The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show Podcast By Dr. Greg Story cover art

The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show

The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show

By: Dr. Greg Story
Listen for free

For succeeding in business in Japan you need to know how to lead, sell and persuade. This is what we cover in the show. No matter what the issue you will get hints, information, experience and insights into securing the necessary solutions required. Everything in the show is based on real world perspectives, with a strong emphasis on offering practical steps you can take to succeed.copyright 2022 Economics Management Management & Leadership
Episodes
  • Buyer Style Knowledge Is Key

    Buyer Style Knowledge Is Key
    Apr 19 2026
    Buyer Style Knowledge Is Key Why is buyer personality style more important than national culture in Japan business communication? When many of us think about doing business in Japan, we immediately focus on cultural differences between Japan and the West. That makes sense, because Japan does have distinct cultural patterns. However, buyer personality style often matters more in the actual communication moment than broad national culture. Cultural factors create the base layer. On top of that, there are individual differences in how Japanese buyers think, decide, communicate, and respond. Because those personality-style differences directly affect meetings, negotiations, and relationship building, they often have a greater impact on business outcomes than general cultural assumptions. If we rely only on "Japanese culture" as our guide, we can miss what is really driving the buyer's behaviour. The practical implication is simple. We are unlikely to change our own core personality style, and we are certainly not going to change the buyer's style. What we can change is our communication style. Because communication is flexible, we can adjust our approach to fit the person in front of us. Mini-summary: National culture matters, but personality style often has more influence in real business conversations. Because of that, flexible communication becomes a major advantage. How can we understand buyer personality styles through a simple two-axis model? Buyer style can be understood through two intersecting axes. The first is a horizontal axis based on assertion. On one side are people who are low in assertion. They speak quietly, keep a low profile, do not openly state strong opinions, and spend more time observing than acting. On the other side are highly assertive people. They express opinions strongly, speak with vigour, and can come across as pushy, loud, or aggressive. This horizontal axis helps us quickly estimate how directly someone is likely to communicate. In first meetings, this is often one of the easiest signals to notice. Tone, pace, volume, and directness all reveal where the person may sit. The second is a vertical axis based on people focus versus outcome focus. At the top are people who care strongly about others, feelings, and human considerations. They refer to the impact on people when making decisions. At the bottom are individuals who are highly outcome-driven. They focus on results, numbers, and key performance indicators. For them, performance matters more than how people feel during the process. Because these two axes cross, they create a practical way to interpret buyer behaviour. A person may be assertive and outcome-driven, or quiet and people-oriented, or assertive and highly social. This matters because each pattern requires a different communication style. Mini-summary: The model uses assertion and people-versus-outcome focus to explain buyer behaviour. Because these dimensions are easy to observe, they give us a practical guide for adapting our communication. What is a Driver personality type in Japan business? A Driver sits high on assertion and high on outcome orientation. This style often cuts across typical expectations about indirect Japanese communication. These buyers are more direct than many other Japanese counterparts. Drivers are often founders or business owners. They treat time as extremely valuable, so they do not want extended small talk or ceremony before getting into business. They want to move quickly, get to the core issue, and make decisions without delay. Because they are busy and time-poor, they respond well to efficiency and decisiveness. This style can be a major advantage for speed. A Driver may decide on the spot without consulting others, which is different from the slower consensus-building process that many people associate with decision-making in Japan. However, there is also a risk. If they say no, that decision can be final. There may be little room to revisit or reopen the discussion later. This means the communication burden is on us to be sharp, relevant, and outcome-focused from the beginning. If we waste time or wander into relationship talk that does not serve their goal, we may lose momentum and credibility. Mini-summary: Drivers are assertive, direct, and strongly focused on results. Because they value speed and outcomes, they often make quick decisions, but their rejection can also be final. How should we communicate with Driver buyers? We need to make a clear behavioural adjustment when speaking with Drivers. We should raise our vocal energy and increase the strength of our body language. A flat or hesitant presentation will not match their pace. They expect confidence. We should also get straight to the point. Rather than circling around the topic, we should tell them what they should do and give three good reasons why that course of action makes sense. Because they care about outcomes, our message should focus on results, delivery,...
    Show more Show less
    14 mins
  • Entrepreneur Top Requirements

