving business environment, and everywhere else, aren't necessarily the most senior in the room. They're the ones who've made trust-building an ongoing habit rather than a one-off exercise. FAQs Trust built through hierarchy and trust earned through behaviour are fundamentally different, and only one drives discretionary effort. Positional or "automatic" trust secures compliance because of a leader's rank; earned trust secures commitment because of a leader's consistent, demonstrated integrity. Delegation and trust reinforce each other in a loop — low trust limits delegation, and limited delegation leaves no time to build trust. Breaking the cycle usually requires a leader to delegate deliberately before they feel fully ready, then use the freed-up time for one-on-one relationship building. Yes — trust-building norms vary by market, but the underlying behaviours (explaining, listening, following through) are consistent everywhere. In hierarchical business cultures like Japan's, visible respect and face-saving communication matter more; in flatter Western structures, transparency and direct feedback tend to carry more weight. Quick Actions For Leaders •          Distinguish, this week, between team compliance and team commitment on your own projects. •          Replace one directive with an explanation of purpose before Friday. •          Lock in a recurring one-on-one slot with each direct report. •          Ask each team member what career outcome they want from the next year. •          Review your own trust-building habits quarterly, not just team KPIs. Author Bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across all leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programs, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews, which are widely followed by executives seeking success strategies in Japan.

 Leadership encompasses many required skills and mindsets, and it is always interesting to dissect the topic from fresh angles. One particularly important issue in Japan is the relationship between strategy, organisational culture and brand. Japan has hordes of managers, but not so many leaders. Managers here are often brilliant at getting the operational side humming like a finely tuned engine. Errors are eliminated, defects avoided, deadlines met and processes followed. Leadership requires all of that — plus some important additions. Leaders build the people, set the direction and create the environment in which strategy, culture and brand reinforce each other. What is the difference between management and leadership in Japan? Management keeps the machine running; leadership decides where the machine is going and develops the people who will get it there. Japanese organisations are particularly strong at operational management, consistency, quality control and execution. The problem comes when excellent management is mistaken for leadership. Leaders need to explain not only what must be achieved and how to achieve it, but also why it matters. They develop people rather than merely supervising them. This becomes increasingly important when employees are expected to contribute ideas, solve problems and respond quickly to customers. A boss who simply issues orders may achieve compliance. A leader who gives direction, explains the purpose and develops the team can create commitment. Do now: Ask yourself whether your managers are merely controlling execution or whether they are also building people and setting direction. How should leaders translate corporate strategy into action? Corporate strategy should not stop at the Executive Floor. Each level of leadership needs to translate the overall strategy into a local strategy that makes sense to its own team and customers. The CEO and Division Heads may establish the broad organisational direction, but that cannot be the end of the process. Section and team leaders should take that umbrella strategy and ask their people: "What does this mean for us?" This is where many Japanese organisations leave considerable potential untapped. Those at the coal face are closest to customers. They detect the nuances, hints and shifts occurring in the marketplace every day. Senior executives may have decades of experience, but they can also be decades removed from direct customer interaction. Their market muscle memory may no longer reflect what customers are saying today. Do now: Break the corporate strategy down with your team and create a local version that directly connects their work and customer knowledge to the organisation's larger goals. Why should employees be involved in creating local strategy? The people closest to customers often possess information senior management simply cannot see, so involving them improves both strategy and execution. Strategy becomes stronger when frontline knowledge flows upward rather than instructions only flowing downward. Instead of section heads receiving a strategy and merely distributing orders, imagine them gathering the team and collectively breaking down what the corporate direction means for their part of the business. What are customers changing? What are competitors doing differently? Where are expectations moving? What opportunities are appearing? This approach does something else as well: it gives employees ownership. There is an enormous difference between being told to execute somebody else's plan and helping to determine how your team will achieve the desired result. The overall strategic direction remains intact, but the execution benefits from current market intelligence. Do now: Consult the people closest to the action before deciding exactly how your section will execute the corporate strategy. How does leadership behaviour shape organisational culture? Culture is created by what leaders repeatedly do, tolerate, reward and encourage — not by slogans distributed from headquarters. If the culture is based on "do what you are told", creativity will inevitably be sacrificed for orthodoxy and supposedly defect-free efficiency. Busy lower-level bosses often say they have no time to coach. Instead, they bark orders and micromanage results because they are determined to avoid mistakes appearing on their record. Internal politics can make things even worse. In large organisations, senior patrons gather supporters and loyalty becomes a tax employees pay in exchange for promotion and protection. Suddenly the enemy isn't the commercial rival outside the company. It is another division whose boss happens to be your boss's competitor for the next promotion. That turns enormous amounts of organisational energy inward. Do now: Create a culture where ideas are actively sought, people are thanked for contributing and the real competitive enemy remains outside the enterprise. What does leadership have to do with corporate and personal brand? Brand is much more than the company logo or tagline; it is the accumulated experience of how people inside the organisation think, behave and work. Leadership therefore plays a direct role in determining whether the brand promise is credible. A strong internal brand is reflected in professionalism, reliability, creativity and integrity. Employees should feel that putting forward ideas is part of the brand. Being listened to should be part of the brand too. That creates a very different organisation from the old "all hands to the oars of the slave ship" model. Beating the drum harder and lashing the oar bearers may create activity, but it will not create committed people or a compelling organisational brand. Professional personal brands matter as well. Employees build reputations through how reliably, creatively and professionally they perform their work. Do now: Stop treating brand as a Marketing Department responsibility. Examine whether everyday leadership behaviour actually reinforces the brand you claim to represent. How can leaders align personal values with organisational values? Values cannot be embedded through a CEO email; middle-level leaders have to connect organisational values with what genuinely matters to individual team members. Alignment requires conversation rather than corporate broadcasting. The leader first needs to understand the values of the people in the team. What matters to them? What type of professional do they want to become? What principles guide how they approach their work? The next step is finding common ground between those personal values and the values the organisation claims to represent. When rhetoric and reality match, employees can become proud of what their company stands for. They are also more likely to invest in improving their own professional brand because self-development is encouraged rather than merely demanded. The slave ship is transformed into a volunteer corps of committed people trying to beat competitors in the marketplace. Do now: Discuss values individually with team members and identify where personal ambitions, professional standards and organisational values genuinely intersect. Bringing Strategy, Culture and Brand Together Strategy, culture and brand should not operate as three disconnected corporate initiatives. Strategy establishes where the organisation is going. Culture determines how people behave while getting there. Brand becomes the internal and external expression of what the organisation actually stands for. Leadership is the mixing agent. When leaders explain the WHY, involve people in translating enterprise strategy into local action, encourage ideas, coach their teams and align individual values with organisational values, the three elements start reinforcing each other. So how does your organisation compare? Do your people actually understand the strategy? Have they created a local extension of it based on their knowledge of customers? Does information genuinely flow from the top down and the bottom up? Are people encouraged to contribute ideas? Are they conscious of their own professional brands? And does the lived culture match the brand rhetoric? If not, there is work to do. So, how is the cocktail mixing process going down at your shop? Author Bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across leadership, communication, sales and presentation programmes, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter, and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews, which are widely followed by executives seeking success strategies in Japan.

Salespeople spend enormous amounts of time thinking about the deals they won and the deals they lost to competitors. But there is another, potentially much larger category we often ignore: the buyers who didn't buy from anybody. That group should be fascinating to us. If the client didn't choose us but also didn't choose a rival, perhaps our problem wasn't the competition at all. Maybe the real competitor was doing nothing. That changes how we should think about selling. Why do so many sales opportunities end with no decision? The biggest competitor in many sales situations may not be another supplier. It may be the client's decision to do absolutely nothing. I am a big fan of American sales coach Victor Antonio and his Sales Influence Podcast. In one episode, he discussed research suggesting salespeople close around 40% of the deals they pursue. That leaves 60% which don't close. The interesting part was his breakdown of that 60%. Only around 20% of the total opportunities were reportedly lost to competitors. Another 10% stalled because the price frightened the buyer into doing nothing. That still leaves a substantial group who didn't buy from us, didn't buy from the competition and didn't stop purely because of price. So what happened? For salespeople, this is an important distinction. We tend to conduct win-loss reviews based around, "Why did they choose the competitor?" Maybe we need another question: Why did the buyer decide that changing anything wasn't worth the trouble? Do now: When reviewing lost opportunities, separate competitive losses from genuine "no decision" outcomes. They are different sales problems and require different solutions. Is a lost sale really a price problem? Price matters, but price and value are not the same thing. A buyer can afford your solution and still decide the gain isn't sufficiently attractive to justify taking action. Victor Antonio's argument was that some stalled buyers simply didn't see enough value. That makes sense. Value depends entirely on what the client considers important. The gain might involve reducing costs, increasing revenue, accelerating delivery, saving employee time, improving integration with existing systems, reducing risk or making the client's own offer more attractive to its customers. Unfortunately, salespeople often decide for themselves what the client should value. We become enormously excited about our solution's features and benefits. We explain what it can do. We show the data. We provide evidence. Meanwhile, the buyer is quietly thinking, "So what?" The question isn't whether our solution has value. The question is whether the client perceives enough value according to their own criteria to justify changing their current situation. Do now: Ask clients explicitly, "When you assess a solution like this, what would represent significant value for you?" Why do salespeople struggle to discover what clients really value? Many salespeople don't discover value because their questioning is too shallow. They collect information without uncovering what really matters to the buyer. I see this regularly when we teach salespeople from Japanese companies. When we reach the question-design portion of the training, the idea of deliberately constructing questions to uncover needs, motivations and value can be surprisingly new. The traditional approach is often to get quickly into specifications, data and product features. That is basically throwing mud against the wall and hoping something sticks. Professional sales training is still not as deeply established in Japan as it is in some other markets. A lot of development happens through OJT — On-the-Job Training. The danger is obvious: inexperienced salespeople can inherit the habits of other salespeople who were never formally taught consultative selling themselves. Even salespeople who ask questions often miss opportunities to go deeper. The buyer gives them a hint. A flag appears saying DIG HERE. They ignore it and move mechanically to their next prepared question. That is where enormous amounts of useful information disappear. Do now: When a buyer reveals an important issue, temporarily abandon your question list. Probe it with "Why is that important?" and "What impact is that having?" Can implementation effort kill an otherwise attractive sale? Yes. Buyers don't evaluate only the potential gain from a solution; they also evaluate how difficult achieving that gain will be. I have experienced this myself. I teach in the Japan Market Expansion Competition, or JMEC, a non-profit programme where teams of young businesspeople work with companies and develop business plans for them. I have also been a paying JMEC client. In our case, I received the team's finished business plan — and threw it away. Why? Not because the ideas were necessarily bad. The problem was the amount of effort required to implement the recommendations. When I compared that effort with the likely gain, the equation simply didn't work. Our buyers make exactly the same calculation. We may be concentrating on the return: "This will improve productivity." "This will increase sales." "This will strengthen leadership capability." The buyer may be thinking: "Who is going to organise all of this?" That can kill the deal. Do now: Don't sell only the outcome. Ask what implementation will demand from the buyer and look for ways to reduce that burden. Why is internal friction especially important when selling in Japan? A compelling business case can still stall if the buyer faces too much internal coordination, approval work or organisational resistance. Our counterparts are often Human Resources departments, and many HR teams appear overwhelmed by the volume of work they are expected to manage with relatively limited resources. We may arrive with a wonderful new initiative. They may see another project landing on an already crowded desk. Then there is internal decision-making. In Japanese companies, the ringi seido approval process can require multiple related divisions and stakeholders to sign off before a significant change proceeds. Changing suppliers may therefore involve much more than convincing our immediate contact. Procurement may be involved. Finance may need to approve the expenditure. Senior management may want justification. Users may resist changing an established process. Other departments may have competing priorities. Suddenly our attractive offer has acquired considerable organisational friction. If the perceived gain isn't large enough, doing nothing becomes easier. Do now: Map the client's internal approval journey. Find out who must agree, what objections may emerge and how you can make the buyer's internal selling job easier. What should salespeople ask before presenting their solution? Before finalising the proposal, salespeople should identify the friction points that could prevent the client from implementing the recommendation. We normally concentrate on the traditional sequence: features, benefits, application of those benefits and evidence. All important. But there is another question we need to ask: "If you were to implement our solution, are there any likely friction points we should consider so that we can reduce or remove potential issues?" The buyer may not answer fully during the first meeting. Fine. Ask again later. As trust develops, they may explain the political, administrative, financial or operational barriers standing between your proposal and an actual purchase. That knowledge allows us to adjust the recommendation. Perhaps implementation needs to occur in stages. Perhaps HR needs additional support. Perhaps senior management requires a stronger ROI argument. Perhaps another department needs to become involved earlier. That is not simply objection handling. It is designing a solution the organisation can realistically say yes to. Do now: Before submitting your final proposal, ask yourself two questions: "Why would they buy?" and "What could make doing nothing easier than buying?" What can we learn from the deals that never happened? Salespeople naturally celebrate wins and analyse obvious losses, but the deals which simply disappear deserve much more attention. Look back at your stalled opportunities. Was the price genuinely too high? Was the perceived value too low? Did you fail to discover what the buyer really cared about? Was implementation going to require too much effort? Did internal approval friction overwhelm the attractiveness of the solution? These questions move us beyond blaming competitors. The objective is to anticipate rejection possibilities before they arise. We need to understand not only what has to happen on our side to make the sale, but what has to happen inside the client's organisation for the deal to come to fruition. Sometimes the best way to improve your next sales conversation is to study the deals nobody won. Author bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie One Carnegie Award (2018 and 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver programmes globally across leadership, communication, sales and presentations, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including the best-sellers Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery and Japan Presentations Mastery, as well as Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have also been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). Greg also publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery and Japan's Top Business Interviews for executives and professionals seeking practical strategies for succeeding in Japan.

