Subsidiaries in Japan Need to Drive Growth. And How to Overcome That Challenge.

Dear Reader,?

The mandate was clear: return to double-digit growth while keeping the company’s strong, collegial culture intact.

For the leadership team of a well-known global consumer brand in Japan, this wasn’t just an ambition. It was a directive from HQ. The local market had been stable but stagnant, operating efficiently but without real growth. Now, with a new CEO at the helm, the pressure was on to transform the business, reignite momentum, and future-proof operations, all while preserving the harmony and trust that made the company a great place to work.

The challenge? The leadership team was full of exceptional functional experts, masters of execution, but they were running at full speed, too busy to step back and rethink long-term strategies and transformation.

"Too often, leadership teams feel more like a group of functional experts sitting at the same table rather than a true executive team working toward a shared vision" (Axel Wellbrock, Head of Organizational Consulting, Kay Group)

The Growth Mindset Shift: From Efficiency to Expansion

This story is not unique. Many multinational subsidiaries in Japan are operationally strong but struggle to shift gears into growth mode. According to McKinsey’s research*, companies that outperform in growth align their behaviors with five key dimensions of their leadership mindset:

1?? Prioritize Growth Relentlessly

Most executives claim to prioritize growth, but only 22% actually spend significant time on long-term growth initiatives.* Instead of engaging in future-focused discussions, new executives often spend months and months learning about the local Japanese business. To facilitate such discussions, subsidiary leaders should carve out time beyond operational reviews early in their tenure.?

2?? Act Boldly and Take Strategic Risks

The best leaders don’t just tweak existing models; they challenge assumptions and invest in new growth pathways. In Japan, subsidiaries often hesitate to take risks for fear of disrupting what works. But growth requires experimentation and calculated bets. The new executive can help the leadership team members learn what experimentation means and how to cope with failure by role-modeling experimentation and calculated bets.?

3?? Put the Customer at the Center

Too often, customer feedback is collected but not integrated into real business decisions. High-growth companies use AI and analytics to anticipate customer needs and shape product and service innovation. However, this often seems like an aspiration, not a reality. Overburdened with operations and troubleshooting, leadership teams tend to lose sight of their customers. The use of simple tools such as symbols, mascots, or empty chairs can serve as a reminder of the stakeholders not in the room.?

4?? Leverage and Elevate Talent

Execution-focused teams often struggle to prioritize developing growth leaders, as daily operations take precedence. Winning companies rotate high-potential talent into growth roles, embedding strategic thinking into the leadership DNA. For subsidiaries in Japan, this is even more challenging. With leaner structures and limited internal talent pools, leadership teams must look beyond their immediate functions to identify and develop talent deeper within the organization. Yet, with Japan’s tight labor market and fierce competition for skilled professionals, finding and nurturing future leaders requires a more deliberate, long-term approach.

5?? Execute with Discipline and Agility

Growth is not a one-time initiative but a sustained effort that requires discipline, alignment, and adaptability. Top-performing companies establish structured accountability mechanisms to track progress, remove roadblocks, and adjust course quickly. This is often the biggest challenge in subsidiaries where the leadership team functions as a collection of functional representatives rather than a unified team with shared goals and a culture of commitment and accountability.

Teams we have worked with that successfully transformed from groups of individuals into high-performing leadership teams took deliberate steps to define their shared goals and clarify how they would work together to achieve them. Over time, this intentional effort fostered a culture of trust, commitment, and accountability, enabling them to lead growth with greater cohesion and impact.

The Japan Leadership Playbook: From Execution to Expansion

So, how did the leadership team of this global consumer brand break the cycle and shift from maintaining the status quo to driving real growth?

? They redefined leadership meetings: moving beyond routine operational updates to dedicated growth sessions focused on new opportunities, long-term bets, and market disruptions. Instead of just sharing updates, the leadership team set a common goal to identify and realize new opportunities together. Meetings became a space for co-creation, not just reporting.

? They empowered cross-functional teams to drive new revenue streams by giving them autonomy, funding, and a clear mandate to test and scale fresh ideas. They use high-potential leaders to spearhead cross-functional teams tasked with piloting and executing earmarked new growth initiatives, ensuring strong leadership from the outset.

? They embedded external customer insights into every decision: challenging internal assumptions and ensuring their growth strategy was rooted in real market needs, not just internal priorities. This required deep self-reflection from the leadership team, leading them to ask: “Why are we here?” They refreshed their leadership purpose and committed to staying close to the customer. Now, every leader actively gathers and shares customer insights in discussions, ensuring that decision-making stays anchored in the realities of the market.

By making these intentional shifts, leadership teams can move from execution mode to expansion mode, positioning the business for long-term, sustainable growth.

The result? Growth is back on the agenda, and the team has moved from reacting to proactively shaping the future.

This is the leadership shift we see in Japan’s most successful subsidiaries.

Awakening Giants: Mentoring the Next Generation of Changemakers

My pride and joy is to be a mentor of another great cohort at the Founder Institute’s National Incubation Centre in Islamabad, Pakistan. What a journey! A whirlwind of ideas, energy, and sheer ambition.

The team in Islamabad has taken a unique approach, blending on-site and virtual participation, allowing me to mentor from Japan while still feeling the pulse of the room. The passion, innovation, and drive of these founders are nothing short of inspiring.

For those unfamiliar, Founder Institute is a US-based global startup accelerator that guides founders through their journey, from idea validation to launch and traction. It’s an intense, four-month program led by experienced startup professionals and a diverse network of mentors worldwide.

The role that I carved out for myself is, helping founders zoom in on a real problem, defining their ideal customers, and tackling leadership and organizational challenges. From enabling safe travel for women to one-click hiring of advanced technology engineers to sports venue management solutions, the range of ideas is astounding. But what truly stands out is the unwavering commitment of these founders to drive meaningful change in their communities and beyond.

This next generation of changemakers is on the rise, and I can’t wait to see them gain traction, scale their impact, and reshape industries.

Recent Project: Mobilizing a Leadership Team in a Global Medical Device Icon

Stepping in as a new CEO is always a challenge. It’s about more than just learning the business; it’s about navigating company culture, politics, and skepticism from an established team.

For one global medical device company, the situation was even more problematic. The leadership team in Japan had operated without a CEO for nearly a year, developing their own routines and ways of working. When the new CEO arrived, the question lingered “why do we need a change”?

Kay Group was brought in to help the CEO quickly establish clarity on the business mandate, stakeholder expectations, and communication priorities. We worked on stakeholder management, consistent messaging, and defining a clear focus for both business growth and cultural alignment.

To mobilize the leadership team, we designed and delivered a series of leadership workshops, moving the team beyond a “keep the ship afloat” mindset to one focused on growth, transformation, and customer value.

Using our Kay Group Leadership Training series, “Why Leadership Matters,” combined with The Five Behaviors of a Cohesive Team (Patrick Lencioni), we guided the team from an individual “me and my function” mindset to a collective “we and our organization” mindset.

What we consistently see in Japan’s subsidiaries is that given the time to pause, space to think, and the right interventions, leadership teams can shift from functional silos to a true team, unlocking collaboration, accountability, and impact. Some of these shifts can happen within days.

If these leadership insights resonate with you, let’s connect! We’d love to listen and share what’s working in Japan and explore how to elevate your leadership team.

Warm regards and happy reflections,

Karin

I’m Karin, a coach and team developer passionate about helping leaders build thriving teams, navigate change, and enjoy the journey along the way.

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*McKinsey Achieving Growth (2025)?