Monday, August 31, 2009 - Osaka, Japan
Taking the opportunity of the general election held yesterday, Japanese voters explicitly said “no” to the more than half a century of almost uninterrupted rule by the LDP (the Liberal Democratic Party). Their saying led to the DPJ (Democratic Party of Japan) winning over 300 seats in the 480-seat chamber in an election of almost 70% voting rate which is probably the highest in Japanese election history, opening the door to potential changes in Japan. Indeed, general election had long been mere façade but the years of unhealthy Japanese politics change voters’ minds and behaviours.
If Japan is considered as a publicly-quoted company, public opinion is equivalent to stock market, the general election is equivalent to shareholder meeting and Japanese voters to Japanese shareholders. Unless he/she is a top shareholder (usually financial institute), Japanese shareholders are usually quiet, rarely outspoken, and many shareholder meetings are mere façade, just like what the election had been. But with many companies suffering from poor performance, shareholders may change their mind to be outspoken similarly to voters of the election.
Excluding some exceptions, Japanese companies are in general under-valued in the stock market, and many are suffering from poor performance, not necessarily because of the worldwide economic crisis started last year. As some experts point out, the real reason for this may well lie in the fundamental issue of their management system and structure and/or business model that is no longer adapting to the business environment we live in today (e.g. dependent to export and/or high-end products thus likely to be affected by negative impact of world economy and currency trend, weak cost structure).
Taking all the above into account, it would not be a surprise that some Japanese shareholders start to become more outspoken and truly participate in decision making of the company they invest in. Responsibility of voters and shareholders is not only participation in the general election and shareholders meeting. The voters and shareholders are expected continuously to be attentive to and to check how their “company” is managed, together with its performance.
2009年8月31日月曜日
2009年8月30日日曜日
What is to be Successful in Your Life and Live Truly Happily?
Sunday, August 30, 2009 - Osaka, Japan
Today we have a general election for the lower house Japan, marking a historically meaningful day in Japan’s history, and this could well to be a good opportunity to think what it is to be happy and to be successful in our lives.
Unlike all other elections we had, many Japanese citizens including myself have been paying much interest in this election because the voices of each of us is possible to determine the leading party for this election, and change to improve the society which we live in.
Improvement in the society we live in is a key element for all of us to be happy. And we had been attentive to this election sincerely hoping that the new political measures under the new administration would change the fundaments are vital to solve pending issues including finance, economy, employment, pension, welfare, education, environment to name a few. Solution to such issues would highly contribute to making us much happier. But, what does it mean to be happy?
Being happy is to be successful in one’s life, and success in one’s life is nearly equals to success in one’s career for most of us.
Definition of “success” should be different for everyone because each of us is different. We all have different value, belief, interest and uniqueness, and objectives/mission of our life and our lifework that we pursue as we go along in our life journey aligns with our value, belief, interest and uniqueness. Having said that, the definition of success in life and to live happily can be summarized as “Unleashing one’s potential in one’s desirable environment to achieve tangible outcome one is happy with (not necessarily monetary), contributing to the organization, community and/or society one belongs to.”
The key to succeed in life and live happily can be summarized as below.
1) Physically and economically healthy:
There are no argument on this, is there?
2) Self branding:
This is the starting point of defining your success, goal and mission in your life, and deciding what your lifework is. Extensive self analysis is inevitable. Strategy and brand management framework and approaches can be used, similarly to branding of a company or an entity.
3) Networking:
This is about being connected with people with whom you can learn and grow mutually. Like brand, this is an intangible asset that is built on trust and requires time. This is vital for self marketing and let the world know about you, who you are and so forth. In today’s ubiquitous networking world, leveraging web 2.0 social media tools world really helps although face-to-face networking and conversation still plays an important role and you need to effectively mix and utilize them both.
4) Work you enjoy and your happiest challenges:
You should not be pushed aside by the work and challenges the general public highly evaluates but those you truly enjoy and means to you, aligning with your value and interest. Base on personal branding and “career drift” concept, create your career and land on the role/position you really desire, the role/position that is meaningful to you, and engage in challenges you are happy with. Challenges may not be what you had been doing nor what you are good at first but if you like them and are happy with them, you usually pick up the skills quickly. Work you enjoy and happiest challenges lead to motivation, high performance and your growth.