REBEL Rundown Key Points Attention is a finite resource. Emergency medicine heavily taxes directed attention through interruptions, task switching, threat monitoring, and constant high-stakes decisions. Nature gives directed attention a chance to recover. Natural environments engage “soft fascination”. That's referring to the effortless, bottom-up attention- which allows our effortful, goal-directed attention systems to rest and recharge.  Nature helps downshift the stress response and may reduce stress physiology, support parasympathetic activity, improve mood, and potentially improve emotional regulation. Exposure can be brief to reset: even a 40-second view of greenery was associated with improved sustained attention in one study. Windows, plants, nature imagery, and brief outdoor breaks can make a difference. We can even design nature into healthcare. Nature is a tool but not a treatment for broken systems. Nature exposure shouldn’t become another individual “wellness” obligation or substitute for fixing understaffing, moral injury, or other structural problems. And it's also okay to go outside simply because being outside feels good, without optimizing anything. Click here for Direct Download of the Podcast. Previously Covered and Related Content: REBEL MIND: Rest is not Sleep: 7 Dimensions of True Recovery Introduction Welcome to Rebel MIND, the podcast where we explore concepts that help us understand our minds so that we can take better care of our patients and ourselves. MIND stands for Mastering Internal Negativity during Difficulty. In this episode, Dr. Kim Bambach talks with emergency physician and neuroscientist Dr. Adrienne Taren as well as emergency physician and wilderness medicine expert Dr. Linda Keyes about the Nature Reset: how exposure to nature can restore attention, downshift our stress response, and help our brains recover from the cognitive demands of medicine. Dr. Adrienne Taren is an emergency medicine physician, clinical neuroscience faculty at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research, and adjunct professor at Oklahoma State University in medical education. She completed her MD/PhD (Neuroscience) at the University of Pittsburgh-Carnegie Mellon University. Her current research focuses on the neural circuit function underlying occupational traumatic stress symptoms in frontline healthcare workers.Dr. Linda Keyes is a board-certified emergency physician, an adjunct professor at University of Colorado, Vice President of the International Society of Mountain Medicine, and past-president of the Wilderness Medical Society.  Since she was a medical student at Yale University, she has travelled the globe in pursuit of science. Dr. Keyes has partnered with researchers and clinicians on five continents to understand the effects of high altitude on the human body. She has authored of scores of original research articles and international guidelines on high-altitude medicine with a focus on women's health and understanding acute mountain sickness. The mountains are her happy place. She believes in wilderness as medicine and in conservation for the health of the planet. Cognitive Question How can nature help us recover during or after a difficult shift? How does nature exposure affect our cognition? Clinical medicine keeps our brains in a near-constant state of cognitive and physiologic activation. We sustain attention despite interruptions, track multiple patients simultaneously, make high-stakes decisions with incomplete information, and continuously scan for threats and changes in our environment. This heavily taxes directed attention, the effortful, top-down attentional system we use to deliberately focus on a task. Importantly, attention is a finite neurobiological resource that fatigues with sustained use. Nature provides a unique form of cognitive recovery. Rather than demanding directed attention, natural environments engage what researchers call soft fascination: our attention is gently captured by things like moving leaves, shifting light, clouds, or water without requiring deliberate effort. This allows our directed attention systems an opportunity to rest and recover. Through soft fascination, nature gives our directed attention a break and creates space for the default mode network (DMN) which allows our minds to wander, consolidate memories, reflect, and make connections between ideas. Nature exposure may also help downregulate the physiologic stress response, with evidence suggesting reductions in cortisol and increased parasympathetic activity.Importantly, meaningful nature exposure doesn’t necessarily require a hike in the wilderness.The 40-Second Reset: In one study, participants who took a 40-second microbreak viewing a green roof subsequently demonstrated better sustained attention than those viewing a concrete roof. This suggests that even very brief nature exposures may have cognitive benefits.Nature Between Shifts: Longer exposures may allow more complete autonomic downregulation, while outdoor light exposure and low-intensity movement may also support circadian regulation which is particularly relevant for shift workers.Biophilic Design: We can also bring elements of nature into the environments where we work. Windows, natural light, plants, nature imagery, green walls, and accessible outdoor spaces may offer opportunities to incorporate restorative nature exposure into healthcare design. Immediate Action Steps for Your Next Shift **Step Outside**: Try to step outside on your next shift for even a few minutes. Even a brief dose of nature may help interrupt sustained directed attention.**Look for Nature**: When getting outside isn’t possible, intentionally notice natural elements around you—a window view, trees, plants, daylight, or even nature imagery.**Let Your Mind Wander**: Give yourself a few minutes with a cognitive task. Allow soft fascination to create space for reflection and the default mode network. **Write Yourself a Nature Rx**:What would be restorative to you? It might be a hike, a visit to your local botanical garden, or some time in a hammock just to enjoy yourself.  Conclusion Spending time in nature can provide a meaningful reset for attention and stress. Natural environments give directed attention a break while creating space for reflection and mind-wandering. Even brief, intentional doses of nature like stepping outside during a shift or taking a walk after work may help restore cognitive resources and reduce stress. Building small moments of nature into  your day can support your well-being and resilience. Nature isn’t a “fix-all” for system pressures and stressors like understaffing. We still need to advocate for better systems, but nature can be a cost-effective, beneficial, and relatively simple adjunct that can improve well-being.  Clinical Bottom Line Give yourself permission for a “nature reset” or “nature Rx”. An intentional dose of nature that can reduce stress, restore depleted attention, and replenish the cognitive resources we rely on to think and focus in challenging clinical environments.  Post Peer Reviewed By: Mark Ramzy, DO (X/IG: @MRamzyDO) Further Reading Lee et al.40-second green roof views sustain attention: The role of micro-breaks in attention restoration. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 2015;42:182–9.Ulrich, et al.Stress Recovery During Exposure to Natural and Urban Environments. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 1991;11(3):201–30.Kaplan, S. The restorative benefits of nature: Toward an integrative framework. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 1995;15(3):169–82.Bergman, et al.The cognitive benefits of interacting with nature. Psychological Science. 2008;19(12):1207–1212.PMID: 19121124Bratman, et al. Nature experience reduces rumination and subgenual prefrontal cortex activation. PNAS. 2015;112(28):8567–8572.PMID: 26124129White, et al. Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing. Scientific Reports. 2019;9(1).PMID: 31197192The Wilderness Medical Society The International Society for Mountain Medicine The International Sisters High Altitude Research Expedition Meet the Authors Kim Bambach, MD Assistant Professor of Emergency Medicine, Assistant Residency Program Director The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, Columbus, OH Adrienne Taren, MD, PhD Emergency Medicine Physician, Associate Investigator at the Laureate Institute for Brain Research, Adjunct Professor, Oklahoma State University School of Medicine Ascension St John's, Tulsa, OK Linda Keyes, MD, FACEP Adjunct Professor of Emergency Medicine, Past President of the Wilderness Medical Society, Vice President of the International Society of Mountain Medicine University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO Showing Slide 1 of 3 The post REBEL MIND – The Nature Reset appeared first on REBEL EM - Emergency Medicine Blog.

Many businesspeople believe they are already reasonably good presenters. Their colleagues understand them. Their bosses do not complain. They can stand in front of a room, explain their slides and finish within the allotted time. Compared with the average business presenter, they may genuinely appear competent. Then they receive professional coaching, and the difference can be dramatic. In presentation training, even capable speakers often become noticeably more persuasive, confident and engaging within a short period. The question is why coaching creates such a large improvement when there are already countless books, videos, podcasts and online resources available. Can professionals become excellent presenters by studying alone, or do they need expert help? The strongest answer is a combination of knowledge, frequent practice and quality coaching. Can you become a better presenter through self-study? Self-study can make you a better presenter because books, videos and podcasts provide valuable techniques, examples and frameworks. However, consuming information alone may not be enough to make you exceptional. There is no shortage of presentation advice. Businesspeople can study storytelling, slide design, vocal variety, body language, executive presence, audience engagement and persuasive structure. Books such as Japan Presentations Mastery provide practical guidance for presenting in Japanese and international business environments. YouTube channels, TED Talks and business podcasts also make it easy to observe skilled speakers and analyse their methods. The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show covers leadership, sales and presenting, while the Japan Business Mastery Show provides shorter insights for time-pressed professionals. The Presentations Japan Series podcast also explores practical presentation techniques each week. Knowledge is essential because we cannot apply techniques we have never encountered. The limitation is that information cannot observe us while we speak. Do now: Choose one presentation resource and apply one specific technique in your next business presentation. Why does frequent practice matter in presentation skills? Frequent practice matters because presenting is a performance skill, not merely an intellectual subject.Understanding a technique and executing it confidently in front of an audience are completely different abilities. A person can read extensively about swimming, golf, music or martial arts, but mastery requires repetition. Presenting works the same way. Every speech gives the presenter an opportunity to test an opening, refine a story, improve timing or become more comfortable with silence. Repetition also reduces anxiety because the experience of standing in front of an audience becomes familiar. Tony Robbins reportedly made a deliberate decision early in his career to accept as many speaking opportunities as possible. Whether addressing small groups or large audiences, the volume of practice helped him develop his communication abilities. The same principle applies in business. Volunteer to lead meetings, explain projects, speak at associations, deliver client briefings or introduce speakers at events. Do now: Seek presentation opportunities rather than waiting until a major speech forces you to perform. Why is presentation coaching more effective than feedback from colleagues? A skilled presentation coach sees behaviours and audience reactions that the speaker cannot observe while presenting. This outside perspective turns vague advice into precise, practical adjustments. The speaker is facing the audience and concentrating on the message. They cannot easily see their own facial expression, posture, movement or gestures. They may also be too focused on remembering content to notice how the audience is responding. A coach can see when listeners become interested, confused or disengaged. Colleagues may say, "That was good", but this type of feedback does not explain what worked or what should change. In many workplaces, people avoid giving honest feedback because they do not want to offend a colleague or senior executive. A professional coach can identify specific changes while maintaining a positive and psychologically safe learning environment. Video recording is also valuable. It allows presenters to observe themselves, but an expert coach can interpret what the presenter sees and suggest suitable alternatives. Do now: Record your next presentation and ask a qualified observer to identify three specific behaviours to strengthen. How can coaching improve a presenter's voice and delivery? Presentation coaching improves vocal impact by helping speakers vary their pace, tone, volume, emphasis and use of silence. These changes make ideas easier to follow and important points more memorable. Many business presenters speak in a narrow vocal range. Every sentence receives roughly the same energy and emphasis, so the audience cannot easily distinguish the central message from the supporting detail. A coach may recommend increasing vocal modulation, slowing down, emphasising keywords or varying the rhythm of the delivery. Pauses are especially powerful. Nervous speakers often accelerate because they want to finish quickly. Confident speakers may also speed up when they become enthusiastic about their subject. When ideas arrive too rapidly, each new point can erase the previous one before the audience has processed it. A deliberate pause gives listeners time to absorb the message and gives the presenter time to breathe and reset. Silence can initially feel uncomfortable, but to an audience it often sounds calm and authoritative. Do now: Mark pauses and keywords directly into your speaking notes before rehearsing. How does body language affect presentation credibility? Body language affects credibility because audiences judge confidence, openness and authority before they fully process the words. Gestures, posture, eye contact and facial expression all shape the message. A presenter may need larger gestures to communicate energy in a large room. Another presenter may move constantly and need to stand still so the audience can concentrate. Eye contact is equally important. Effective presenters do not rapidly scan the room or stare at their slides. They engage one person at a time, hold that person's gaze while completing a thought and then move naturally to another listener. Facial expression can also create an unintended impression. A speaker concentrating intensely may appear angry, aggressive or unfriendly even though they feel none of those emotions. Because the speaker is focused on content and delivery, they may be completely unaware of how they look. The coach can identify the mismatch between intention and impact. Do now: During rehearsal, check whether your face, posture and gestures support the impression you want to create. Why do presenters need to leave their comfort zones? Presenters need to leave their comfort zones because their familiar delivery style may be competent but not powerful enough to influence an audience. Coaching provides permission and encouragement to try behaviours they would not attempt alone. A presenter may intellectually understand that larger gestures, stronger vocal emphasis or more emotional storytelling would improve the speech. However, those changes can feel unnatural or exaggerated during rehearsal. The speaker therefore returns to the safe style they have always used. A coach can encourage carefully judged experimentation. They might ask the presenter to increase a gesture, hold a pause longer, move closer to the audience or deliver a line with greater conviction. The first attempt may feel excessive to the speaker while appearing completely natural to the audience. This is particularly important in business, where presenters must balance authenticity with professionalism. The objective is not theatrical performance for its own sake. It is a larger, more engaging version of the speaker's genuine communication style. Do now: Rehearse one section at a higher energy level than feels comfortable, then review the result on video. What is the best way to become an excellent business presenter? The strongest formula is to combine presentation knowledge, frequent speaking opportunities and expert coaching.Each element supports the others, and removing one limits the speed and scale of improvement. Knowledge introduces techniques and models. Practice converts those ideas into usable habits. Coaching provides an accurate outside perspective and helps the presenter select the changes that will create the greatest impact. Self-study without practice remains theoretical. Practice without guidance can reinforce weak habits. Coaching without continued opportunities to present will produce improvements that may not become permanent. The combination matters because every presentation contributes to the speaker's personal and professional brand. Audiences form opinions about competence, confidence, credibility and leadership potential whenever someone speaks. A strong presentation can build trust. A confusing, flat or nervous delivery can weaken it, even when the content is technically correct. Becoming a better presenter is therefore not simply about delivering a polished speech. It is about becoming a more influential professional. Do now: Build a development plan that includes weekly study, regular speaking practice and periodic expert coaching. Conclusion Presentation resources are everywhere. Books, videos, podcasts and public speeches give professionals access to more knowledge and more examples than ever before. That is a valuable starting point, but information alone has limitations. Presenting is a practical performance skill. Improvement requires repeated opportunities to speak, experiment and reflect. To reach a much higher level, presenters also need someone who can observe what they cannot see, identify the gap between intention and impact and recommend specific changes. The winning combination is simple: Absorb high-quality presentation knowledge. Present as frequently as possible. Work with an expert coach. Every time we speak, we are shaping our professional reputation. The real question is not whether we can survive a presentation. It is whether our delivery builds the trust, credibility and influence our message deserves. Author Bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" in 2018 and 2021 and received the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2012. As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver leadership, communication, sales and presentation programmes globally, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including the best-sellers Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery and Japan Presentations Mastery, as well as Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have been translated into Japanese, including ザ営業, プレゼンの達人, トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう and 現代版「人を動かす」リーダー. Greg publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook and X and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery and Japan's Top Business Interviews for executives seeking practical strategies for succeeding in Japan.

