Japan - US Business News

The Interpreter's Corner: My Breaking Point

Amya Miller continues to chronicle the day to day struggles of the people and relief efforts in the earthquake and tsunami ravaged areas in Japan...

I have been in Ofunato and Rikuzentakata for a week now and have found myself numb driving past and walking through the immense devastation.  I have been told by the relief workers I am working with that shutting down my emotions is a necessary part of doing my job and while I have struggled with the idea of having to go “robotic” in order to function, I’ve done just that. Until yesterday. 

This, I believe, was the first time in my over twenty years of interpreting that I broke down and cried in front of those for whom I was interpreting.  The combination of humiliation, pain, anger and frustration is a pretty nasty soup of emotions. 

Evidently I'm human.  Evidently I can't go a whole week shutting out my emotions and being strictly professional.  Evidently, all this comes at a price.

The Interpreter's Corner: A Whole New Kind of Interpreting

I arrived in Tokyo last night.  It’s changed.  The streets are darker, lights are out all over the place (rolling blackouts).  Food is available but on my morning walk to the local Lawson to pick up water and milk tea, I noticed maybe a third of the shelves were still empty.

There are also significantly fewer gaijins.  More on that some other day.

I’m finding myself facing a whole new kind of interpreting experience.  I’m heading up north to Ohfunato today for two months.  What am I doing?  I can’t honestly say.  I have been told relief/disaster work is very fluid and organic and things “just sort of evolve” and when I say I don’t understand what that means, I’m met with “you’ll understand once you’re there.”

I’m working with a US-based relief organization that has done this kind of work all over the world.  I tried explaining Japan is anything but fluid and organic but they say they know what they’re doing and are prepared to use the “gaijin card” to get things done if necessary.  I’m prepared to insert myself into this, whatever that means and whatever form it ends up taking, but….

'Women in Japan-US Business' series: Interview with Kimberly Wiefling - Part 2

Part 2 of our interview with Kimberly Wiefling, President of Wiefling Consulting, and Executive Editor of the Scrappy GuidesTM and Author of “Scrappy Project Management: The 12 Predictable and Avoidable Pitfalls Every Project Faces”, continues below.  
 

Japan-US Business News: What are the most demanding conflicts you face?

Kimberly Wiefling: Conservatism mainly. Some companies are too conservative to overcome their resistance to change. On the individual level—fear of failure, shame, and aversion to making mistakes hampers the professional growth of global business leaders. My teaching definitely involves a ‘reframing’ of the Japanese way of thinking to encourage people to embrace mistakes and failure as stepping stones to success. We teach that when you feel uncomfortable, it is a good thing because it means that you are changing. That means you are getting your money’s worth from our programs!

In group situations involving people from different countries, we need to overcome assumptions, beliefs and stereotypes about others - Americans think this way, or the Japanese think that way. In stereotypical fashion, for example, Japanese think Americans are all cowboys; European thinks Japanese are too conformist.  We cannot use stereotypical generalizations to judge the individual. In the groups I teach, I ask them to look at each person individually and they will often be very surprised to see that an American can be conformist and a Japanese can be the lone cowboy in the room.

Changing mindsets is always difficult.  At the organizational level—it is sometimes hard to find a sponsor to support these types of efforts - one who knows the value in truly creating global leaders and is willing to make that investment. It is a huge investment yes, and it is an ongoing process that requires support from managers and long term accountability. But it is invaluable. When our workshop participants return to their regular jobs they need the support of a sponsor and their managers to sustain the changes we help them achieve.

Japan-US Business News: What things do you find personally rewarding and satisfying?

Kimberly Wiefling: I get a feeling of elation when I see people’s face change when they realize that they are capable of achieving more than they ever thought possible, that they can do the impossible. They realize that they have the power to achieve, make their dreams come through. To see the businessmen and women in my programs blossom and throw off self-imposed limits, and create, dream, fly, thrive is a real thrill for me. When I see that change, I sometimes cannot even believe it is the same person. I am a part of unleashing people to their greatest potential. Now THAT is EXCITING!

Japan-US Business News: What have been the rewards and trade-offs?

Kimberly Wiefling: Of course there are trade-offs as there are in any business really. I travel a lot—I am in Japan about 1 – 3 weeks a month. I sometimes do not have enough time to spend with family and friends etc. I’m in hotel most of the time, and sometimes it does get a bit lonely even with all of the Facebook, Skype and Twitter action. 