5) Desirable work environment with supportive boss(es) and cooperative colleagues:
The definition of “desirable work environment” depends on the individual but for many people, the important points include clear mission and goal of the organization, open and interactive communication, simple processes and systems and chemistry/fitting with the organization’s culture. Supportive bosses and cooperative colleagues creating a teamwork spirit usually comes with desirable work environment, which increases your motivation, an important driver along with your skills, competencies etc. (and perhaps the only driver that can be positive or negative) to maximize your performance and leverage organizational capability, leading to high performance of you as an individual and the organization you belong to.
6) Work-life balance:
Life is not only about career or work. Positive effect outside work usually has positive effects on work leading to synergy.
7) Understanding and cooperation from your family, and “true” friends:
There are no argument on this, is there? A friend in need is a friend indeed.
After all, it is each of us that “own” our lives and career path. Each of us is to strategically positioning ourselves in the world we live in and is responsible for creating our own lives and career.
There may well be room for addition and improvement.
Your comments are more than welcome.
Today we have a general election for the lower house Japan, marking a historically meaningful day in Japan’s history, and this could well to be a good opportunity to think what it is to be happy and to be successful in our lives.
Unlike all other elections we had, many Japanese citizens including myself have been paying much interest in this election because the voices of each of us is possible to determine the leading party for this election, and change to improve the society which we live in.
Improvement in the society we live in is a key element for all of us to be happy. And we had been attentive to this election sincerely hoping that the new political measures under the new administration would change the fundaments are vital to solve pending issues including finance, economy, employment, pension, welfare, education, environment to name a few. Solution to such issues would highly contribute to making us much happier. But, what does it mean to be happy?
Being happy is to be successful in one’s life, and success in one’s life is nearly equals to success in one’s career for most of us.
Definition of “success” should be different for everyone because each of us is different. We all have different value, belief, interest and uniqueness, and objectives/mission of our life and our lifework that we pursue as we go along in our life journey aligns with our value, belief, interest and uniqueness. Having said that, the definition of success in life and to live happily can be summarized as “Unleashing one’s potential in one’s desirable environment to achieve tangible outcome one is happy with (not necessarily monetary), contributing to the organization, community and/or society one belongs to.”
The key to succeed in life and live happily can be summarized as below.
1) Physically and economically healthy:
There are no argument on this, is there?
2) Self branding:
This is the starting point of defining your success, goal and mission in your life, and deciding what your lifework is. Extensive self analysis is inevitable. Strategy and brand management framework and approaches can be used, similarly to branding of a company or an entity.
3) Networking:
This is about being connected with people with whom you can learn and grow mutually. Like brand, this is an intangible asset that is built on trust and requires time. This is vital for self marketing and let the world know about you, who you are and so forth. In today’s ubiquitous networking world, leveraging web 2.0 social media tools world really helps although face-to-face networking and conversation still plays an important role and you need to effectively mix and utilize them both.
4) Work you enjoy and your happiest challenges:
You should not be pushed aside by the work and challenges the general public highly evaluates but those you truly enjoy and means to you, aligning with your value and interest. Base on personal branding and “career drift” concept, create your career and land on the role/position you really desire, the role/position that is meaningful to you, and engage in challenges you are happy with. Challenges may not be what you had been doing nor what you are good at first but if you like them and are happy with them, you usually pick up the skills quickly. Work you enjoy and happiest challenges lead to motivation, high performance and your growth.
5) Desirable work environment with supportive boss(es) and cooperative colleagues:
The definition of “desirable work environment” depends on the individual but for many people, the important points include clear mission and goal of the organization, open and interactive communication, simple processes and systems and chemistry/fitting with the organization’s culture. Supportive bosses and cooperative colleagues creating a teamwork spirit usually comes with desirable work environment, which increases your motivation, an important driver along with your skills, competencies etc. (and perhaps the only driver that can be positive or negative) to maximize your performance and leverage organizational capability, leading to high performance of you as an individual and the organization you belong to.
6) Work-life balance:
Life is not only about career or work. Positive effect outside work usually has positive effects on work leading to synergy.
7) Understanding and cooperation from your family, and “true” friends:
There are no argument on this, is there? A friend in need is a friend indeed.
After all, it is each of us that “own” our lives and career path. Each of us is to strategically positioning ourselves in the world we live in and is responsible for creating our own lives and career.
There may well be room for addition and improvement.
Your comments are more than welcome.
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