“World Needs Indian Leadership”: Japan CEO After Moving To Bengaluru

The founder of Tech Japan, Naotaka Nishiyama, moved to Bengaluru in April and described it as a “definitely big new chapter” in his life. The Chief Executive Officer of the Japanese company added that the world needs Indian leadership and he is amazed by the diversity in the country. “World needs Indian leadership. It has been a month since I moved to India, and once again I am amazed at the diversity of values in India. It is a miracle that India is one country despite being a large country with various religions, races, and values. It is a good opportunity to think about leadership, as India is in the election season now,” he said in a LinkedIn post.

Mr Nishiyama also discussed the importance of collective effort, which helps bring new and diverse ideas. “In socialist countries and military-like organizations, the traditional top-down approach has been effective. However, in today’s unstable and uncertain society, it is necessary to move forward in a collaborative manner, taking advantage of diverse ideas. When a top-down approach is based solely on the ideas of a dictator, many blind spots occur,” he continued.

The executive also compared the working scenario between Japan and India. He said, “Management in Japan has a nuanced connotation of locking other people into their own way of thinking and controlling them. Keep within the same one small framework. India is a large country with issues with neighboring countries, a history of independence, and a variety of religions, races, and values. Trying to confine ourselves to only one set of values will not work here. That is why they try to create a big framework that can include all things as much as possible, instead of fitting different things into their one small framework. And each of them is able to move forward utilizing differences, although they are different individually.”

Appreciating India’s “diverse environment,” Mr Nishiyama said that it helps to move forward by creating a large plan which “can encompass heterogeneous values.” He added that it is different in Japan where there is a “homogenous environment.”

The entrepreneur asserted that India was capable of taking the lead in a global environment and that the country exemplified both competition and collaboration, citing the examples of Google CEO Sundar Pichai and Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella. “The world is a chaotic place, with a diverse mix of values and power balance. It is definitely India that can move this forward. Because India has already experienced a lot of such things domestically. In the business field, Neither Sundar Pichai nor Satya Nadella are second-generation Americans. They were born in India, educated in India, and then went to the US for graduate school. In other words, it is only because India embodies both competition and collaboration that it is capable of leadership in a global organization,” he continued.

Concluding the post, Mr Nishiyama said that he will learn from Indian leadership and apply it to his organisation. He also shared a picture of himself alongside an auto-rickshaw with a placard reading “World needs Indian leadership.”

Since being shared, his post has amassed a lot of reactions on the networking platform.

“Indians have a knack for finding order in chaos , confusion , constraints and change,” said a user.

Another added, “There are many techniques which Indian and Japanese can learn from each other and create a win win situation.”

“Indians are good in leadership because of crisis handling capabilities, which is available in India everyday in abundance. On other hand Japanese are good in diligent leadership and hard working. Both countries has a lot great opportunities for collaboration,” remarked a third user.