A dementia diagnosis changes the whole map of a family, and the systems we rely on often make it harder, not easier. What happens when dementia care begins with the person...not the diagnosis?Susie Singer Carter and Don Priess welcome Andrew Karesa, founder of blueBell Village and host of The Dementia Collective. Andrew is deeply committed to advancing the Indigenous community while driving transformative change within the dementia care landscape. Andrew is also an Adjunct Professor of Indigenous Business at The King's University and a doctoral candidate at the Haskayne School of Business, University of CalgaryInspired by his family's experience caring for his grandmother Shirley Bell, Andrew originally set out to build a dementia village. When that vision encountered the realities of funding and construction, it evolved into blueBell Connect, a digital platform created to help families and professional caregivers communicate, coordinate care, and find support tailored to the individual. With blueBell, Andrew has seen lives transformed for both individuals living with dementia and their caregivers, and he is passionate about fostering a world where care is tailored to each individual's needs.Together, they explore why one-size-fits-all dementia care fails; the importance of understanding a person's history, culture, language, and preferences; and how patience, music, technology, and simple moments of connection can preserve dignity and joy. Susie and Don also share moving stories about their mothers, from giving a loved one time to process a painful loss to watching music and grandchildren reach places words no longer could.At its heart, this hopeful conversation reminds us that people living with dementia are still present, still communicating, and still worthy of autonomy and individualized care and that love sometimes means learning to speak their language.Plus, Susie shares how listeners can join the September 27 National Walk for Long-Term Care Reform and help make long-term care everyone's concern.Subscribe, share this with a caregiver, and leave a review so more families can find real support.Learn more:blueBell Village InstagramYouTubeFacebookROAR 4 LTC:Andrew Karesa on LinkedInblueBell VillageblueBell ConnectThe Dementia CollectiveApple PodcastsSpotifySend us Fan MailIf someone you love experienced neglect in a nursing home…Then you know how desperately the system needs to change.  History has shown us that It takes people power to change anything worthwhile. That's why we we're launching something that's never been done before. On September 27, communities across the country are coming together for the first-ever National Long-Term Care Reform Day.This is a peaceful national walk for dignity, accountability, and change in long-term care.We'rSupport the showNo Country For Old People; a Nursing Home Exposé is STREAMING NOW on Amazon Prime (https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0F7D1RR5X/ref=atv_dp_share_cu_r) Visit the No Country For Old People Website for more information.Please watch. Review. Share.Be a ROAR-ior!! JOIN THE R.O.A.R. MOVEMENT (Respect, Oversight, Advocacy, Reform) for quality long term care! Visit the ROAR 4 LTC Website for more information and consider participating in the inaugural National National Long-Term Care Day, Sunday, September 27th The 1st ever ROAR 2026 National Walk for Long-Term Care Reform! Found out more here: https://www.roar4ltc.org/roar-2026-walkFollow us on Twitter, FB, IG, & TiK Tok

Our guest this week is David Aarestad of Champaign, IL who is a lawyer by education and training, an adjunct professor of Law at University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign and father of two, including one with Down Syndrome.   David and his wife, Karen, have been married for 25 years and are the proud parents of two children: Brynn (20) and Sofia (22) who has Mosaic Down Syndrome, which impacts only 1 1/2% of those with Down Syndrome.  Prior to moving to Illinois two years ago, the Aarestads lived in Denver for more than a decade.  While there they were involved in many many organization that supported Sofia and the family, including: Adam's CampRocky Mountain Down Syndrome Association, and Global Down Syndrome FoundationIt's an uplifting story about a father's commitment to family and dedication to the welfare of other families all on this episode of the SFN Dad to Dad Podcast.Show Notes - Phone – (303) 514-5522Email – davidaarestad@yahoo.comLinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-aarestad-96163b9/  Adam's Camp – https://adamscamp.org/Rocky Mountain Down Syndrome Association – https://rmdsa.org/Global Down Syndrome Foundation - https://www.globaldownsyndrome.org/Gigi's Playhouse – https://gigisplayhouse.org/For the record, this episode was recordred at the Urbana Country Club in Urbana, IL, on day #31 and stop #65 of the SFN U.S. Tour, a month-long, 50-state, 60-plus stop tour to strengthen the SFN and distribute 1,000 complimentary copies of the new book: Dads Raising Children with Special Needs & Disabilities: A Guide For 21st Century Dads. Special thanks to all those who supported the SFN U.S. Tour that took place from May 21 to June 21, 2026: Special Fathers Network –SFN is a dad to dad mentoring program for fathers raising children with special needs. Many of the 900+ SFN Mentor Fathers, who are raising kids with special needs, have said: “I wish there was something like this when we first received our child's diagnosis. I felt so isolated.  There was no one within my family, at work, at church or within my friend group who understood or could relate to what I was going through.”SFN Mentor Fathers share their experiences with younger dads closer to the beginning of their journey raising a child with the same or similar special needs. The SFN Mentor Fathers do NOT offer legal or medical advice, that is what lawyers and doctors do. They simply share their experiences and how they have made the most of challenging situations.Check out the 21CD YouTube Channel with dozens of videos on topics relevant to dads raising children with special needs - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzDFCvQimWNEb158ll6Q4cA/videosPlease support the SFN. Click here to donate: https://21stcenturydads.org/donate/Special Fathers Network: https://21stcenturydads.org/  

Send us Fan MailAmerican healthcare still runs on fax machines, paper forms, and reimbursement models built for reactive sick care. Meanwhile, patients are connecting wearables to AI chatbots, ordering their own labs, and triaging themselves without ever seeing a physician.Dr. Daniel Kraft, Founder of Digital.Health and NextMed Health, joins host John Driscoll to discuss why the consumer is pulling healthcare into the future faster than institutions can follow, and what continuous, AI-powered, multimodal health monitoring could mean for the 500 million people who cannot get timely access to a primary care doctor today.

"The very first thing that you have to do as a leader in Japan is to make yourself a team member." "You have to show them that you're here because you want to lead Japan, not because you want to lead." "Don't ask anyone to do anything you wouldn't do yourself." "You have to get to a level where you can show both knowledge and humility." "Once you show your people a path... they will follow you."   Doru Tasca is President and Representative Director of ZF Group in Japan, combining more than three decades of life in Japan with extensive leadership experience in the automotive industry. Born and raised in Romania, Tasca came to Japan at eighteen after winning a Japanese government Monbusho scholarship. He spent his first year studying Japanese at Osaka University of Foreign Studies before completing his university education in Japan. That early immersion gave him not only fluency in Japanese but also a deep familiarity with the cultural assumptions underpinning Japanese business. After initially teaching English, Tasca entered the automotive industry in 2005 with Japanese company Witech in Hiroshima, beginning in R&D before moving into sales and programme management. He subsequently joined Visteon and later Continental, where he worked extensively in automated and assisted driving technologies including cameras, radar and lidar. Tasca joined ZF in 2020 as Key Account Executive for Toyota. His responsibilities expanded until he became Head of Sales for ZF Japan at the beginning of 2025 and subsequently President and Representative Director, while retaining his sales leadership responsibilities. His career has been shaped by his ability to operate comfortably between Japanese and Western business cultures. Rather than treating Japan as a temporary overseas assignment, Tasca describes Japan as his home and believes effective foreign leadership requires understanding the language, culture, customers and people from the inside. Narrative Summary Leading successfully in Japan requires much more than importing global management practices and expecting local employees to adapt. For Doru Tasca, President and Representative Director of ZF Group Japan, effective leadership begins with becoming part of the team. Tasca's perspective comes from an unusual career. Arriving from Romania at eighteen on a Japanese government scholarship, he learned Japanese, studied in Japan and eventually built his entire professional career there. His first automotive role was inside a traditional Japanese company, where he experienced Japanese corporate life from the bottom upwards before moving into multinational organisations including Visteon, Continental and ZF. That background taught him an important lesson: Western leadership habits cannot simply be transplanted into Japan. Consensus building and nemawashi matter. Leaders must understand how decisions are developed and gain acceptance rather than relying solely on positional authority. Credibility also comes from being willing to do the work. Tasca believes leaders initially need to get their hands dirty so they understand what their teams actually do. Delegation should come later and must be explained carefully. Employees need to understand that work is being delegated because the leader trusts them and wants them to grow, not because the boss simply wants to unload unwanted tasks. This philosophy extends to decision-making. Tasca asks his management team to investigate problems, consult their teams, develop alternatives and return with a recommendation. If he accepts their recommendation, responsibility is shared. If he overrides it, he takes responsibility himself. This creates psychological safety around decisions while still encouraging ownership. Trust is another recurring theme. Tasca sees reputation as one of the most valuable assets anyone possesses in Japanese business. Trust takes considerable time to build and can be destroyed remarkably quickly. Leaders therefore need to demonstrate reliability through behaviour. Tasca attends meetings alongside his people, joins them when customer problems occur and makes himself visible throughout the organisation. Employees must see that their leader works with them rather than merely issuing instructions. He also emphasises accessibility. As president, he deliberately walks around the office and speaks with employees, even when the interaction lasts only thirty seconds. Japanese employees can be reluctant to approach senior leaders with problems, making it important for leaders themselves to reduce the psychological distance. For foreign executives, Tasca's advice is particularly clear: learn Japanese. Language is not simply a communication tool. It signals commitment and allows leaders to understand nuances that disappear when Japanese employees are required to operate entirely in English. Ultimately, Tasca defines leadership through example, humility and development. Leaders should never ask others to do something they would not do themselves. They must recognise that specialists around them will often know far more than they do and combine sufficient knowledge with the humility to listen. Most importantly, leaders must show people a path forward. When employees understand how today's difficult assignment contributes to tomorrow's growth, leadership becomes more than authority. It gives people a reason to follow. Q&A Summary What makes leadership in Japan unique? Leadership in Japan depends heavily on becoming accepted as part of the team rather than simply asserting hierarchical authority. Tasca argues that foreign leaders must demonstrate that they understand Japanese business behaviour, including consensus building and nemawashi. This requires hands-on involvement. Employees need to see that their leader understands their work and is prepared to share the burden. Only after establishing that credibility can delegation become genuinely effective. Japanese decision-making also places considerable importance on collective acceptance. Tasca asks managers to investigate issues with their teams, identify alternatives and recommend a solution. When he agrees, responsibility becomes shared. When he rejects their recommendation and chooses another direction, he deliberately assumes responsibility for that decision. Why do global executives struggle? Global executives can struggle when they arrive believing successful leadership practices elsewhere will automatically work in Japan. Tasca warns against behaving like a temporary expatriate who has come to collect several years of international experience before moving to another assignment. Japanese employees observe whether a foreign executive is genuinely committed to Japan. Leaders who remain isolated from employees, customers, language and everyday Japanese society can struggle to build the credibility required to lead effectively. Tasca's distinction is powerful: executives need to demonstrate that they came because they want to lead Japan, not simply because they want to be leaders. Is Japan truly risk-averse? The interview presents a more nuanced picture than simply describing Japanese organisations as risk-averse. Tasca's experience in the automotive sector shows companies managing uncertainty through relationships, consensus and long-term cooperation. Japanese automotive competitors may cooperate when earthquakes or other disruptions threaten production. Customers also deliberately bring competing suppliers together, creating relationships that may eventually enable cooperation when supply-chain problems emerge. Rather than seeing this purely as risk avoidance, it can be understood as strategic uncertainty management. Long-term relationships provide resilience when unexpected problems arise. What leadership style actually works? Tasca advocates visible, participative and accountable leadership. Leaders need to work alongside employees, understand their jobs and demonstrate that delegation is designed to develop people rather than dump work onto them. They also need to listen to criticism. Tasca argues that a person who cannot accept constructive criticism has no business being a leader and is merely someone who possesses power. Accessibility matters as well. Tasca makes daily rounds through the office and speaks with employees because people must feel comfortable approaching leadership with problems. The resulting style combines knowledge with humility. Leaders do not need to be the greatest technical expert in the room. They need enough understanding to evaluate expert advice, make decisions and empower specialists to perform. How can technology help? Technology is central to ZF's business, but Tasca's leadership lessons emphasise that technology does not eliminate the human component of management. ZF operates across advanced automotive technologies including automated driving, cameras, high-performance computing, braking, steering, suspension and transmissions. The company invests heavily in research and development and must persuade customers to adopt technologies that can initially be expensive. Yet commercial success ultimately rests on trust. Customers need confidence that the supplier will deliver reliably over decades. Technology may create the opportunity, but relationships, reputation and execution determine whether customers choose that organisation when the next technology arrives. Does language proficiency matter? For Tasca, the answer is unequivocally yes. His advice to a newly appointed foreign president is: learn Japanese immediately. Japanese employees may become more restricted when forced to communicate entirely in English, and important nuances can disappear. At ZF Japan, Tasca is the only foreigner and normal staff meetings are conducted in Japanese. He believes speaking Japanese helps employees communicate naturally and demonstrates that the foreign leader is making a genuine effort to understand the country. Language proficiency therefore contributes directly to trust, communication and leadership effectiveness. What's the ultimate leadership lesson? Tasca's leadership philosophy can be condensed into a simple principle: do not ask anyone to do something you would not do yourself. Leadership also requires humility. There will always be people who possess deeper technical knowledge than the leader. The leader's role is to listen, understand enough to make sound decisions and trust capable people with responsibilities that help them develop. Employees also need to see where they are going. Tasca believes leaders must show people a career path and explain how difficult assignments will help them grow. When people can see that their leader shares the burden, listens, accepts responsibility and invests in their development, they will follow — including when circumstances become difficult. Author Credentials Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across all leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programs, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have also been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). In addition to his books, Greg publishes daily blogs on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, offering practical insights on leadership, communication, and Japanese business culture. He is also the host of six weekly podcasts, including The Leadership Japan Series, The Sales Japan Series, The Presentations Japan Series, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews. On YouTube, he produces three weekly shows — The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews — which have become leading resources for executives seeking strategies for success in Japan.