But there are great rewards and that gives me balance. Being a part of Japanese society and learning about this amazing culture and its people has been quite an education. Traveling, learning a bit of the Japanese language, getting to know people by visiting their homes—being a part of this society that is so wonderful has been a real treat for me!

'Women in Japan-US Business' series: Interview with Kimberly Wiefling - Part 1

We continue our "Women in Japan-US Business" profile series today with Kimberly Wiefling - Founder and President of Wiefling Consulting, and Executive Editor of the Scrappy GuidesTM and Author of “Scrappy Project Management: The 12 Predictable and Avoidable Pitfalls Every Project Faces”, growing in popularity around the world and published in Japanese by Nikkei Business Press. 

"Scrappy Women in Business: Living Proof That Bending the Rules Isn’t Breaking the Law", a compilation of a dozen women’s stories, was published this past summer.

Read Part 1 of Kimberly's interview below. Part 2 will appear tomorrow.

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Japan-US Business News: What was your educational experience? Was it helpful in getting you where you are now?

Kimberly Wiefling: My dad was a welder, my brothers were both welders, and, if I had been born a boy, I probably would have been a welder, too! But, as luck would have it, I grew up in a time when girls weren't encouraged to be welders.

So I went to college instead, earning a B.S. in chemistry and physics and an M.S. in physics. But don't be so quick to write me off, 'cause I've got marketable skills, too! For example, I earned a marksman's ribbon while in the U.S. Air Force right after high school (I used my GI Bill money to pay for college), where I learned to repair electronics equipment.

Japan-US Business News: What were your professional experiences?

Kimberly Wiefling: A physicist by education, and a successful business leadership and project management consultant for the past 10 years. I began my professional career working for a decade at HP in product development project management and engineering leadership.

My motto was, "When it absolutely, positively has to be destroyed overnight—bring it to me! I spent ten years working at HP in various engineering and technical jobs, including one that involved a long stretch of explosion testing and other destructive testing of lovingly handcrafted one-of-a-kind R&D prototypes.

I got bored with all of the stability and job security of HP, so I quit and joined a series of failed startups (not all my fault!).  I spent 5 years in the wild and wacky world of Silicon Valley startups, including a Xerox Parc spinoff where I was the VP of Program Management.  I helped to start, run and grow a dozen small businesses.  Several of the startups that I co-founded are still in business and profitable. 

One of the keys to the success of these start-ups was a focus on not only a winning strategy, but a winning culture. Culture transformation lies at the heart of all of my work.

In 2000, I rose from the ashes of the dot-com bust, launched my own consulting practice at what was not exactly the most hospitable environment in which to launch a business and never looked back. I wanted to associate with other women entrepreneurs and intended to extend my business globally.

I lurched fitfully forward for several years before my big break came—a chance to work in Japan with my Japanese "sister" Yuko Shibata of ALC Education, Inc. starting up their Global Management Consulting Group.

Yuko was doing work with NTT DOCOMO – UC Santa CRUZ Language institute and was searching for someone who could do a program with the Japanese. Yuko spoke with me and we decided to collaborate. We started writing proposals and trying to figure it out.

We created it from scratch really. Other institutions were doing this similar kind of learning and teaching on a large scale. There wasn’t anything at this price point, or this kind of experimental approach— focused on highly interactive, engaging and exciting “Action Learning.”

Japan-US Business News: Did you have a start-up business plan of any kind?

'Women in Japan-US Business' series: Interview with Yuko Shibata - Part 2

Part 2 of our interview with Yuko Shibata, Executive Director, ALC Education Inc, continues below.

Read and learn how her un-traditional education and interesting career path lead her to great success. ______________________________________________________________________________________

Japan-US Business News: What were the most demanding conflicts that you faced?

Shibata-san:  At one stage in my career, the company I worked for had a location in Houston, which isn’t high on the list of places people in Japan hope to visit. I was chosen to oversee our expansion on the East Coast in our Washington, D.C., office in Virginia, which enabled me to make many trips there over the next five years.

