Translated from 日本語 • View original The key to growth is feedback. Continuing from last time, I will introduce the feedback that I received the most effective.
▼ The last story is here The story of feedback that worked on Psycho (1) - If I tell that person, Nakamura-kun will be in trouble It's bitter and painful this time too. Laughter
New Company Formation in Germany
I was stationed in Germany for six and a half years from 2004 (33 years old) to 2010 (39 years old).
He was assigned to another department of the German branch of Toyota Tsusho Europe, a large branch with thousands of employees. It is a department with about 20 people, and the head of the department is a German. It was a position that did not get on the line. Position is "Senior Coordinator"
Even though I'm young, my title is senior, and I'm not on the line, so I'm the one who is blamed when my performance is bad. I didn't know what it was, but the activity started.
I don't know the industry. I don't know about Europe. I can't speak English well. And every day I feel subtle discrimination, perhaps because I am Asian. It was a start from a quadruple suffering.
Especially regarding "discrimination", I experienced a harsh environment as a member of society here, and after desperately breaking out of the situation where everyone was making fun of me, I was able to become a member of the team in a good way about a year later. (If anyone is interested in this experience, I would like to write about it soon.)
Then, two years after I was assigned, at the age of 35, I decided to separate from Toyota Tsusho Europe and start a new company with about 20 people.
By the way, I have written in the past about what happened just before the launch of this company, so if you are interested, please read it.
▼The most important thing for managers
Three years since the establishment of a new company that has been doing well
At the beginning of the launch of the new company.
Now I became the head of the organization. There is also a relationship of trust with the team that he has built up in the role of a junior for the past two years, and he is off to a good start.
Even when our team caused a major quality problem, I was able to bear the brunt of the problem and solve it.
As we did so, the trust from the team increased, and I felt a sense of centripetal force.
A few years ago, I went from being a "guy who didn't understand anything, didn't speak English, and was completely useless," to a state where everyone accepted me and firmly recognized me as their boss.
I still remember how happy I was to feel that way.
Not enough things!!
Good things Morta. This is the event in 2008 when the highest profit was recorded.
The more business is doing well, the more I have a habit of starting to feel something is missing, and that incident happened.
While the performance was strong, I felt a strong sense of crisis about the future of the company. I'm sure it will be ruined again as an extension of the current line. I was tormented by such a sense of crisis.
I thought, "I have to start a new business during this period when things are going well," and I always talked about it.
I was flying around Japan and abroad looking for seeds and proposing various new businesses to the team. But everyone on the team has a stance of "It's going well, so it's good."
My frustration kept building up.
The Day of Frustration
In the midst of this, 5-6 managers gathered and held a meeting to consider future strategies.
From my point of view, the discussion there did not significantly change the current situation. The frustration I felt with the team on a daily basis became the maximum.
I was proud that I was able to be more careful about communication than in my 20s, when I was always aggressive, so I chose words and asked questions that inspired everyone.
We believe that our business is likely to fail sooner or later if we just continue with what we have now. If you don't want to be like that, you have to face the challenge of creating a new business. To do this, I want everyone to change their mindset.
Even if it seemed difficult before I did it, the scenery changed when I tried it, and I also talked about my own past experience that it was surprisingly easier to give birth than to think.
I'm sure I wanted to persuade everyone at that time. Sometimes it may have been quite strong.
Base was confident that he had gained a lot of trust from the team throughout the previous four years, so I thought it would be okay to say it in a slightly stronger tone.
"That's funny"
At that meeting, the managers had zero reaction.
Normally, even if it was a serious matter, the team was talking while joking with each other in a friendly manner, but it was a scene.
"That's strange."
The meeting ends badly.
For about a week after that, my relationship with them continued. No one talks to me except for things related to work. Obviously strange.
Even at this point, I didn't realize that I had made a big mistake.
I thought, "I must have been shocked when I realized the current situation."
