Why 99% of Expat Leaders Fail in Japan and The Advice That Saved Me

If you have discussed Japan with an expat executive you have probably heard the statement:

I never could get it right in Japan

When people learn that I lived and worked in Tokyo, they often share this frustration. I do not feel the same way, we did get it right with a caveat - we got as much right as we could.

The reality of Japan is that a foreigner will never get it 100% right because you are not Japanese. A simple, irrefutable truth.

That reality means that for many, a Japan assignment will go the wrong way. But for those who are up for a challenge of a lifetime, it will be the most amazing of experiences. From my perspective, a Japan experience has the following pros and cons.

The pros:

• It is an adventure of a lifetime. Singapore, London are all expat-light experiences. Japan is a full-on trial by culture. You will never feel more different and for the right person, that is very exciting.
• The people and culture are wonderful. 3,000 years of history, fascinating landscape, the uniqueness of Japan and wonderful people. Amazing customer service, the reverence of the bow, the greatest attention to detail matched with a unique sense of humor and the paradox of letting all of their inhibitions go in the evening. Japan stands alone. I miss Tokyo and Japan.
• The best food in the world. Unlike North America, fast food chains are not the norm in Japan. It is actually hard to find a McDonalds (thankfully). There are more Michelin stars in Tokyo than in any country in the world. Whether a Michelin 3-star or the sushi shop on the corner, there is no better food and they do not believe in big portions. My cholesterol dropped in half while living there and I have never been as healthy. Take a look around Tokyo, you will struggle to find an obese Japanese person and will see a lot of 80+ year-olds riding their bikes or doing Tai-chi in the park at 6 am.
• It is an experience that will change you. As a business leader, Japan is a big risk. Few have the courage to try and it will change you. This is especially true if you choose to approach the experience with an open mind and embrace the learning.

Now the cons, which very few will tell you about:

• You will never be Japanese and truly accepted. This is a homogenous culture that has rejected all foreigners for thousands of years. You will always be an outsider. The Japanese stick together and when the going gets tough, you will be on the outside.
• They think differently and have different values than you do. Some of those values will never make sense to a Westerner. For example, it is better to lie than to cause conflict. That is why a 'yes' is often not a 'yes'. Their values are very different.
• There is a high probability you will not get credit for your efforts in Japan. This is due to the paradox of leading as an expat in Japan. A good leader invests in the success of others to be successful. This is especially important with the Japanese. You cannot earn their trust until they know you are going to praise them with HQ. However, if you praise the Japanese in an effort to earn their trust, the HQ leader who sent you there to "fix it", will wonder why you are not making changes fast enough and question if you have the executive strength to succeed. On the flip side, if you bow to HQ pressure and push for change too fast the Japanese will complain to HQ that your style does not match the business culture and do everything they can to undermine you. A Japanese assignment is one of the toughest expat assignments around. It is absolutely - positively high risk.

Many of those lessons were hard won but when I reflect back on that time in Japan, they were well worth it.

When I first entered Japan, the team was one of the worst performing regions in the world with a long list of problems. Over time and with a plan, we exited poor performers (almost impossible in Japan), opened the culture to risk, drove transparency and slowly rebuilt the team into a high performing business unit.

To this day, one of my proudest moments was when my Japanese counterparts offered to take me for lunch before departing, and ~10 of his senior sales leaders demanded to attend, thanking me for my contribution to their business. It was a great honor.

But as the title states - that is not the normal outcome. Most expat leaders fail, which leads to the question I have been asked many times - how do you succeed in Japan? 

I attribute my success to a single conversation early into my Japan assignment with a brilliant American, who had lived in Japan for 28 years. While our meeting started out as business lunch to discuss partnering, it ended as an invaluable tutoring session.

Here is that conversation as a story that did not make it into my to be published (when I have time) book Leading a Sales Transformation. Please note: names, stories, and business details have been changed and are fictional for illustration purposes only.

Will you be the 99% that fail or the 1% that succeed?

The two executives had spent the last hour discussing how their companies could work better together and win more customers. Paul was new to Japan and was actively listening, seeing the meeting as an opportunity to learn from Elliot, who had 28 years of experience in the country. As the business portion of the lunch wound down, Elliot asked Paul how his first months in Japan were progressing.