A new leader can arrive looking and sounding like the organisation's long-awaited saviour. They are articulate, confident, well presented and comfortable in the media. They say all the right things, reflect the mood of the moment and promise a brighter future. Then a crisis arrives. That is when employees discover whether the leader's values are genuine principles or merely attractive public relations material. Leadership integrity is not established by speeches, slogans or podcast appearances. It is revealed when revenues fall, difficult decisions must be made and the leader has something personal to lose. How does a crisis reveal a leader's true character? A crisis exposes the distance between what a leader says and what they are genuinely prepared to do. During stable periods, almost anyone can sound positive, caring and principled. The organisation is performing, customers are buying and the leader can talk confidently about people, purpose and long-term growth. The COVID-19 pandemic changed that environment almost overnight. Workforces were disrupted, markets moved rapidly and revenue disappeared across industries. Similar pressures emerge during recessions, restructures, acquisitions and technological disruption. A leader facing these conditions has difficult choices to make. Cost reductions may be unavoidable. Roles may disappear. Services may need to change. The integrity test is not whether the leader can prevent every painful decision. It is whether they explain those decisions honestly, accept responsibility and treat people with dignity. Do now: Judge leadership character by behaviour under pressure, not by appearances during comfortable times. Why do unrealistic promises destroy leadership credibility? Employees stop trusting leaders when operational reality clearly contradicts executive promises. A familiar example is the leader who announces substantial staffing reductions while promising that service quality, response times and output levels will remain exactly the same. This may reassure customers or investors temporarily, but it insults the intelligence of the people doing the work. I witnessed this while working for the Australian Government. A Minister announced a major departmental budget reduction while assuring voters that services would continue normally. Staff immediately recognised the contradiction. His credibility collapsed and motivation inside the organisation dropped. The same dynamic applies in private companies, government departments, startups and multinational corporations. Most organisations already operate with limited spare capacity. When experienced people leave, something changes: workloads increase, delivery slows, quality suffers or priorities must be reduced. Leaders do not lose credibility because conditions become difficult. They lose it when they pretend that obvious consequences do not exist. Do now: Explain what will change, what will be protected and what the organisation can no longer realistically deliver. What happens when leadership rhetoric and reality diverge? When words and actions repeatedly conflict, employees begin treating every leadership message with scepticism. A leader may initially build trust through visibility, confident communication and appealing statements about organisational values. Under financial pressure, however, they may become highly legalistic, using contracts, policies and technical rules to justify behaviour that violates the spirit of earlier commitments. Compliance with a contract does not automatically equal ethical leadership. Something can be legally defensible and still feel misleading, unfair or inconsistent with the trust previously established. The problem becomes worse when leaders insist that nothing has changed. Employees compare announcements with their daily experience. They see colleagues disappearing, resources shrinking and expectations remaining untouched. When management attempts to disguise this reality, people feel both unhappy and insulted. This gap between rhetoric and reality creates cynicism. Employees begin interpreting every new announcement as spin, even when later messages are accurate. Do now: Before communicating, ask whether employees can see clear evidence that your actions match your stated principles. Can a leader control damaging information by speaking to people individually? Isolating employees and controlling conversations rarely contains a credibility crisis because people compare experiences. A leader may attempt to minimise organisational damage by dealing with affected employees separately. Each person receives a slightly different explanation, and management hopes no one will assemble the complete picture. That approach almost never works. People talk to colleagues, former employees, customers, suppliers and professional contacts. In Japan, Australia, the United States or Europe, informal communication networks often move faster than official corporate communication. Bad news travels rapidly, particularly when employees believe information is being deliberately withheld. Once inconsistencies emerge, every executive announcement is examined for hidden meaning. The leader may continue appearing in the media, issuing press releases and offering wise commentary about business or society. Inside the company, however, those words ring hollow. The external brand and the internal leadership reputation have separated. No amount of polished communication can permanently conceal that gap. Do now: Assume employees will compare information and communicate one consistent, honest account from the beginning. Why is lost leadership trust so difficult to rebuild? Once employees conclude that a leader lacks integrity, even truthful statements may no longer be believed. Trust develops through repeated evidence that a leader's words, decisions and values are aligned. It can take years to build and only a handful of contradictory actions to destroy. When credibility disappears, rumours fill the vacuum. Genuine facts mix with fear, exaggeration, fantasy and speculation. Previously overlooked behaviour is re-examined and minor concerns acquire greater significance. Employees begin to wonder what else is being concealed. This is why public relations cannot repair a fundamentally internal leadership failure. Press releases, media interviews, town halls and corporate slogans may influence external perceptions temporarily, but employees evaluate what leaders actually do. Even if the economy improves and revenue returns, the damage can remain. The organisation may recover financially while continuing to suffer from low engagement, unwanted turnover, weak collaboration and an urgent desire for leadership change. Do now: Protect trust before it is lost; repairing credibility is far harder than preserving it through honest conduct. How can leaders preserve integrity while making painful decisions? Leaders preserve integrity by taking a long-term view, communicating transparently and sharing the burden of difficult decisions. The central issue is often the leader's time horizon. Leaders focused only on immediate survival may burn, pillage and plunder the organisation to protect their own position. Like a drowning swimmer pushing down a rescuer, they sacrifice everyone around them to remain above water. Transparency is usually the next victim. Ego encourages the leader to pretend everything is under control. Yet when reliable information disappears, rumours and supposition take over the narrative. Honesty creates a different response. Employees may accept sacrifice when they understand the situation, believe the burden is fairly distributed and see leaders accepting personal responsibility. They can work together to protect customers, preserve critical capabilities and help the organisation survive. A crisis can therefore strengthen rather than destroy leadership credibility. Humanity, humility and integrity become visible when they matter most. Do now: Tell people what you know, acknowledge what you do not know and demonstrate that leaders will share the consequences. Conclusion Leadership integrity is not a branding exercise. It is the alignment of words, decisions and conduct, particularly when the organisation is under severe pressure. A leader does not need to promise that nothing will change. That promise may be impossible to keep. The leader needs to describe reality honestly, make necessary decisions fairly and respect employees enough to tell them the truth. Crisis can expose arrogance, short-term thinking and hypocrisy. It can also reveal courage, humility and humanity. The choice lies in how the leader responds. Integrity can be thrown into the rubbish bin with all the goodwill accumulated over many years, or it can be burnished in the fire. The leader who protects it may emerge like a Phoenix: stronger, wiser and supported by people who now know exactly what that leader stands for. Author Bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" in 2018 and 2021 and received the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2012. As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver leadership, communication, sales and presentation programmes globally, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including the best-sellers Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery and Japan Presentations Mastery, as well as Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His Japanese-language works include Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう) and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā(現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). Greg publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook and X and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery and Japan's Top Business Interviews for executives and professionals seeking practical strategies for succeeding in Japan.

Perceptions of Islam in the Western world today have been shaped by the actions of terrorists, fear, distortion and ignorance. And as a result, the advanced civilisational legacy produced by Islam has been buried and ignored – not only by the Western world but also by many Muslims themselves.    In conversation with Simon Longstaff, Special envoy Aftab Malik challenges us to radically reframe how we think about Islam, and the resources it offers to support Western civilisation.  This session was recorded at Carriageworks, Sydney in August 2026. Aftab Malik is Australia's first-ever Special Envoy to Combat Islamophobia and a UN Alliance of Civilisations expert on global Muslim affairs. He spent nearly a decade in the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet, bridging academic insight and policy practice to address hate, misinformation and structural discrimination at a national level. Simon Longstaff is Executive Director of The Ethics Centre. In 2013, he was made an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "distinguished service to the community through the promotion of ethical standards in governance and business, to improving corporate responsibility, and to philosophy." He is also Adjunct Professor of the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW Sydney, a Fellow of CPA Australia, the Royal Society of NSW and the Australian Risk Policy Institute.

Antisemitism is one of the world's oldest hatreds. Adapting to every age, it lies hidden below the surface until the conditions of our world allow it to emerge.     Join professors Ruth Balint and David Slucki, and lawyer Sarah Schwartz, in conversation with Simon Longstaff as they examine how antisemitism mutates across ideologies, why it so often flourishes during moments of social breakdown. This session was recorded live at Carriageworks, Sydney in August 2026. Ruth Balint is Professor of History at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. Her research examines the intersections between migration, gender and international law, with a current focus on the Jewish experience.  Sarah Schwartz is a human rights lawyer and founding Executive Director of the Jewish Council of Australia, an organisation committed to fighting antisemitism and supporting Palestinian liberation. David Slucki is Professor and Director of the Australian Centre for Jewish Civilisation and Loti Smorgon Associate Professor of Contemporary Jewish Life and Culture.  Simon Longstaff is Executive Director of The Ethics Centre. In 2013, he was made an officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for "distinguished service to the community through the promotion of ethical standards in governance and business, to improving corporate responsibility, and to philosophy." He is also Adjunct Professor of the Australian Graduate School of Management at UNSW Sydney, a Fellow of CPA Australia, the Royal Society of NSW and the Australian Risk Policy Institute.    