From my base in D.C., I traveled all over the US, visiting potential partner schools that would offer our services. It sounds exciting, but most of what I saw consisted of the inside of airplanes, taxis and hotels.  
However, I did get a feel for how tough it was to be a global businessperson. Picking up and moving from one city to the next in a foreign country, being far from family and friends, traveling from hotel to hotel, I gained an appreciation for the human challenges that our clients faced as their companies grew internationally.

I learned to be ready for anything, and to take the unexpected in stride. Often things don’t go as planned. Suitcases went one way and my airplane went another. Flights were canceled, leaving me without a place to stay for the night. Rooms were sometimes filthy, and the bar sometimes closed before the stresses of the day had been dulled by a sufficient quantity of the dry martinis I enjoyed at the end of a long day.

Through it all, I managed to enjoy the little miracles and pleasures that I encountered along the way. I learned a lot and grew strong.

In particular, I gained the ability to quickly make decisions and adjust to whatever situation I found myself in. Now, whenever it seems that things are going wrong, I look for the nuggets of wisdom or personal growth available in the situation.

“Never give up!” has become a guiding philosophy of my life.

'Women in Japan-US Business' series: Interview with Yuko Shibata - Part 1

We begin our special Women in Japan-US Business Profile series today and I am very pleased to be launching this year long interview series that will tell stories of Japanese and American women (and women of other nationalities too), who work in the Japan-US Business arena. 

Someone with experience of Japan like myself, knows of the challenges that women face in the Japanese business world. In the past and still to too large a degree today, women are generally not utilized to their full potential in a Japanese company. That is of course changing and although slow, there are successful women out there who deserve to be spotlighted.

These women are trailblazers in business in a society that doesn't always support or encourage working women to reach their full potential.

My goal for this series is many- fold but mainly, I want to use Japan-US Business News to 1.) Spotlight talented women in Japan – US business and give them the recognition they deserve  2.) Show that the path to success is very varied 3.) Let the success of these women inspire and encourage other women, and Japanese women in particular, to keep striving.

We start with Yuko Shibata, Executive Director, ALC Education Inc in Japan. Read her story today and tomorrow and stay with us throughout the coming year as we tell more inspiring stories of successful women in Japan-US Business each month. 

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Yuko Shibata is Executive Director of ALC Education Inc. in Japan. She

shares her interesting journey to success with Japan-US Business News below.

Part 2 of this interview will appear tomorrow.

 

Japan-US Business News: What was your educational experience? Was it helpful?

Shibata-san: During my elementary and junior high school years, I was always among the top three students in the class, and always in a leadership position such as class president or captain of the volleyball club. But, looking back, I’m not sure if I was popular among friends. I was a typical straight-A student from a rich family.

After a time, my family suffered major business setbacks. In junior high, I started to worry about saving my family the cost of continuing my education. I knew my family would not be able to afford the expensive tuition of a private high school, so I applied to only one public high school.

I remember feeling a little scared about whether I would be accepted, and that perhaps I would end up with no school at all. Fortunately, I was accepted, and this high school was ranked among the top five in our area. That meant I could get a great education without costing my family any money. This was a big relief for me. My concerns about my family’s hardships helped me become a better person, or at least inspired me to be a better person.

Although I was certainly capable of it, I was not a good student in my high school years. Instead, I spent those years as a drama queen, using my family situation as an excuse for not studying. My original desire was to become a medical doctor, one who could help as many people as possible. Then I found out I was not doing well in chemistry and physics, so I gave up all hope on that dream, and any thought of going into any career related to science in any way.

Unfortunately, my attitude slump continued through the end of high school. Although I’ve since become a very successful business executive, at that time it didn’t look like I was going to have much success in my life. Thankfully, I was wrong!

After graduation, my thinking was: “Too bad I can’t go to university, because we don’t have any money. I’ll just have to work after graduating from high school in order to save money for college.” And that’s what I did. I worked 14 hours a day in a jazz club for about two years in order to save enough money to go to college in Japan.

College in Japan is generally quite relaxed and enjoyable for non-science majors—not at all the tough challenge it can be in some countries. Most of my friends from high school were enjoying their college life, and I started wondering if it would be worth spending my hard-earned money for that kind of college life.

I was extremely tired most of the time, and feeling very negative about everything. Working so many hours a day left me exhausted and in a perpetual state of self-pity. Even saving every yen for school still wasn’t going to be enough to get me into a good Japanese university. It wasn’t just the cost; I was too tired to study for the extremely challenging entrance exams required by good universities.