    Entrepreneur Top Requirements
    Apr 12 2026
    What do entrepreneurs really need beyond cash flow and capital? Most entrepreneurs start by thinking success depends on money. Sufficient cash flow and capital matter, but they are not the deepest drivers of business success. They are the result of earlier decisions. Because of that, we need to look further upstream and identify the capabilities that produce better decisions in the first place. For most businesses, technology alone does not create success. That might happen in rare cases, but most entrepreneurs still need strong human capability. The three core requirements are mastering time, cloning ourselves through others, and becoming persuasive. This matters because business owners often focus on visible outcomes instead of invisible causes. When we focus only on revenue, capital, or resources, we can miss the behaviours that generate those results. The real leverage comes from how we work, how we build others, and how we influence people. Mini-summary: Money matters, but it sits downstream from better decisions. Entrepreneurs win by mastering time, multiplying themselves through delegation, and persuading others effectively. Why is time the highest-value resource in a business? Time is more valuable than money because it directly shapes business performance. How we spend our time can make or break the business. Because time is fixed and cannot be recovered, poor control over it creates inefficiency, wasted effort, stress, and missed opportunities. Entrepreneurs often try to do too much. That behaviour feels productive, but it usually produces overload rather than progress. When we take on everything ourselves, we become run ragged by endless demands and lose the ability to focus on what matters most. The result is movement without momentum. We need to stop treating busyness as a badge of honour. Constant activity is not the same as effectiveness. If our schedule is full of low-value actions, then we are spending our most precious resource badly. That weakens the business over time because important work gets delayed while urgent distractions take over. The underlying message is simple: unless we control time, time controls us. When that happens, we lose strategic clarity, execution discipline, and personal sustainability. Mini-summary: Time is the entrepreneur's highest-value resource because it shapes every result. When we misuse time, we create stress, waste, and missed opportunities instead of progress. How can entrepreneurs audit their time and reset priorities? The first practical step is a time audit. Create a spreadsheet and track time usage in 30-minute blocks for a week. This exposes reality. Many entrepreneurs think they know where their time goes, but the result will probably come as a shock. After the audit, make a ranked list of what only you need to do. This list should be ordered by importance, not by convenience or habit. Then compare the real audit with the ideal priority list. Because the two usually do not match, the gap reveals where the entrepreneur is losing control. This comparison is powerful because it removes self-deception. It shows whether we are spending our days on high-value decisions, leadership, and growth, or whether we are drowning in reactive work. Once we see the mismatch clearly, we can begin to correct it. A useful mantra is: "I can't do everything on this list everyday but I can do the most important thing". That shifts focus from unrealistic ambition to disciplined prioritisation. Each day, we should reorder the list, identify the number one priority, and complete it first. Then move to number two. If something urgent changes the situation, then re-rank the list and continue to attack the highest-value item first. Mini-summary: A weekly time audit exposes where time really goes. A daily priority reset then helps entrepreneurs move from reactive busyness to focused execution. Why do entrepreneurs struggle to delegate? Busyness is directly linked to poor delegation. When we do not have trusted people around us, we cannot transfer responsibility. Because we do not delegate well, we stay overloaded. Because we stay overloaded, we never find the time to develop others. This creates a painful cycle. That cycle traps the entrepreneur like a rat on the treadmill. The business then suffers in predictable ways. Projects stagnate. Important tasks never start. Details fall through the cracks. The owner becomes the bottleneck, and the organisation loses leverage because everything depends on one person. There is also a personal cost. Chronic overload can damage health. Stress is not only a productivity issue; it is a sustainability issue. When an entrepreneur refuses or fails to build trusted support, the business and the person both pay the price. The deeper problem is not a lack of desire to delegate. It is often a lack of method. Many leaders either hold on too tightly or dump work carelessly. Neither approach develops capable people. Mini-summary: ...
    Show more Show less
    12 mins
  • Slide Decks and Presenting