Trust is not one element of a successful sale. Trust is the foundation supporting every other part of the sales process. A customer may like your product, appreciate your expertise and even agree that your price is reasonable. However, when they begin to doubt your reliability, judgement or integrity, the opportunity can disappear very quickly. This is particularly important when selling financial services, consulting, technology or any solution where the customer must accept uncertainty and place something valuable in the salesperson's hands. A small error can create a much larger question: "If they cannot manage this simple detail, can I trust them with the important work?" Salespeople make mistakes. The decisive issue is whether they recognise the damage, adapt their approach and deliberately rebuild the buyer's confidence. Why is trust so important in sales? Trust allows the customer to believe that the salesperson will keep promises, protect their interests and respond responsibly when something goes wrong. Without it, even a strong proposal becomes difficult to accept. Most purchases involve some degree of risk. The buyer cannot know with absolute certainty whether the product will perform, the project will finish on time or the promised support will actually appear. The salesperson therefore becomes part of the product. Their accuracy, preparation, consistency and behaviour give the buyer clues about what working with the company will be like after the contract is signed. This is especially true in professional services, financial advice and business-to-business sales. The customer may be placing money, confidential information, organisational credibility or career reputation at risk. A minor mistake does not always destroy the opportunity. However, an unexplained mistake can cause the customer to question everything else the salesperson says. Do now: Treat every meeting detail, follow-up promise and factual claim as evidence the buyer will use to judge your overall reliability. How can a small sales mistake damage credibility? A seemingly minor error can damage credibility when it contradicts the image of competence and attention to detail that the salesperson is trying to create. Imagine inviting a potential client to your office and then sending them the wrong building address. The client arrives, discovers that your company is not located there and must search for the correct location. The practical inconvenience may only involve ten or fifteen minutes. The psychological damage can be much larger. If the conversation involves investing the client's money, managing a critical project or advising senior management, the customer may reasonably wonder whether the same carelessness could affect something more significant. This is how buyers think. They rarely judge an error in isolation. They use the visible mistake to predict future behaviour. A salesperson may think, "It was only a typo." The buyer may think, "What else will they get wrong?" Do now: When an error conflicts with the competence you are selling, address the larger concern—not merely the inconvenience it caused. Is an apology enough to restore trust? An apology is necessary, but it is rarely sufficient when the mistake has caused the customer to question the salesperson's competence or judgement. Saying "I'm sorry" acknowledges the problem. It does not explain why it happened, whether it reflects a wider pattern or why the customer should continue believing in you. The salesperson must close that credibility gap. A useful recovery contains four elements: A clear acknowledgement of the error A credible explanation without making excuses Evidence that the problem is unusual rather than normal A practical reason the customer can still trust the salesperson and the company The explanation should be concise and authentic. A long, defensive speech can make the situation worse. However, trying to brush past the incident and continue with the standard presentation can leave the customer mentally stuck on the unresolved doubt. The buyer needs help making sense of the mistake before they can properly listen to the rest of the proposal. Do now: Apologise, explain, reassure and provide evidence. Do not expect the word "sorry" to perform all four jobs. How should a salesperson rebuild trust during the meeting? After a credibility-damaging mistake, the salesperson should adapt the meeting and deliberately front-load evidence of reliability, experience and organisational strength. This is not the moment to deliver the same canned sales presentation used in every other meeting. The salesperson should briefly explain the mistake and then transition into the strongest reasons the customer should trust the company. These might include its history, regulatory standing, client base, specialised expertise, service standards, financial stability or documented results. A corporate brochure should not simply be handed over at the end with the suggestion that the customer read it later. The salesperson should guide the buyer through the most relevant sections and connect those points directly to the concern that has arisen. For example: "I recognise that today's address error was not a good demonstration of our standards. Let me show you how our client work is checked and managed, because reliability is central to what we do." That is honest, direct and useful. Do now: Change the presentation to match the trust problem. Lead with proof instead of continuing as though nothing happened. Can the office environment affect a buyer's trust? Yes. The office location, physical environment and way the company presents itself can influence how customers judge its stability and credibility. Many legitimate, successful companies operate from serviced offices, coworking spaces or executive floors. Flexible premises are now common among startups, consulting firms, international businesses and companies adopting hybrid work. The problem is not necessarily the office arrangement. The problem is the unexplained gap between what the customer expected and what they encountered. When someone is considering investing money or appointing a long-term adviser, they may ask: How large is this company? How permanent is it? Will it still be here in five years? The salesperson should anticipate these questions. A sensible explanation might be that the company deliberately maintains a flexible office structure to control overheads and offer clients more competitive fees. That explanation can convert a possible weakness into a rational business choice. Silence leaves the buyer to invent an explanation, and buyers rarely invent the most flattering one. Do now: Identify anything about your premises, company size or operating model that could create doubt and explain it before the buyer reaches a negative conclusion. Why is attacking a competitor risky in sales? Criticising a competitor can weaken trust when the salesperson's own history, conduct or credibility appears inconsistent with the criticism. Suppose a salesperson says that a competitor's fees are unfair. That may sound like useful differentiation—until the buyer learns that the salesperson worked for that competitor for many years. The customer may then ask an uncomfortable but logical question: "Were you comfortable charging those allegedly unfair fees when you worked there?" Simply attacking the previous employer does not resolve the contradiction. It may make the salesperson appear opportunistic or disloyal. A stronger explanation would distinguish personal values from company policy. The salesperson could say they disagreed with the old fee structure, tried to serve clients fairly within the system and eventually chose to join a firm whose philosophy better matched their own. That creates a credible narrative linking past experience with the present position. Competitive selling should focus on meaningful differences, not insults. Buyers are more persuaded by evidence of better value than by complaints about another company. Do now: Explain your company's philosophy, structure and advantages without relying on unsupported attacks against competitors. Conclusion: Trust recovery must be deliberate Every salesperson makes mistakes. Meetings are forgotten, messages contain errors and important details sometimes get missed. The existence of the mistake is not always fatal. The failure to respond intelligently often is. When trust takes a blow, salespeople must stop operating on autopilot. They must think on their feet, recognise the customer's unspoken concern and alter the conversation to address it. That means apologising properly, explaining the error, presenting evidence of credibility and connecting the company's strengths to the buyer's specific doubts. Do not hide the mistake. Do not minimise it. Do not rush past it in the hope that the customer will forget. The customer may never mention the trust issue directly. They may remain polite, accept the brochure and finish the meeting normally. Internally, however, they may have already removed you from consideration. Trust can take years to establish and only a moment to damage. When that moment arrives, recovery must become the salesperson's first priority. Author bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" in 2018 and 2021 and received the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2012. As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver leadership, communication, sales and presentation programmes globally, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers—Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery and Japan Presentations Mastery—along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His books have also been published in Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう) and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). Greg publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook and X and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery and Japan's Top Business Interviews for executives and professionals seeking practical strategies for succeeding in Japan.

AI isn't coming for your job—but it is coming for your workflows. In this episode, you'll learn how to cut through AI hype, protect client confidentiality, and use practical tools to automate the repetitive work that's clogging your day. In this episode, Steve Fretzin and Colin Levy discuss: Uneven adoption of AI and legal tech across the profession Evolution of legal technology from e‑discovery to modern AI Practical, low‑risk AI use cases for everyday legal work Data privacy, confidentiality, and paid vs. free AI tools Building real technology competence through experimentation and better prompts Key Takeaways: Technology will not slow down to let professionals catch up, so it's essential to actively close your own AI knowledge and usage gap. The most valuable AI applications today often center on document-related tasks—summarizing, comparing, and drafting from existing materials. Using free, open AI tools with client data can violate confidentiality obligations; controlled, paid environments are critical for sensitive work. Before buying any new platform, clearly define the problem you're trying to solve so the tool doesn't become expensive shelfware. True tech competence is built by experimenting, refining prompts, and learning from how different inputs change AI's outputs—not by passively consuming AI headlines. "The power of AI right now is in using existing knowledge and taking that to create something new or build something new." — Colin Levy Check out my new show, Be That Lawyer Coaches Corner, and get the strategies I use with my clients to win more business and love your career again. Join the Be That Lawyer Community and connect with ambitious lawyers who are serious about growing their book of business, strengthening their brand, and becoming confident, consistent rainmakers. Ready to go from good to GOAT in your legal marketing game? Don't miss PIMCON—where the brightest minds in professional services gather to share what really works. Lock in your spot now: https://www.pimcon.org/ Thank you to our Sponsor! LEX Reception: https://www.lexreception.com/partners/bethatlawyer Rankings.io: https://rankings.io/ Lawyer.com: https://www.lawyer.com/ Ready to grow your law practice without selling or chasing? Book your free 30-minute strategy session now—let's make this your breakout year: https://fretzin.com/ About Colin Levy: Colin S. Levy is a leading authority on legal technology, AI in law, and contract lifecycle management (CLM), currently serving as General Counsel at Malbek and an Adjunct Professor at Albany Law School. Widely recognized as one of the most influential figures in legal tech, he guides legal professionals through digital transformation, modern AI integration, and workflow innovation. Colin is the author of The Legal Tech Ecosystem—a definitive guide to legal technology and AI—and frequently speaks and writes on how technological advances continue to redefine the future of legal practice worldwide. Connect with Colin Levy: Website: https://www.colinslevy.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colinslevy/ Connect with Steve Fretzin: LinkedIn: Steve Fretzin Twitter: @stevefretzin Instagram: @fretzinsteve Facebook: Fretzin, Inc. Website: Fretzin.com Email: Steve@Fretzin.com Book: Legal Business Development Isn't Rocket Science and more! YouTube: Steve Fretzin Call Steve directly at 847-602-6911 Audio production by Turnkey Podcast Productions. You're the expert. Your podcast will prove it.

Quality public childcare and dependable dads are key to boosting fertility rates, so writes John Fitzgerald, Adjunct Professor of Economics at Trinity College Dublin in today's Irish Times.He joins Ciara to discuss.

Most businesspeople have no idea how low the standard of professional presenting really is. We attend the same conferences, listen to the same internal speakers and watch the same predictable corporate presentations. Because everyone around us is operating at roughly the same level, mediocre communication begins to look normal. The Japanese proverb, "The frog in the well doesn't know the ocean", perfectly captures the problem. The frog assumes its small environment represents the entire world. In the same way, businesspeople often assume the presentations they regularly see represent the highest possible standard. They don't. To become more persuasive, credible and memorable, presenters must climb out of their familiar well and explore the much larger ocean of world-class communication. Why do businesspeople accept mediocre presentations? Businesspeople accept poor presentations because mediocre speaking is usually all they have ever experienced.When the surrounding standard is low, audiences and presenters become conditioned to expect very little. Most of us were not exposed to brilliant public speakers while growing up. High-school teachers often knew their subjects but were not trained to communicate them dynamically. University professors delivered hundreds of lectures, yet many relied on dense slides, academic jargon and monotone explanations. Politicians on television often avoid direct answers and retreat into carefully tested statements designed to offend nobody. Graduation speakers frequently offer predictable stories and tired advice. The same pattern continues in business. Internal meetings are filled with data dumps, crowded PowerPoint slides and speakers reading information that the audience can already see. Eventually, the frog assumes the well is the world. Do now: Stop judging your presentation skills only against colleagues. Compare yourself with outstanding professional communicators. Why is persuasion power so important in modern business? Persuasion power is essential because audiences are overwhelmed by information and have endless opportunities to ignore us. Good information alone is no longer enough to gain attention or inspire action. Executives receive emails, instant messages, dashboards, reports, videos, podcasts and social-media content throughout the day. Hybrid work has added even more online meetings and digital distractions. When a speaker begins presenting, the audience may be physically present but mentally elsewhere. They are checking messages, thinking about their next meeting or wondering whether the presentation has any relevance to them. A giant data dump will not solve the problem. Even accurate and valuable information loses impact when it is delivered without structure, emotion or context. Effective presenters combine credible data with storytelling, examples, contrasts and clear recommendations. They explain not only what the numbers are, but why they matter and what the audience should do next. Do now: Before presenting any data, identify the decision, action or change you want that data to support. How can storytelling improve a business presentation? Storytelling makes business information easier to understand, remember and act upon. It gives facts a human context and helps the audience see why the message matters. This does not mean every executive presentation needs a dramatic Hollywood-style narrative. A useful business story can be short and practical. You might describe a customer who nearly left, a project that failed because warning signs were ignored or a team that achieved a breakthrough after changing its approach. The story creates interest, while the supporting data gives the message credibility. Japanese business presentations often emphasise accuracy, detail and risk reduction. American presentations may place more emphasis on energy, confidence and individual recommendations. European and Asia-Pacific organisations vary considerably, but every audience benefits from clarity and relevance. The strongest approach combines the disciplines: solid evidence, cultural awareness, concise structure and a relatable example. Do now: Attach one customer, employee or project example to every major recommendation you make. Where can professionals find examples of great speakers? Professionals can now study outstanding speakers more easily and cheaply than at any previous point in history.The presenting ocean is available through YouTube, TED, podcasts, business associations and professional events. Content marketing has encouraged experts to place their ideas and communication skills on public display. Potential clients can sample a consultant, trainer, author or executive before deciding whether to engage them. Search for skilled speakers in your industry, but do not limit yourself to your own field. A technology executive can learn audience engagement from an educator. A financial specialist can learn storytelling from a documentary presenter. A sales leader can study structure and timing through a well-delivered TED Talk. In Tokyo, Chambers of Commerce, professional associations, universities and organisations such as Rotary regularly host speakers. Some will be excellent. Others will provide memorable lessons in what not to do. Both types are useful. Do now: Select three outstanding speakers and study how they open, transition, use stories, emphasise key words and close. What should you study when watching a professional speaker? Do not merely watch great speakers for entertainment; analyse the techniques producing the impact. Improvement comes from deliberate observation rather than passive consumption. Start with the opening. Does the speaker begin with a question, story, surprising fact or strong statement? Notice how quickly the topic becomes relevant to the audience. Listen to the voice. Skilled speakers vary their speed, volume and tone. They pause before or after important points. They emphasise keywords instead of giving every word identical weight. Observe physical delivery. Look at eye contact, posture, facial expression and gestures. Note whether movements appear natural or rehearsed. Examine the structure. Strong speakers guide the audience from one idea to the next. They use examples to clarify abstract concepts and repeat central messages without sounding repetitive. Also study unsuccessful speakers. Ask where you lost interest and what caused the message to become confusing. Do now: Keep a presentation observation notebook and record specific techniques you can test in your next speech. How much time does it take to become a better presenter? One focused hour of study each week can quickly separate you from most business presenters. The advantage comes not from extraordinary talent but from consistently doing what most people never do. Businesspeople often say they have no time to improve their communication skills. Yet persuasion affects leadership, sales, client relationships, change management, executive meetings and career advancement. The issue is rarely a complete absence of time. It is usually a question of priorities. Watch one excellent speaker for an hour each week. Take detailed notes. Before your next presentation, review those notes and select one or two techniques to apply. Do not attempt to transform everything simultaneously. Work first on the opening. Next, improve vocal variety. Then strengthen storytelling, eye contact or the closing recommendation. Small improvements compound. Within a year, you will have completed more deliberate presentation study than most professionals undertake in an entire career. Do now: Reserve one recurring hour each week for presentation study, note-taking and deliberate practice. How can leaders escape the presenting well? Leaders escape the presenting well by deliberately expanding their exposure, practising new techniques and refusing to accept mediocrity. Access to great examples means nothing unless it leads to changed behaviour. The modern presenting ocean is enormous. World-class speakers, executive interviews, university lectures, conference presentations and communication training are available online and offline. The barrier is no longer access. It is discipline. Persuasion is not an optional decorative skill for leaders. Leaders need people to understand priorities, support change, make decisions and take action. That requires messages that are clear, concise and convincing. Study the best speakers. Study the disasters. Take notes. Rehearse. Ask whether your presentation is built for the audience or merely convenient for you. The frog can remain comfortable inside the well. The professional presenter has to climb out. Conclusion Most business presenters are not competing against world-class communicators. They are competing against people who make little effort to improve. That is encouraging. A modest but consistent investment in observation, preparation and practice can place you well ahead of the field. Use stories to humanise data. Structure messages around audience needs. Study skilled speakers and deliberately apply what you learn. The ocean is already available. The only question is whether you are willing to leave the well. Author Bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" in 2018 and 2021 and received the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2012. As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver leadership, communication, sales and presentation programmes globally, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including the best-sellers Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery and Japan Presentations Mastery, as well as Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His books have also been translated into Japanese, including ザ営業, プレゼンの達人, トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう and 現代版「人を動かす」リーダー. Greg publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook and X and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery and Japan's Top Business Interviews for executives seeking practical strategies for succeeding in Japan.