Paul shared the challenges ahead. He had been put into the business because there had been too many surprises and HQ leadership was worried. On one hand, he was being told that he needed to fix the business quickly. His HQ leader wanted him to take control of the problems, understand the leadership, make changes quickly and get the business back on track while also warning him to respect the culture and avoid angering the Japanese leader. He finished his answer stating that it was going to be a thin rope to walk - do it quick, but do not anger the local leader were goals that appeared to be impossible to accomplish at the same time.

Elliot enjoyed these conversations and did not rush their lunch, he had time before his next meeting. He posed a question for Paul, "So you are here now. Which are you going to be - The 99% or the 1%?"

Paul was confused by the question, "What do you mean?"

Elliot shared that most expats come into the country because there is a problem and they are there to fix the business. They are enthusiastic and look at this as a great opportunity to gain experience and progress their career. The problem is that 99% of them do not succeed. It was a cycle he could predict as he had seen it time and time again. Elliot outlined the Japan expat cycle of failure:

• When they first arrive they enter the business full of vigor. They are probably a high potential with a bright career ahead, and they are there to get it done. You can feel the excitement. The Japanese welcome them with open arms, sushi and karaoke. The expat cannot believe the welcome and how friendly the Japanese are even if the nightly drinking events are hard to get used to. The new expat believes that the assignment is going to be great. 
• In the first six months, the expat aggressively pushes change, trying to establish themselves with the Japan team while listening carefully to the never ending 'encouragement' for speed from HQ. But things do not go the same way they do in North America. They quickly find themselves asking, what am I doing wrong? Why isn't this working? The Japanese team loves me; they take me for evenings out, and they say 'yes' all the time. They remain enthusiastic but begin to get nervous. In many cases, family discontent starts to set in - Japan is not an easy place to acclimatize to.
• 12 months into the role they have come to believe that they have made a terrible mistake. They are failing in Japan on all fronts. The locals are telling them "yes expat-san" while doing nothing that they agree to while the pressure is mounting from HQ. Their family is often miserable, as it is very hard to acclimatize to the local culture, and worry is mounting. The expat starts asking the questions that mark the end: Why did I come here? How am I going to survive this and get out of here?
• 18 months they are telling HQ that they have made progress and are ready to leave. They have lit up their internal networks to find a position in their home country while lighting up their external network to find a job if it does not work out. After all, the company does not promise a job when you come home - just a few months to seek one. The risk is the expats.
• 24 months and it is over. The Japanese are singing the expat's praises even though they have accomplished nothing. There is yakitori, sake, and karaoke in spades. Many laughs and the formal leaving event involves a lot of bowing and thank yous to expat-san, as they are shuttled off to their plane - with nothing changed other than another expat sent packing.

Paul was stunned and more than a little worried. Elliott had his full attention. "So Elliot, you paint a pretty grim picture of what happens to 99% of expats. How do I become one of the successful 1%?"

Why isn't Japan running like the rest of the global company yet?

Elliott ordered another coffee and continued. The reason why 99% fail is that they do not understand how to answer the question that your executive will ask: Why isn't Japan fixed yet?

When HQ executives ask that question, they are not asking about revenue or some performance metric; they are asking: Why is Japan not running like everywhere else in the world yet? Culturally and operationally.

Faced with that question the failing 99% try to make Japan run like HQ wants it to run. The problem is - it never will.

When asked that question, the successful 1% expat knows that the right answer is: it will never happen. They also know that they can never say that to HQ.

Elliot could see Paul's confusion, so he continued. Japan is one of the last homogeneous societies in the world with 98% of the people in Japan being pure Japanese. It wasn't until the late 1800's that they didn't kill a foreigner on sight. You do not change thousands of years of culture, tradition, and history. The Japanese embody patience, and when you try to change them, they will just wait you out. 

