{"version":1,"type":"rich","provider_name":"Libsyn","provider_url":"https:\/\/www.libsyn.com","height":90,"width":600,"title":"279 Tomo Kamiya, President PTC Japan","description":"\u201cI think curiosity is very important. When you\u2019re curious about something, you listen.\u201d \u201cYou have to be at the forefront, not the back. You can\u2019t, hide behind and say, \u2018hey, you know, guys solve it\u2019, right?\u201d \u201cWhen they trust you, beautiful things happen.\u201d              \u201cIdeas are welcome. You know, ideas are free. But it\u2019s got be data driven.\u201d  Tomo Kamiya is President Japan at PTC, a company known for parametric design and CAD-driven simulation that helps engineers model, test, and refine complex products digitally before manufacturing. He began his career in sales at Bosch, covering Kanagawa and Yamanashi with a highly autonomous, remote-work style that was ahead of its time, learning early that trust and relationship continuity\u2014not brand alone\u2014move outcomes in Japan. He later joined Dell during its disruptive growth era, moving from enterprise sales into marketing and broader regional responsibility, including supporting Korea marketing and later leading the server business, where his team hit number one market share in Japan. After a short consulting stint connected to Japan Telecom, he joined AMD to grow the business in Japan, then relocated to Singapore to run a broader South Asia remit and strategic customers. He subsequently led a wide Asia Pacific portfolio at D&M Holdings across multiple markets, navigating shifting consumer behaviour as subscription and streaming changed the fundamentals of product value. That experience led naturally into Adobe during its historic shift from perpetual software to subscription, where he led the Digital Media business in Japan (including Photoshop, Illustrator, and Acrobat) for almost a decade. Across this cross-industry arc, he has repeatedly adapted to business model change, regional cultural differences, and the practical realities of leading people in Japan\u2014especially the need to listen deeply, build trust patiently, and step forward decisively when problems hit. Tomo Kamiya\u2019s leadership story is, at its core, a story about compressing complexity\u2014first in products, then in organisations. At PTC, he sits at the intersection of engineering reality and digital abstraction: the ability to take something massive\u2014a ship, an engine, an entire manufacturing system\u2014and \u201cframe\u201d it into a screen so it can be simulated, stress-tested, and improved before any physical cost is incurred. That same instinct shows up in the way he talks about people and performance. In his earliest Bosch years, he learned that Japan\u2019s reliability culture does not eliminate the need for continuous trust-building; even a global brand can stall if the relationship energy disappears. His answer was to create value where the buyer\u2019s uncertainty lives\u2014showing up, demonstrating, educating, and, as he put it, \u201csell myself,\u201d because credibility travels faster than product brochures. That bias for action stayed with him through Dell\u2019s high-velocity era, where \u201clatest and the greatest\u201d rewarded leaders who could anticipate market timing and organise teams around speed without losing discipline. Later, running regional remits outside Japan, he saw the contrast between Japan\u2019s \u201cno defect\u201d mindset and emerging markets that prioritised pace. Rather than treat one as right and the other as wrong, he learned to search for the productive middle ground: the discipline that prevents future failure, paired with the pragmatism that prevents paralysis. It is a useful lens for Japan, where uncertainty avoidance and consensus expectations can slow decisions unless the leader builds momentum through listening and clear intent. In his most practical leadership shift, an executive coach forced a hard look at his calendar: too much time on objectives, not enough time on people. The result was a deliberate reallocation toward one-on-ones, deeper listening, and clearer delegation\u2014creating what amounts to a management operating system that improves decision speed because the leader knows what is really happening. He sees ideas as abundant but insists that investment requires decision intelligence: data points, ROI thinking, and a shared logic that gives teams confidence to commit. In Japan\u2019s consensus environment\u2014where nemawashi and ringi-sho-style alignment often determine whether execution truly happens\u2014his approach is to build trust through presence, make it safe for the \u201csilent minority\u201d to contribute, and then move decisively when critical moments arrive. Technology, including AI as a \u201cco-pilot,\u201d can help leaders think through scenarios and prepare responses, but he remains clear that empathy and execution in the worst moments cannot be outsourced. The leadership standard, as he defines it, is simple and demanding: when things go south, step to the front. Q&A Summary What makes leadership in Japan unique? Leadership in Japan is shaped by trust-building, restraint, and the practical demands of consensus. Even when products are high quality and risk reduction is strong, outcomes often hinge