In this episode: 360 years after flames swept through the heart of London, we examine The Great Fire of 1666, how it began, why it became unstoppable and how London rose from the ashes. Featuring Prof Adrian Tinniswood, Professor of British Cultural History at the University of Buckingham and Adjunct Professor of History at Maynooth University, Prof Vanessa Harding, Emeritus Professor of London History at Birkbeck, University of London, who is currently developing a project to map London on the eve of the Great Fire, and Prof Mark Jenner, Emeritus Professor of Early Modern History at the University of York.

"You can't tell them to stop smoking if you have a cigarette in your mouth." "I think it's all about communication." "You need to expose them, but don't throw them into the lion's cage." "First, learn Japanese." "Trust and communication. You cannot govern by emails or rules. You need to talk. You need to explain."     Frederic Delsaux is Representative Director of PTS Japan, a project management and consulting company supporting foreign and domestic organisations with construction, audiovisual, infrastructure and IT projects in Japan, as well as managed services after project completion. His connection with Japan stretches back to his university years in France, where he specialised in the Japanese economy. Attracted by Japan's economic importance and its reputation for automobiles, electronics and manufacturing, he arrived in Japan around the end of 1989 and beginning of the 1990s, just as the bubble economy was beginning to collapse. His career in Japan began far removed from project management. He initially managed a French restaurant, where the necessity of communicating with Japanese customers and colleagues pushed him to learn Japanese. He later joined an import-export trading company before representing a French telecommunications hardware company in Japan. After the local branch manager suddenly departed, Delsaux was offered responsibility for the operation and effectively moved into leadership almost overnight. His telecommunications work brought him into contact with PTS during the early stages of its Japan operation. After seven to eight years with the telecommunications company, he joined PTS, initially in technical sales for telephony, before moving through sales and director-level responsibilities. He has now spent more than two decades with PTS. In April 2020, as COVID-19 was beginning to reshape business globally, the Japanese management team completed a management buyout from the UK parent organisation. PTS Japan became part of a Japanese-owned group while retaining the established PTS brand. Delsaux's career consequently spans technical sales, client management, organisational leadership, business ownership and the challenge of adapting global project-management practices to Japanese business realities.   Frederic Delsaux's leadership career in Japan demonstrates how credibility, communication and cultural adaptability can matter more than hierarchy alone. Having lived and worked in Japan since around the beginning of the 1990s, he has experienced the country through the collapse of the bubble economy, the Lehman shock, COVID-19, labour shortages and major changes in Japanese attitudes towards lifetime employment. PTS Japan specialises in project management across construction, audiovisual, infrastructure and IT projects. The business also provides managed services after projects are completed. Following a management buyout in April 2020, the Japanese operation became locally owned, while continuing to use the established PTS brand. Delsaux's route into leadership was unconventional. After studying the Japanese economy in France, he came to Japan and managed a French restaurant. Japanese was essential because the people around him did not speak French or English. He subsequently moved into trading and telecommunications. When a branch manager suddenly departed, he was offered leadership of the Japanese operation almost overnight. Speaking Japanese helped him gain trust among local employees, establishing an early lesson that language proficiency can carry cultural and leadership significance far beyond simple translation. At PTS, credibility came partly from experience and client relationships. Engineers and consultants knew that Delsaux understood the commercial environment and could communicate with decision-makers. His leadership philosophy nevertheless extends beyond expertise. As technology becomes more complex, leaders cannot be the deepest technical expert in every discipline. Instead, managers add value through communication, problem solving, risk reduction and helping technical specialists successfully navigate client relationships. That is particularly important because engineers increasingly need to operate directly in front of customers. Delsaux believes technical professionals should be progressively exposed to these situations rather than simply thrown into them. Supported experience builds confidence until the individual can communicate solutions independently. Trust is equally central. His analogy is memorable: a leader cannot tell employees to stop smoking while holding a cigarette. Leaders need to bring value to conversations with their people. Questions cannot simply be ignored, and employees need access to managers when problems occur. Externally, Delsaux stresses the importance of presenting a unified team to customers. Internal colleagues should not blame one another in front of clients. Trust can be quickly destroyed if different functions appear divided. Japan adds another layer. Consensus, communication and careful explanation matter. International methodologies cannot simply be imported without localisation. Leaders need to understand both the project and the people receiving the message. For executives arriving in Japan, Delsaux's first recommendation is straightforward: learn Japanese. The language also opens a door to understanding the culture. Beyond language, leaders need the right team, careful hiring decisions, regular contact with customers and an appreciation of the institutional knowledge already present inside the organisation. Ultimately, Delsaux reduces leadership to two closely connected concepts: trust and communication. Rules and emails cannot replace dialogue. Leaders need to talk, explain, listen and understand the challenges facing their people. Q&A Summary What makes leadership in Japan unique? Leadership in Japan requires unusually careful attention to communication, relationships and context. Delsaux's experience suggests that technically correct solutions are not sufficient on their own. International methodologies and global standards still need to be translated into a form that makes sense to Japanese clients and employees. Consensus is important, but the deeper issue is ensuring people understand what is happening and why. PTS therefore places substantial emphasis on sharing project information not merely with the immediate project team but more broadly across the organisation. Leadership also requires sensitivity to the customer relationships that Japanese employees may have spent years developing. What initially appears to an incoming foreign executive as unnecessary resistance may actually reflect employees protecting an important client relationship. Why do global executives struggle? Executives arriving from overseas can assume that practices which work at headquarters should transfer directly to Japan. The danger is judging local structures before understanding why they exist. Delsaux emphasises the importance of having the right team, while the broader discussion highlights the need to investigate why local employees work in a particular way before attempting sweeping changes. Language can compound the problem. An executive who cannot communicate in Japanese may become dependent on whichever employees speak English, regardless of their seniority or depth of business knowledge. Direct contact with a wider range of Japanese employees and customers provides a much richer understanding of the business. Is Japan truly risk-averse? The interview presents a more nuanced picture than simply describing Japan as risk-averse. Japanese clients often prefer people they already know because continuity reduces uncertainty. An existing project manager with deep institutional knowledge may therefore be preferred to a technically stronger replacement who does not know the customer. Delsaux sees this as a balance. Companies need institutional knowledge, technical competence and resource availability simultaneously. Waiting for a familiar individual may be impossible when project schedules are tight. The leadership task is therefore not simply to overcome uncertainty avoidance. It is to explain why a new approach or resource can still protect delivery quality and client interests. What leadership style actually works? Delsaux defines leadership around trust and communication. Credibility matters. Leaders need to contribute something of value when employees approach them. His smoking analogy captures the principle of role modelling: leaders cannot demand behaviour they are unwilling to demonstrate themselves. Accessibility also matters. Employees should not feel that questions will be ignored simply because they are inconvenient or unrealistic. Internally, Delsaux stresses unity. Disagreements can occur, but different teams should not attack or blame one another in front of the customer. Clients who entrust multiple services to one company expect a unified answer. How can technology help? Technology serves two leadership purposes at PTS. First, project managers and consultants must remain current because new technologies continually affect project delivery. Global designs also need localisation for Japan because products, standards, availability and infrastructure can differ. Second, technology creates development opportunities for employees. Repetitive work can become boring, particularly in a tight labour market where skilled people have many alternatives. New technologies give engineers and consultants something new to learn and help keep their work challenging. Technology therefore has value not only as a project tool but also as an employee-development and retention mechanism. Does language proficiency matter? For Delsaux, it matters considerably. His first advice to an incoming foreign leader is simply: "First, learn Japanese." His own Japanese developed out of necessity while working in restaurants where neither French nor English could be relied upon. He believes making the effort to learn Japanese earns respect from employees and strengthens relationships, even when team members already speak English. Language learning also provides access to culture. Delsaux particularly values people who are not merely bilingual but bicultural because they can understand how managers in different countries interpret the same situation differently. Even with strong Japanese ability, he sometimes brings a Japanese colleague to important meetings. This reduces misunderstanding and can also demonstrate respect towards a Japanese-speaking client. What's the ultimate leadership lesson? Delsaux's answer is remarkably concise: trust and communication. Leadership cannot be exercised effectively through rules and email alone. Leaders need to talk to people, explain decisions, respond to questions and understand the challenges their staff are facing. The labour market makes this increasingly important. Employees who feel overworked, underdeveloped or bored now have alternatives. The old assumption that employees will remain indefinitely has weakened substantially. Leadership therefore depends on creating an environment in which people can learn, contribute, communicate and trust the people managing them. Technical competence remains important, but communication determines whether that expertise can be successfully translated into employee engagement and client confidence. Author Credentials Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across all leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programs, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers — Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery — along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have also been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう), and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). In addition to his books, Greg publishes daily blogs on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, offering practical insights on leadership, communication, and Japanese business culture. He is also the host of six weekly podcasts, including The Leadership Japan Series, The Sales Japan Series, The Presentations Japan Series, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews. On YouTube, he produces three weekly shows — The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan's Top Business Interviews — which have become leading resources for executives seeking strategies for success in Japan.

Leadership can be lonely, particularly when the organisation is under pressure. Employees expect confidence, clients expect stability and family members naturally worry when they hear that the business is struggling. So, who can the leader talk to? There is no perfect answer. Leaders need trusted advisers, but they also need the ability to process pressure independently, control their messaging and convert anxiety into practical action. Why Is Leadership So Lonely During A Business Crisis? Leadership becomes lonely because everyone looks to the leader for reassurance precisely when the leader may be experiencing the greatest uncertainty. During the COVID-19 pandemic, business leaders faced collapsing demand, government restrictions, staff anxiety, supply-chain problems and serious cash-flow pressures. Different industries were affected in different ways, but the leadership problem was universal: people wanted to know whether the organisation would survive. When sales decline, problems multiply quickly. Revenue drops, but rent, salaries, supplier payments and other fixed costs continue. Employees notice the warning signs and begin imagining the worst. The leader cannot ignore these concerns. At the same time, repeatedly broadcasting personal fear can weaken confidence throughout the organisation. Do now: Recognise that leadership pressure is real, but separate your need for emotional release from your responsibility to provide direction. Should Leaders Be Completely Transparent With Employees? Leaders should be honest about business conditions, but honesty does not require sharing every private fear, worst-case scenario or untested concern. When leaders conceal obvious problems, employees fill the information vacuum with rumours. They may assume the company's position is much worse than it actually is. Complete emotional disclosure creates a different risk. Employees may interpret the leader's uncertainty as evidence that there is no plan. The better approach is disciplined transparency. Explain what has happened, what the numbers show, which risks matter, what management is doing and what employees can control. For example, a leader might say, "Revenue is below target, so we are reducing discretionary spending and protecting our priority client relationships." That is more useful than either pretending nothing is wrong or declaring that the company may collapse. Employees need reality, direction and appropriate confidence. Do now: Communicate the facts, the response plan and the next review point. Keep personal panic out of company-wide messaging. Can A Leader Talk Openly With Clients? Clients can become trusted friends, but they are still clients and will protect their own organisations first. Strong commercial relationships are usually built on credibility, trust and personal connection. People prefer doing business with people they know and like. However, telling a client that your organisation may be unable to pay salaries or continue operating can trigger an immediate risk-management response. The client may start searching for an alternative supplier, even when the personal relationship is excellent. This is especially important in Japan, where reliability, continuity and long-term supplier relationships are highly valued. A buyer may sympathise with your difficulties while simultaneously concluding that depending on your company is too dangerous. Leaders should be truthful when an operational problem directly affects the client. They should not use clients as an audience for unrestricted emotional unloading. Do now: Tell clients what affects delivery, quality or continuity. Do not burden them with every internal fear behind the problem. Should Leaders Share Their Business Stress With Their Partner? A partner can provide emotional support, but unmanaged disclosure may transfer the leader's anxiety to the entire family. After carrying pressure all day, leaders naturally want to unload when they return home. The difficulty is that a partner may hear a business concern as a threat to the mortgage, school fees, retirement plans or the family's long-term security. This does not mean leaders should hide everything. Silence can damage trust and create emotional distance. The better approach is to explain the situation with context. Clarify what is known, what remains uncertain, what actions are being taken and whether the family is facing an immediate financial threat. There is an important difference between saying, "I am dealing with a difficult quarter," and spending every evening describing catastrophic possibilities with no structure or conclusion. Do now: Share enough to preserve trust, but avoid repeatedly bringing raw, unresolved panic into the home. Can Friends Or A Business Coach Help A Leader? Friends and coaches can help, but their usefulness depends on trust, commercial experience, local knowledge and their ability to understand the leader's real situation. Many senior leaders discover that they have few close friends. Building and maintaining a business can consume the time normally invested in personal relationships. Friends may offer sympathy, but they often cannot provide informed commercial advice. They do not know the customers, employees, finances, competitive environment or internal politics. A coach can provide perspective, questioning and accountability. However, a coach who has never led a business may struggle to appreciate the consequences of executive decisions. Context also matters. Advice that works in the United States, Europe or Australia may not transfer neatly to Japan. Employment expectations, decision-making processes, customer relationships and communication norms can be very different. Confidentiality is another issue. Leaders must consider how much competitively sensitive information they can safely disclose. Do now: Choose advisers who combine discretion, relevant experience, cultural understanding and the courage to challenge your thinking. How Can Leaders Manage Stress When They Have Nobody To Talk To? Leaders can reduce pressure by converting unstructured worry into a written sequence of problems, priorities, options and actions. Journalling, meditation and exercise can all help leaders regulate stress. Alcohol and drugs may offer temporary escape, but they usually create additional problems rather than resolving the original ones. Writing is powerful because anxiety is often vague and repetitive. Once the concern is written down, it becomes something the leader can examine. Use four questions: What problems am I facing? Which problem has the highest priority? What could I do about it? Which solution should I begin implementing immediately? This method sounds almost too simple. That simplicity is its strength. The process forces the leader to separate several overlapping worries, identify the issue that matters most and select a concrete next step. Action then replaces at least part of the helplessness. Do now: Write down the problem, choose the priority and take one useful action before the day ends. What Should Leaders Remember About Pressure At The Top? Leadership does not require pretending that fear, doubt and stress do not exist. It requires managing those emotions so they do not control the organisation. Employees need honesty and direction. Clients need confidence in continuity. Family members need appropriate context. Friends and coaches can help, but only when they have the necessary judgement, experience and discretion. Ultimately, leaders need their own method for processing pressure. Writing down the problems, prioritising them, generating options and selecting an immediate action is a practical place to start. You may not always have the perfect person to talk to. You can still create clarity, regain control and move forward. Author Bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" in 2018 and 2021 and received the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2012. As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver leadership, communication, sales and presentation programmes globally, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including the best-sellers Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery and Japan Presentations Mastery, as well as Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His books have also been published in Japanese, including Za Eigyō（ザ営業）, Purezen no Tatsujin（プレゼンの達人）, Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō（トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう）and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā（現代版「人を動かす」リーダー）. Greg publishes regular business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook and X and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery and Japan's Top Business Interviews for executives and professionals seeking practical strategies for succeeding in Japan.