Mentor Appearance
About a week later, my mentor, who usually works remotely, suddenly invited me to dinner today.
The mentor is a Belgian who is my subordinate and the head of sales. What does it mean to be a mentor even though he is a subordinate!? You may think so, but it will be long to talk, so I will omit that story this time.
Now, I was invited to dinner.
The mentor always values "being professional", and for that reason, he basically does not have a dinner party with alcohol with members of the company.
I often went out drinking with members of the company and was often warned that I was drunk until I was sloppy. (I didn't take his opinion on this matter until the end.)
I didn't expect him to invite me to dinner...
I went to dinner with him twice in the previous four years. The first time was the day he joined the team, and the last time was when I had a discussion with the former department head before launching a new company.
I have only a bad feeling.
Feedback at Dinner
When I arrived at the restaurant and was waiting for a drink, he took out a few A4 pieces of A4 paper with handwritten letters from his bag and said to me:
"After the meeting the other day, I talked to each member individually. I think it's bad feedback for Keiji. I'm sure you'll want to refute it halfway through, but can you promise to listen to me in silence for 30 minutes?"
I didn't feel like I could listen in silence for 30 minutes, but I couldn't say NO for the time being, and I said, "Okay."
When the drink came and we toasted, he started talking.
Last meeting. The team's understanding of my message and their reactions (impressions) were as follows.
(I) Our company is doing well now, but our company is in a critical situation for the future. That's why we have to take on the challenge now that I'm in good shape. But we haven't done anything completely new at the moment.
(Team) Well, I don't know what you're saying, but I've worked hard in the past to raise my achievements so far, and even though I'm doing so well now, I think that perception is too harsh.
(I) I've tried a lot of new things in the past, and I've managed to succeed. If we all persevere and work hard, we will surely succeed.
(Team) Are you saying that you can do it but you can't?
(I) If you don't have a challenging mindset, you don't deserve to be in this company. I want to create a culture like that.
(Team) Zero industry knowledge. I don't know anything about Europe and I can't speak much English. We have raised you with no management experience at all. After a few years, when I grow up and can do various things, are you going to abandon us this time? It's arrogant and ungrateful.
By the way, for about 30 minutes while receiving feedback, every time I tried to interject because I couldn't stand it, I was silenced, saying, "I promised." It was hard (laughs)
Differences from Self-Perception
I was quite shocked by this feedback.
I was grateful for everyone's support in both public and private ways until then, and I had no intention of looking down on everyone and talking about it, but it seems that everyone didn't see it that way.
I asked my mentor.
"Did you think so too?"
He said, "After watching Keiji so far, I thought, 'I can't say it in that sense,' but when I thought about it that way, everyone took it this way, and when I thought about it, I felt like it sounded that way."
Words are important. I was going to make everyone happy, and speaking a little strongly was also counterproductive.
"It may have been harsh feedback, but if I hadn't had a relationship with you, I wouldn't have been able to even convey it," he said.
While feeling depressed, I expressed my gratitude to my mentor and consulted with him about what to do next.
"You should talk to each person individually, you have no choice but to clear up misunderstandings, apologize if there is something to apologize for, and restore the relationship," he said.
After
More than half of the people in that company basically worked remotely. Communication is basically Skype and phone. Thinking about it now, it was advanced, but I was in trouble at this time.
This kind of one-on-one is difficult to do over the phone, so I have no choice but to catch and talk to each person when I come to the office.
Over the course of about a month, I apologized for the misunderstanding and explained my thoughts carefully again, so that everyone could understand my true intentions.
It was a painful lesson for me, but I think it was a harvest for the team that the relationship was repaired, and the understanding of each other deepened through this opportunity.
How was the painful and bitter feedback when you were stationed in your 30s? I would like to write positive feedback somewhere next time. (To be continued)
▼Click here to continue ▼Psycho's feedback story (3) Seminars on popular content> organization and management are being held < very popular!