on relationships and continuity. Japan\u2019s consensus culture\u2014often expressed through nemawashi and ringi-sho-style alignment\u2014means leaders must invest time in listening, building internal confidence, and demonstrating respect for the context that teams and customers protect. Why do global executives struggle? Global executives often arrive with a headquarters lens and try to \u201cfix\u201d what looks inefficient before understanding why it exists. When they change processes or people without learning the customer rationale, they trigger resistance and lose credibility. The gap is not intelligence; it is context. Japan requires deliberate time in the market and inside the organisation to decode what is really being optimised\u2014often customer trust, stability, and long-term reliability. Is Japan truly risk-averse? Japan can appear risk-averse, but much of the behaviour is better described as uncertainty avoidance. The goal is to reduce surprises and protect relationships, not to avoid progress. Kamiya\u2019s early sales experience shows that buyers will pay for reliability when the cost of failure is high. The leadership challenge is to move forward while lowering uncertainty\u2014through data, clear rationale, and predictable communication\u2014rather than forcing speed without alignment. What leadership style actually works? The style that works is visible, empathetic, and action-oriented. Trust grows when leaders walk the floor, create everyday touchpoints, and listen in detail\u2014especially because many Japanese employees will not speak up easily. At the same time, Kamiya argues that in critical moments\u2014big decisions, business model shifts, major complaints\u2014the leader must be \u201cat the forefront,\u201d not hiding behind delegation. Delegation matters, but stepping forward in the hardest moments is what earns trust. How can technology help? Technology helps leaders compress complexity and make better decisions. In product terms, simulation and digital-twin style approaches reduce risk by testing before manufacturing. In leadership terms, data-driven thinking improves idea selection, investment confidence, and ROI clarity. AI can function as a co-pilot for scenario planning\u2014offering options and framing responses\u2014but it does not replace human judgement, empathy, or the social work of building consensus. Does language proficiency matter? Language matters because it shrinks distance. Full fluency may take years, but even small efforts signal respect and closeness, making it easier to build rapport and trust. Language is not just vocabulary; it is an everyday bridge that reduces friction with teams and increases the leader\u2019s ability to read nuance\u2014critical in a culture where people may be reserved. What\u2019s the ultimate leadership lesson? The ultimate lesson is that trust is built through time, listening, and decisive presence. Leadership is revealed when trouble hits: the leader who listens, takes action, and stands in front earns durable commitment. Once trust is established, the organisation can move faster\u2014because consensus forms more naturally, delegation improves, and decisions carry less uncertainty. Author Credentials Dr. Greg Story, Ph.D. in Japanese Decision-Making, is President of Dale Carnegie Tokyo Training and Adjunct Professor at Griffith University. He is a two-time winner of the Dale Carnegie \u201cOne Carnegie Award\u201d (2018, 2021) and recipient of the Griffith University Business School Outstanding Alumnus Award (2012). As a Dale Carnegie Master Trainer, Greg is certified to deliver globally across all leadership, communication, sales, and presentation programs, including Leadership Training for Results. He has written several books, including three best-sellers \u2014 Japan Business Mastery, Japan Sales Mastery, and Japan Presentations Mastery \u2014 along with Japan Leadership Mastery and How to Stop Wasting Money on Training. His works have also been translated into Japanese, including Za Eigy\u014d (\u30b6\u55b6\u696d), Purezen no Tatsujin (\u30d7\u30ec\u30bc\u30f3\u306e\u9054\u4eba), Tor\u0113ningu de Okane o Muda ni Suru no wa Yamemash\u014d (\u30c8\u30ec\u30fc\u30cb\u30f3\u30b0\u3067\u304a\u91d1\u3092\u7121\u99c4\u306b\u3059\u308b\u306e\u306f\u3084\u3081\u307e\u3057\u3087\u3046), and Gendaiban \u201cHito o Ugokasu\u201d R\u012bd\u0101 (\u73fe\u4ee3\u7248\u300c\u4eba\u3092\u52d5\u304b\u3059\u300d\u30ea\u30fc\u30c0\u30fc). In addition to his books, Greg publishes daily blogs on LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter, offering practical insights on leadership, communication, and Japanese business culture. He is also the host of six weekly podcasts, including The Leadership Japan Series, The Sales Japan Series, The Presentations Japan Series, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan\u2019s Top Business Interviews. On YouTube, he produces three weekly shows \u2014 The Cutting Edge Japan Business Show, Japan Business Mastery, and Japan\u2019s Top Business Interviews \u2014 which have become leading resources for executives seeking strategies for success in Japan. ","author_name":"Japan's Top Business Interviews Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan","author_url":"http:\/\/japanstopbusinessinterviews.libsyn.com\/website","html":"