Japanese companies are often described as slow, conservative or resistant to change. That description misses the deeper point. In many Japanese business settings, the central question is not, "How exciting is this opportunity?" It is, "What could go wrong, and what will happen to us if it does?" This risk-sensitive mindset can frustrate overseas companies accustomed to selling through enthusiasm, innovation and ambitious promises. Yet once you understand how Japanese buyers assess reliability, reputation and organisational exposure, their caution becomes much easier to navigate. The lesson is straightforward: in Japan, reducing perceived risk is often more persuasive than promoting potential upside. Why are Australian and Japanese business attitudes so different? Australian business culture traditionally rewards optimism, improvisation and a belief that problems can be solved as they arise. Japanese corporate culture generally places greater emphasis on caution, preparation and avoiding preventable failure. Australia's early European settlers operated across an enormous continent with limited infrastructure and long supply lines. When equipment broke, a replacement might take months to arrive from Britain. People had to repair, adapt or invent something locally. Over time, this helped reinforce the Australian "can-do" attitude. Japan also developed amid earthquakes, typhoons, floods, landslides, volcanic activity and fires. However, Japan's response was often to value preparedness, durability and collective stability. In a densely populated society, one failure can affect customers, suppliers, colleagues and the organisation's reputation. These are broad cultural tendencies rather than rules applying to every individual. Nevertheless, they help explain why an enthusiastic Australian seller and a cautious Japanese buyer can view the same proposal very differently. Do now: Do not assume that your customer shares your excitement. First determine what risks, disruptions and internal consequences they are considering. Why do Japanese buyers appear pessimistic about new proposals? Japanese buyers are not necessarily pessimistic; they are frequently conducting a more defensive assessment of the proposal than overseas sellers expect. An optimistic salesperson may concentrate on revenue growth, innovation, speed and competitive advantage. The Japanese buyer may simultaneously be thinking about implementation failures, customer complaints, operational disruption, internal criticism and damage to the company's reputation. This is why a presentation filled with superlatives may have limited impact. Claims such as "revolutionary", "game-changing" or "market-leading" do not remove the buyer's exposure. In some cases, aggressive enthusiasm can increase suspicion because it appears that the seller is concentrating on the upside while avoiding difficult questions. Japanese executives often need enough evidence to explain and defend a decision internally. They may need to satisfy procurement, legal, compliance, information technology, finance, operational teams and senior management before proceeding. Do now: Balance every benefit claim with evidence, safeguards, implementation details and a credible response plan for foreseeable problems. Why is Japan difficult for minimum viable products? Japan can be a challenging market for a minimum viable product because many corporate customers expect a solution to be highly reliable before they adopt it. The startup concept of launching an early version, collecting feedback and repairing problems through repeated iterations is accepted in many technology ecosystems. In Japanese business-to-business markets, however, customers may view an unfinished product as an unnecessary operational risk. Early adopters exist in Japan, particularly in technology, digital services and innovation-focused divisions. Nevertheless, the number of corporate buyers prepared to expose their organisations to an unproven supplier can be relatively small. The seller may say, "Help us improve the product." The buyer may hear, "Accept the risk of our product failing inside your organisation." That is not an attractive offer when the buyer's own customers, employees or reputation could be affected. A successful pilot therefore needs clear boundaries, strong support and measurable success criteria. It cannot simply be an experiment conducted at the customer's expense. Do now: Present a pilot as a controlled proof of reliability, with limited exposure, defined responsibilities, rapid support and agreed evaluation measures. Why do Japanese companies avoid being the first customer? Many Japanese organisations prefer to see evidence that a product has already worked successfully for comparable customers before adopting it themselves. Becoming the first customer can create personal and organisational exposure. When an innovation succeeds, the decision-maker may receive some recognition. When it fails, the same person may face detailed questions about why an untested supplier was selected. This creates a rational preference for references, established track records and examples from similar industries. A successful deployment in another country may help, but evidence from Japan is often more persuasive because it demonstrates that the supplier understands Japanese language requirements, service expectations, decision-making processes and quality standards. Testimonials are useful, but detailed case studies are stronger. Buyers want to know what was implemented, how long it took, what difficulties occurred, how they were resolved and what measurable results were achieved. Do now: Build Japanese case studies early. Show the customer's starting point, implementation process, risk controls, measurable results and post-launch support. What happens when a supplier makes a mistake in Japan? Fixing the technical problem is only the beginning; the supplier must also repair the customer's confidence and demonstrate that the failure will not happen again. In Australia, the commercial response may focus mainly on correcting the problem, compensating the customer where appropriate and moving forward. In Japan, the customer may also expect a sincere apology, a detailed explanation of the cause and a formal prevention plan. The buyer is not only reacting to inconvenience. Your failure may have created problems for their colleagues, managers or customers. That can damage the buyer's credibility inside the organisation and threaten the trust their company has built with the market. A vague apology such as "We are sorry for any inconvenience" will rarely be enough after a serious failure. The supplier should identify the root cause, explain the immediate corrective action, specify the preventive measures and establish how future performance will be monitored. Authenticity matters. A defensive, legalistic or dismissive response can cause more damage than the original error. Do now: Prepare a Japanese-style incident response process covering apology, root-cause analysis, corrective action, prevention, ownership and follow-up reporting. How should overseas companies sell successfully in Japan? Overseas companies should sell reliability, evidence and risk reduction before asking Japanese customers to believe ambitious promises. Begin with your track record. Show where the solution has worked, for whom, under what conditions and with what measurable results. Explain your quality-control systems, service structure, implementation process and escalation procedures. Next, address the questions sellers often prefer to avoid. What could go wrong? How quickly will you respond? Who takes responsibility? What happens if the timetable slips? How will customer data, operations and reputation be protected? Start small when necessary. A carefully designed pilot can allow the buyer to verify your claims without making a large and politically difficult commitment. Success creates internal evidence and gives your champion a stronger case for expansion. Finally, adjust your timetable. You may be eager to close the deal this quarter, but the Japanese organisation may have no reason to move at the same speed. Pressure without sufficient reassurance often slows the decision rather than accelerating it. Do now: Replace the "Why you should be excited" sales pitch with a "Why you can safely trust us" business case. Conclusion: In Japan, confidence must be earned through proof Japanese buyers are not incapable of innovation, and Japanese companies are not universally negative. The important distinction is that many organisations evaluate new ideas through the lens of reliability, organisational responsibility and reputational risk. This explains why enthusiasm alone is rarely persuasive. Buyers need proof that your product works, that your company understands Japan and that you will respond professionally when difficulties arise. Show the track record. Explain the safeguards. Define the measurements. Present the worst-case response plan. Start with a manageable commitment and deliver exactly what you promised. The Japanese business glass may appear permanently half-empty, but that does not mean the buyer will never proceed. It means you must demonstrate that the remaining half is secure, dependable and unlikely to spill. Author bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" in 2018 and 2021 and received the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2012. As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver leadership, communication, sales and presentation programmes globally, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers—Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery and Japan Presentations Mastery—along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His books have also been published in Japanese, including Za Eigyō (ザ営業), Purezen no Tatsujin (プレゼンの達人), Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō (トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう) and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā (現代版「人を動かす」リーダー). Greg publishes daily business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook and X and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery and Japan's Top Business Interviews for executives and professionals seeking practical strategies for succeeding in Japan.

Dr. Greg Wilson Mantilla is a Professor in the Department of Biology, Adjunct Professor in Department of Earth & Space Sciences, Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Burke Museum, and Director of the DIG Field School at the University of Washington. He is also a Research Associate at the University of California Museum of Paleontology. His research explores the evolution of mammals that lived alongside dinosaurs and how mammals have diversified over time. Remarkable fossil discoveries have revealed that these early mammals were far more diverse than once thought, including species adapted for digging, climbing, gliding, and even feeding on small dinosaurs. Outside of science, Greg enjoys staying active, spending time with his family, and following sports. Playing soccer has long been a favorite pastime, and Greg now enjoys coaching his two children. He also enjoys watching soccer and other sports, working out, reading, traveling, and relaxing with movies and TV shows. Greg received his B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University and his Ph.D. in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. Afterwards, he received an NSF Fellowship to conduct postdoctoral research at the University of Helsinki. Before moving to the University of Washington, Greg was Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology at the Denver Museum of Nature & Science. Greg was awarded the Raymond M. Alf Award for Excellence in Paleontological Research & Education from the Raymond M. Alf Museum of Paleontology, and he received the University of Washington's Bergstrom Award for Art and Science (with Ari Rudenko). In this interview, Greg shares more about his life and science.

Inner Moonlight is the monthly poetry reading series at the Wild Detectives in Dallas. Curated by Dallas poet Logen Cure, the in-person show is the second Wednesday of every month in the Wild Detectives backyard. We love our podcast fans, so we release recordings of the live performances every month for y'all! On 8/12/26, we featured poet April Sojourner Truth Walker!April Sojourner Truth Walker, PMP is a Dallas native who studied at Emory University in Atlanta and Hollins University in Virginia. Before starting her writing coaching company – A Little More Truth, LLC – in April of 2020, she worked for seven years as a Senior Project Manager at AT&T.April is currently an Adjunct Professor at Dallas College and UNT Dallas. Previously she was an Adjunct Professor at Oklahoma City Community College, teaching a myriad of classes in the Humanities. A perfect day for April is one spent in nature with her camera, a cup of tea and nowhere to be.Her current manuscript, Fire Psalm, grapples with how the history of the black community in Dallas is covered up by the city's constant need to revitalize its image. She is also working on a manuscript exploring the role of women in Christianity, Judaism and Islam and how these historically man-made roles manifest in women's lives today. she works as a ghostwriter, writing tutor, and developmental editor.⁠www.innermoonlightpoetry.com