    Slide Decks and Presenting
    Apr 5 2026
    How should we use visuals in a presentation without letting slides take over? The core rule is simple: visuals should support the presenter, not compete with the presenter. Many people preparing a slide deck for a keynote presentation ask the same questions. What is too much? What is too little? What actually works? The answer is that less usually works better because crowded slides pull attention away from the speaker. When a screen is filled with paragraphs, dense sentences, and too much information, the audience starts reading instead of listening. Because the audience can read for themselves, therefore the presenter loses connection, energy, and authority. The screen becomes the focus instead of the person delivering the message. A better approach is minimalist visual design. Use single words, one number, a simple photograph, or a short list of bullet points. This gives the audience a fast visual cue and leaves space for the presenter to explain the meaning. The visual sets the direction, and the speaker provides the value. Mini-summary: Presentation visuals work best when they reinforce the speaker rather than replace the speaker. Because less content creates more attention on the presenter, therefore simpler slides are usually stronger slides. What is the best amount of text to put on a presentation slide? The guidance here is to avoid paragraphs and even avoid full sentences when possible. Single words can be extremely powerful because they force focus. One word can frame an idea. One number can frame a result. One image can frame a story. Then the presenter talks to that word, number, or image. This matters because audiences process visual information very quickly. If they can understand what they see almost instantly, they remain with the presenter. If they need to decode a cluttered slide, they switch away from the speaker and into private reading mode. Bullet points can still work, but only when they remain minimalist. The goal is not to place every thought on screen. The goal is to create a prompt that supports live communication. A slide is not a document. A slide is a visual partner to spoken communication. Mini-summary: The best amount of text is usually far less than presenters think. Because shorter text is easier to absorb, therefore the audience stays engaged with the speaker instead of drifting into reading. What is the two-second rule for presentation slides? The two-second rule is a practical test for slide clarity. If something appears on screen and the audience cannot see it and understand it within two seconds, then it is probably too complicated. That means the slide needs to be stripped back until the point becomes immediately clear. This rule is useful because it forces discipline. Presenters often believe more detail is more helpful, but the opposite is usually true in live delivery. Because the audience has only a moment to interpret what is on screen, therefore the message must be instantly visible and instantly understandable. The two-second rule also protects pacing. If the audience grasps the slide quickly, the presenter can keep momentum. If they cannot, the energy drops while people try to work out what they are seeing. Clear visuals keep rhythm, confidence, and attention moving in the right direction. Mini-summary: The two-second rule is a speed test for comprehension. Because a live audience needs instant clarity, therefore anything that takes too long to understand should be simplified. What is the six by six rule in presentation design? The six by six rule is another way to keep slides minimalist. It means six words on a line and six lines on a screen. This forces compression and makes the presenter choose only the most important words. The value of this rule is not mathematical perfection. The value is restraint. Many presentation problems begin when speakers try to place too much explanation onto the slide itself. Because that creates visual overload, therefore the audience starts reading instead of listening. Using six by six thinking helps presenters edit aggressively. It removes clutter, sharpens the main point, and creates cleaner visual structure. Even when a slide does not follow the rule exactly, the rule still acts as a strong guide towards brevity and readability. Mini-summary: The six by six rule is a practical discipline for reducing clutter. Because visual restraint supports listening, therefore fewer words usually produce stronger presentations. Which fonts and text styles are easiest to read on screen? Readable fonts and text sizes matter more than many presenters realise. A suggested standard is 44-point font for titles and 32-point font for body text. These sizes improve visibility and help the audience absorb the message quickly. In terms of font type, sans serif fonts such as Arial are easier to read on screen. Serif fonts such as Times or Times Roman include extra decorative detail that can become distracting in a presentation setting. ...
    Show more Show less
    11 mins
No reviews yet