Elliot went on to share his arrival story. When he first came to Japan, he tried to lead the Japanese as he led in North America. He compared it to building a road; he was going to lead them as they built a road from point A to B. They all started at the same point as one team and began pushing to point B. At what he perceived was the half-way point he stopped to look around and realized, he was all by himself. He was in the middle of a valley pushing to point B, and the Japanese were nowhere to be seen. They had gone in a completely different direction.

So he tried something new. He tried to lead like they were all in a rowboat together. They all started rowing, and Elliot sat at the tiller calling out directions:

LEFT LEFT LEFT! RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT!

To his surprise, the Japanese would go left - right, back, right - forward. It made no sense to him. Elliot tried again.

LEFT LEFT LEFT! RIGHT RIGHT RIGHT!

No success, they heard him and acknowledged his directions with smiles and "Yes Elliot-san" but continued doing it their way - left, right, back, right, forward.

It was not working, and he was getting worried. He was not making progress and HQ pressure was mounting. They wanted RESULTS!

After much thought, Elliot decided to approach leading in Japan like swimming in a fast flowing river. "I stood on the river bank and got everyone to agree that we were going to aim for a certain spot downstream. I then explained to them that I am here to help, but that it is their river, their team and I will let them do it their way. We then grabbed hands and jumped in. No helmet, no lifejacket, and no directions from me. I just let it happen. As we swam I watched them flail around. Some did the dog paddle, some looked like they were about to drown while others clung to each other in groups that looked doomed to fail. But I let them do it their way. I only swam from team member to team member reminding them of the goal and offering to help but reinforcing that it was to be done their way."

Elliot continued. "Slowly they began to see that I was going to honor my word and let them do it their way. They noticed that I was a strong swimmer and a few let me help them with their strokes. Those that I helped told others how I helped them without judging and without seeking praise. They started to allow me to adjust how they were working as a team while I worked hard to understand how they were planning on getting to the end point. There were many times where I looked at that landing point and the huge waterfall beyond, worried that we would miss and go crashing into oblivion." 

But he explained that he resisted his intuition, his desire to lead the Western way, "I resisted the desire to lead the way I used to. I resisted the desire to change them. Despite my fears, I stuck to my strategy of letting them do it their way and while we did not get there the fastest way, we got there the Japanese way. We got there as a team. At the next river, we did the same thing. We agreed on the goal and this time we swam a little faster and easier. Every time after that, we got a little bit better and better. But we did it the Japanese way."

"And that", Elliot said with a smile, "is the key to the 1%. It is all about getting them to agree to a goal. If they agree to the goal, you can win. Even though it will drive you crazy how they do it, even though it will seem inefficient, you have to let them do it the Japanese way. You can coach, you can question and you can offer to contribute, but in the end that is the only way to influence change and succeed in Japan. Let them do it their way. You do not change 3,000 years of history over the timeframe of an expat assignment."

Elliot closed by giving 7 very specific pieces of advice. 

• Understand that if you try to get them to do it your way without goal alignment, they will tell you they will do it your way and the second you are not looking they will do it the Japanese way. To the Japanese, a lie is not bad if it avoids conflict.
• They will say what they think you want to hear. Often telling you one thing and doing another. They also know you cannot read their emails, so invest in the UN translator or get familiar with Google Translate so that you can read the email and understand what is going on.
• If they do not like you, they will set you up. They will draw you into an issue, then put you front and center in the failure, stepping back to let you own it all with a goal of getting you out of Japan.
• If they know how long your contract is, they are just waiting you out. Never tell them your end date. Always say that it is an open contract and you can stay as long as you want and that you are really starting to fall in love with Japan.
• Like other people, they can be won over if you help them through a tough problem and ensure Japan gets all of the glory. Once they see that you will help, they will start to trust. But be careful, because you walk a line with HQ. Make sure HQ knows what you are doing so that they do not perceive you as going native.
• Never let them present to HQ without you. There is always miscommunication, even if the HQ leaders are face to face in Japan.
• Watch your family closely. Expat spouses go through three stages. First year they hate it, second year they are neutral and can find the good in the culture. If they get to the third year, they fall in love and often want to stay.

And with that final comment, Elliot stood up to leave. Lunch was over.

I am eternally grateful for that advice and lunch. It changed everything for me in Japan.