Many organisations say they need better leadership, but what they often have is a collection of very busy managers. Managers are expected to control costs, meet deadlines, maintain quality, solve problems and keep increasingly complex processes moving. Then, without providing much leadership training, companies complain that these same people are not developing their staff, communicating the strategy or inspiring stronger performance. Management and leadership overlap, but they are not the same job. Organisations need people who can manage the processes, interpret the strategy and develop the people. What is the difference between a manager and a leader? Managers make sure the work gets done correctly, while leaders make sure people understand where the organisation is going and want to contribute to getting it there. Managers naturally concentrate on processes, budgets, deadlines and quality. Modern work involves multiple interconnected tasks, so one late or poorly completed piece can disrupt an entire project. Someone must watch the details and make sure everything stays in tandem. Leadership adds two major responsibilities: setting or interpreting the strategy and developing the people. Senior executives may determine the broad corporate strategy, but leaders further down the organisation must translate that strategy into meaningful action for their own division, department or team. The problem is that companies often promote good technical performers into management and assume leadership will somehow appear automatically. Do now: Clearly define which parts of a role involve managing processes and which parts require leading people. Why do good managers sometimes struggle to become leaders? Good managers often struggle with leadership because the abilities that earned them promotion are not necessarily the abilities they need after promotion. A technically strong employee may be promoted because of expertise, reliability and attention to detail. These are valuable qualities, particularly in Japan's no-defect work culture, where managers are expected to prevent errors and avoid surprises. However, leadership requires a different set of behaviours. Leaders must communicate direction, coach individuals, handle difficult conversations, build confidence and persuade people to support objectives beyond their own immediate responsibilities. Too many companies provide little formal training, limited onboarding and almost no meaningful on-the-job coaching before expecting newly promoted managers to lead effectively. This became even more obvious during the pandemic, when remote work reduced opportunities to observe experienced leaders and learn informally. Promotion changes the title immediately. It does not automatically change the person's capabilities. Do now: Provide leadership training before or immediately after promotion rather than waiting for the new leader to struggle. How should leaders connect corporate strategy with daily work? Leaders must translate broad corporate strategy into practical priorities that employees can understand, remember and act upon. Vision, Mission and Values statements are often beautifully framed and placed behind glass. Unfortunately, many become corporate dust catchers. Nobody remembers them, nobody discusses them and certainly nobody lives them. The leader's job is to make those ideas real. Employees need to understand how the organisation's strategy connects with their daily responsibilities, customer interactions and decisions. They also need to know what the strategy means for their particular team. This requires repetition. It is not enough to mention the strategy at an annual meeting and assume everyone is now aligned. At Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training, we begin each morning with what we call the "Daily Dale". We review our Vision, Mission and Values, together with one Dale Carnegie human relations or stress management principle. Repetition helps the team remember the ideas so they can actually live them. Do now: Turn strategic language into short, repeated conversations about what employees should do differently today. How did Ritz-Carlton make its service principles part of the culture? Ritz-Carlton made its service principles operational by discussing them constantly rather than leaving them in a manual. I once attended a presentation in Osaka by Ricco De Blanc, who helped open the Ritz-Carlton hotels in Osaka and Tokyo. He explained the organisation's customer service principles and how they were embedded into daily operations. I was so impressed that I later invited him to speak to my colleagues at Shinsei Retail Bank. I also convinced my boss to send me to the Ritz-Carlton training centre in Washington, D.C. When I returned, I adapted what I had learned and created customer service principles for our retail banking business. The secret sauce was consistency. At Ritz-Carlton locations around the world, each shift began by reviewing the same service principle for that day. The principles were not treated as decorative statements. They became a shared language for behaviour and decision-making. Do now: Choose one cultural principle each day and ask the team how it applies to their customers and current work. Why is employee coaching disappearing from the workplace? Employee coaching is disappearing because managers are overloaded with operational work and mistake giving instructions for developing people. Technology was supposed to make work easier, but in many cases it has simply increased the quantity and speed of work. Managers now spend their days moving between email, online meetings, reporting systems, deadlines and urgent requests. One of the casualties is coaching. Look closely at the calendars of many people in leadership positions and remove the meetings where they are simply giving commands, checking progress or correcting errors. The remaining time devoted to genuine coaching may be measured in nanoseconds. Remote and hybrid work add another complication. Managers have fewer informal opportunities to notice changes in performance, attitude or confidence. Coaching must therefore become intentional rather than accidental. Real coaching means asking questions, listening, helping people think and encouraging them to take greater ownership. It cannot be reduced to telling employees what to do more loudly or more frequently. Do now: Schedule regular coaching conversations that are separate from progress checks and performance instructions. Can leaders really motivate their employees? Leaders cannot directly motivate other people, but they can create an environment in which people are more likely to motivate themselves. The phrase "motivating others" is slightly misleading. We cannot reach inside another person and install motivation. People are motivated by different combinations of achievement, recognition, responsibility, security, growth, purpose and belonging. The leader's responsibility is to discover what matters to each person and communicate accordingly. That takes time, curiosity and excellent interpersonal skills. Leaders must also help employees see the connection between organisational objectives and their own goals. When employees understand why the work matters, how they contribute and how they can grow, they are more likely to take ownership. This is particularly important in Japan's increasingly competitive talent market. Employees may tolerate a weak manager for a while, but talented people have more reason than ever to seek an environment where they feel respected, developed and valued. Do now: Ask employees what kind of work, responsibility and recognition brings out their best performance. What should companies expect from their middle leaders? Middle leaders must manage the processes, interpret the strategy and build the people at the same time. Process management remains essential. Deadlines, costs and quality do not disappear simply because someone has adopted a leadership mindset. However, operational control alone is not enough. The middle leader must connect senior management's direction with frontline execution. This means explaining the strategy, gaining commitment, adjusting priorities and helping employees build the capabilities required to deliver. Companies also need to give middle leaders enough time, authority and training to perform these responsibilities. It is unreasonable to overload managers with administrative work and then criticise them for failing to coach their teams. The organisations that develop capable middle leaders will be better positioned to retain talent, implement strategy and adapt to change. Their competitors may have equally good products and systems, but stronger leadership will eventually create a major performance difference. Do now: Assess middle leaders on people development and strategic alignment, not only on budgets, deadlines and error rates. Conclusion Companies do not need to choose between management and leadership. They need both. Managers keep the machinery operating. Leaders make sure the machinery is heading in the right direction and that the people operating it are growing, contributing and committed. The problem begins when organisations assume that management experience automatically produces leadership ability. It does not. Leadership requires deliberate development, repeated practice, coaching and organisational support. Your managers may already be extremely busy controlling processes, budgets and quality. The question is whether you are also helping them become the leaders your people and your strategy require. In the long term, talented employees will not simply leave companies. They will leave middle managers and stay with middle leaders. There is a world of difference between the two. Author Bio Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie "One Carnegie Award" in 2018 and 2021 and received the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award in 2012. As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across leadership, communication, sales and presentation programmes, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including the bestsellers Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery and Japan Presentations Mastery, together with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His Japanese-language books include Za Eigyō（ザ営業）, Purezen no Tatsujin（プレゼンの達人）, Torēningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemashō（トレーニングでお金を無駄にするのはやめましょう）and Gendaiban "Hito o Ugokasu" Rīdā（現代版「人を動かす」リーダー）. Greg also publishes regular business insights on LinkedIn, Facebook and X and hosts six weekly podcasts. On YouTube, he produces The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery and Japan's Top Business Interviews for executives and professionals seeking practical strategies for succeeding in Japan.

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is investigating reports that a union representing roughly 600,000 workers is pushing to advance the interests of the Cuban regime. The committee is demanding information from the International Association of Machinists (IAM) about its possible links to the Cuban government. A report claims that IAM has traveled to Cuba, taken policy positions aligned with the regime, and union members have been addressed by a Cuban diplomat at a local union hall. FOX's Eben Brown speaks with Christine Balling, Senior Vice President & Adjunct Professor at The Institute of World Politics, who says its an influence campaign to sway American voters to support the foreign policy goals of a country hostile to the U.S. Click Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions is investigating reports that a union representing roughly 600,000 workers is pushing to advance the interests of the Cuban regime. The committee is demanding information from the International Association of Machinists (IAM) about its possible links to the Cuban government. A report claims that IAM has traveled to Cuba, taken policy positions aligned with the regime, and union members have been addressed by a Cuban diplomat at a local union hall. FOX's Eben Brown speaks with Christine Balling, Senior Vice President & Adjunct Professor at The Institute of World Politics, who says its an influence campaign to sway American voters to support the foreign policy goals of a country hostile to the U.S. Click Here⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ To Follow 'The FOX News Rundown: Evening Edition' Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NOTE: the audio is a little crunchy the first 27 min, I did fix it! ❤️ART CLUB  https://artprof.org/support-us/

In the oldest Japanese municipalities, close to half the residents are already over 65. As young people move to cities, the retailers close, then the clinics, then the bus that used to reach the next town. Rural Japan is not simply ageing: it is emptying.Elisa Giannone (CREI, CEPR) and her co-authors have analysed Japan's 1,741 municipalities from 1980 onwards. The oldest quarter of them lost around 26% of their population by 2010; the youngest quarter grew by 22%, and the gap between them is still widening. Taxing city dwellers could reverse the trend. But that's a century-long policy, that would also lower national income per head by about 1.3%. There is no version of this without a bill attached, she warns.The research behind this episode:Giannone, Elisa, Yuhei Miyauchi, Nuno Paixão, Xinle Pang, and Yuta Suzuki. 2026. "Living in a Ghost Town: The Geography of Depopulation and Aging." CEPR Discussion Paper 21447 (gated).To cite this episode:Phillips, Tim, and Elisa Giannone. 2026. "What price to save Japan's ghost towns?" VoxTalks Economics (podcast).About the guestElisa Giannone is a researcher at CREI, an Adjunct Professor at Universitat Pompeu Fabra, an Affiliated Professor at the Barcelona School of Economics. She works on internal migration, regional income divergence, the spatial consequences of local shocks and the question of why people move.Research cited in this episodeSocial and natural population change. Demographers separate population movements through migration, known as social change, from births and deaths, known as natural change. Giannone's team runs both counterfactuals separately. Shut down migration and the oldest municipalities still age, but the population loss between 1980 and 2010 falls from nearly 0.3 log points to under 0.1. The framework follows Stanley Smith, Jeff Tayman and David Swanson's standard treatment of state and local population projections.Scale economies in local public services. A 1% increase in local population is associated with a 0.53% fall in municipal government spending per head. Roads, schools, clinics and administration carry a large fixed cost, so the cost of serving each remaining resident rises as a town shrinks. This is the fiscal arithmetic that makes depopulation expensive.Consumption-equivalent flow utility. The paper's measure of quality of life, amenity-adjusted real income. It captures what the residents of a place can actually buy and enjoy rather than what they earn on paper, which matters when the shops and the doctors are leaving.The five oldest prefectures. Kochi, Shimane, Tokushima, Tottori and Yamagata, ranked by elderly share in 2015. They are the target group in every policy simulation, and their combined elderly share reaches nearly 60% by 2215 under the baseline projection.Municipal extinction. Hiroya Masuda's 2014 book Chiho Shometsu warned that unipolar concentration in Tokyo would drive hundreds of rural municipalities out of existence. It set the terms of Japan's regional revitalisation debate, and the paper's projections give that warning a number.United Nations World Population Prospects. Giannone's figures for the global picture, including the count of countries that have already passed peak population and those projected to do so by the mid 2050s, come from the UN projections rather than from the paper itself.More VoxTalks Economics episodesEconomic decline and the rise of populism. Andrés Rodríguez-Pose explains what happens politically in the places this episode watches emptying, and why long term regional decline shows up at the ballot box.Related reading on VoxEU.orgLiving in a ghost town: The geography of depopulation and ageing. The authors' own column, with the charts behind this episode.Japan's age wave: Challenges and solutions, a column by Andrew Stawasz, Paige Kirby, JP Sevilla and David Bloom on the national scale of the problem this episode breaks down by region.Mobile seniors and local economic development. Marco Badilla-Maroto, Benjamin Faber, Antoine Levy and Mathilde Munoz find that retirees moving into poorer French regions bring economic gains with them, a useful counterweight to the Japanese story.Population shrinking and the future of European municipalities, in which Friedrich Heinemann, Alexander Kalb and Benny Geys set out the scale economies problem for Europe's own shrinking towns.

In this episode, Kim Daniels, Michael Baggot, Erin D. Dumbacher, and Brian Green discuss Pope Leo XIV's encyclical on artificial intelligence and human dignity.   Host: Kim Daniels, Director, Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life, Georgetown University   Guests: Michael Baggot, Associate Professor of Bioethics, Pontifical Athenaeum Regina Apostolorum; Adjunct Professor of Theology, Pontifical University of St. Thomas Aquinas-Angelicum   Erin D. Dumbacher, Stanton Nuclear Security Senior Fellow, Council on Foreign Relations   Brian Green, Director of Technology Ethics at the Markkula Center for Applied Ethics, Santa Clara University   Want more comprehensive analysis of global news and events sent straight to your inbox? Subscribe to CFR's The World This Week newsletter.   To keep tabs on all CFR events, visit cfr.org/event. To watch this event, please visit it on our YouTube channel: CFR 7/30 Religion and Foreign Policy Webinar: Pope Leo XIV and Human Dignity in the Age of AI

Guest: Jerold MandeShow Notes:What if improving health means not just having enough food—but having access to the right kinds of food? This episode explores how nutrition security, public policy, and healthcare systems work together to shape diet quality and chronic disease prevention—and what it will take to build a healthier future.Guest Bio:Jerold Mande is CEO of Nourish Science; Adjunct Professor of Nutrition, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health; and a Non-Resident Senior Fellow, Tisch College of Civic Life, Tufts University. For most of his career, he has served in senior federal food, nutrition, and health policy positions, including the FDA and USDA. Quote:"Food security just means people have access to food, but it doesn't mean they have access to food that they'll thrive on."Question of the Day:What changes, whether in policy or your local community—would make it easier for people to access nutritious food where you live?On This Episode You Will Learn:The difference between food security and nutrition security, and why both matter for preventing chronic disease.How government policies and food programs influence the foods we see in grocery stores, schools, and communities.Why ultra-processed foods have become such a big part of the American diet and how they may affect our health.The story behind the Nutrition Facts label and MyPlate, and how they changed the way Americans think about nutrition.What changes in food policy and nutrition research could help create a healthier future for everyone.Connect with Yumlish!Yumlish Website: YumlishYumlish on Instagram: @yumlish_Yumlish on Facebook: YumlishYumlish on Twitter: @yumlish_Yumlish on LinkedIn: YumlishConnect with Jerold Mande!Website URL: https://nourishscience.org/ https://hsph.harvard.edu/profile/jerold-r-mande/Twitter(X) URL: @JerryMandeLinkedIn URL: www.linkedin.com/in/jerold-mande

Building a brand is exciting. Protecting it is essential. The Lawyer Stories Podcast Episode 278 features Danielle Garno, fashion, beauty, and luxury goods attorney, General Counsel at FIT:MATCH.ai, Partner at Daniel Ebeling Maccia & Cohen, entrepreneur, and Adjunct Professor of Fashion Law at the University of Miami School of Law. After building a successful career in Big Law, Danielle has become a trusted advisor to startups, emerging companies, and global luxury brands, helping them navigate intellectual property, licensing, advertising, social media marketing, regulatory compliance, and the legal challenges that come with building enduring brands. In this conversation, we discuss Danielle's journey from Big Law to leadership, why she chose to focus on fashion and luxury brands, the intersection of law, entrepreneurship, and innovation, and how lawyers can help businesses protect and grow their most valuable assets from day one. A fascinating conversation about branding, business strategy, entrepreneurship, and the evolving role of lawyers in today's innovation economy. This episode is presented by CallRail. Integrated into your case management system, CallRail helps law firms capture every call, respond faster, spot high-value leads instantly, and drive growth. Join over 3,000 law firms using CallRail to follow up faster, land bigger cases, and grow smarter. Start your free trial: https://www.callrail.com/legal-services?utm_medium=influencer&utm_source=lawyer-stories Join us at REVCON 2026. If you've heard of RevCon before, this is the next revolution. Hosted by Dan Morgan, Operational Anatomy of a Record-Breaking Year is a one-day, CLE-accredited event featuring 14 experts in marketing, management, technology, litigation, and AI.