The FocusCore Podcast Titelbild

The FocusCore Podcast

The FocusCore Podcast

Von: Dr. David Sweet
Jetzt kostenlos hören, ohne Abo

Meet interesting and inspiring and entertaining people who show why Japan is a unique, fulfilling and sometimes frustrating place to do business. We will discuss how to hire, train and retain talent. How to create values that motivate, and review best practices that have worked and attempts that have failed. David will be speaking to company presidents, CEOs, CFOs, HR professionals, coaches, consultants as well as sharing with you some of my own experiences and opinions discovered over the years in this great country. The focus is simple: To explore how to succeed in business in Japan.Copyright 2026 Dr. David Sweet Erfolg im Beruf Management & Leadership Ökonomie
Folgen
  • Cultivating the Japan Executive Bench: AI, Talent Strategy, and Leadership Lessons with Lars Schandorff

    Cultivating the Japan Executive Bench: AI, Talent Strategy, and Leadership Lessons with Lars Schandorff
    Sep 14 2026
    In this FocusCore Podcast episode, host David Sweet interviews Lars Schandorff, Senior Director of People & Talent for APAC Supply Chain with a global American company. With over 17 years of experience spanning Denmark, Singapore, Dubai, and Japan, Lars has built talent strategies for organizations including British American Tobacco, Seadrill, and Maersk, from managing an $8 billion global portfolio to building the entire talent ecosystem for a $1 billion greenfield factory in Japan. Lars and David discuss how to cultivate a sustainable Japan executive bench instead of relying on expats indefinitely, why executive presence looks different depending on culture, how to keep leadership teams stable through high-stakes transformation, why speaking Japanese is as much about respect as communication, what an "AI native" organization actually looks like in Japan, and what Lars sees as Japan's biggest talent challenge over the next five years.The 2026 FocusCore Salary Guide is here: 2026 Salary GuideIn this episode you will hear:How to build a sustainable local executive bench in Japan instead of relying on expatsWhy "executive presence" reads differently across American, European, and Japanese leadership culturesHow to keep leaders and teams steady through high-pressure transformation and M&AWhy fluency in Japanese is, for Lars, primarily a signal of respect rather than just a skillWhat an "AI native" organization looks like inside a Japanese business, and the infrastructure gap between companies who can afford closed AI systems and those who can'tLars's prediction for Japan's biggest talent acquisition challenge and opportunity over the next five yearsAbout Lars:Lars Schandorff has built his career around a consistent thread: helping organizations grow their people even as the ground shifts beneath them, whether that ground is a collapsing oil price, an acquisition, or an entry into a wholly new market. With more than 17 years of experience spanning Denmark, the Middle East, Singapore, and Japan, he has spent his career designing talent strategy for some of the most demanding transformation environments in global business.He currently serves as Senior Director of People & Talent for APAC Supply Chain at a leading American company, where he oversees the talent agenda across 11 complex markets. Before that, Lars held senior talent and HR roles at British American Tobacco, Seadrill, and Maersk, building the entire talent ecosystem for a $1 billion greenfield factory in Japan, managing workforce architecture for an $8 billion global portfolio at Seadrill, and helping launch multi-billion-dollar energy projects across Singapore and Korea.Lars's path to Japan began in Copenhagen, where he studied East Asian studies before joining the Japanese Embassy in Denmark. From there he moved into Maersk's shipping and drilling operations, spent time in Dubai building a global leadership development function, and eventually returned to Japan, where he has now lived and worked for the past eight years. Fluent in Japanese, Lars approaches his work in Japan with a simple philosophy: as a guest in the country, it is on him to adapt, not the other way around, an outlook that shapes how he builds trust with the leaders and teams he supports.Connect with Lars Schandorff:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lars-schandorff-178baa7/Connect with David Sweet:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdavidsweet/Twitter: https://twitter.com/focuscorejpFacebook: :https://www.facebook.com/focuscoreasiaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/focuscorejp/Website: https://www.japan.focuscoregroup.com/This podcast was proudly produced by Lisa Yasuda.“Doin’ the Uptown Lowdown,” used by permission of Christopher Davis-Shannon. To find out more, check out www.thetinman.co. Support independent musicians and artists.
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    54 Min.
  • Building Trust as Social Infrastructure for an Aging Japan with Yasuhiro Tokunaga

    Building Trust as Social Infrastructure for an Aging Japan with Yasuhiro Tokunaga
    Aug 31 2026
    In this FocusCore Podcast episode, host David Sweet interviews Yasuhiro Tokunaga, Representative Director and CEO of HomeServe. Yauhiro explains how he moved from structuring multi-billion dollar public-private infrastructure projects across the Middle East and Asia at Mitsubishi Corporation to building a subscription-based home repair platform that protects Japan's aging households. He describes HomeServe's rapid growth from 70,000 to over 400,000 contracts, and the alliances he built with nine electric utilities, Japan Post, and local governments by learning to speak each partner's language and interests. Tokunaga-san shares how trust, transparency, and long-term thinking replace one-shot negotiation tactics, how AI and customer data are shaping HomeServe's next stage, and his advice to foreign companies for building lasting partnerships in Japan.The 2026 FocusCore Salary Guide is here: I2026 Salary Guide In this episode you will hear:Why Yasuhiro left multi-billion dollar global infrastructure deals to build a subscription home-repair businessHow HomeServe grew from 70,000 to over 400,000 contracts through utility and government partnershipsThe key to winning trust with conservative, bureaucratic Japanese institutionsThe biggest misconceptions foreign companies have about doing business in JapanHow AI and customer data will shape HomeServe's next stage of growthLessons on transparency, trust, and long-term thinking from negotiating a $1.2B project in QatarAbout Yasuhiro:Yasuhiro Tokunaga has built his career around a single aspiration: protecting people's everyday lives through social infrastructure. With extensive experience across Japan, the Middle East, South Asia, Southeast Asia, and Central Asia, he has spent his career developing solutions to some of society's most fundamental challenges.He currently serves as Representative Director and CEO of HomeServe, where he is focused on bringing greater peace of mind to households across Japan. Before joining HomeServe, Yasuhiro worked at Mitsubishi Corporation, leading public–private partnership projects in water infrastructure with a total portfolio of approximately ¥200 billion (around US$2 billion). His experience includes leading landmark projects in Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Sri Lanka, as well as working with governments and international organizations including the World Bank, IFC, Asian Development Bank, and African Development Bank.At HomeServe, Yasuhiro has applied this experience in large-scale infrastructure to a different kind of everyday challenge. He has helped grow the company's home repair subscription business from 70,000 to hundreds of thousands of contracts, while building partnerships with electric-power companies, Japan Post Holdings, and local governments. His work is driven by the belief that trust, collaboration, and social innovation can help solve the hidden challenges of everyday life and create greater security for households across Japan.Yasuhiro holds an LL.B. from Kyoto University, an LL.M. from Washington University in St. Louis, and completed the Program for Leadership Development at Harvard Business School.Connect with Yasuhiro Tokunaga:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yasuhiro-tokunaga-774495b/HomeServe Website: https://www.homeserve.co.jp/Connect with David Sweet:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdavidsweet/Twitter: https://twitter.com/focuscorejpFacebook: :https://www.facebook.com/focuscoreasiaInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/focuscorejp/Website: https://www.japan.focuscoregroup.com/This podcast was proudly produced by Lisa Yasuda.“Doin’ the Uptown Lowdown,” used by permission of Christopher Davis-Shannon. To find out more, check out www.thetinman.co. Support independent musicians and artists.
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    57 Min.
  • Summer Re-release #2 - Telling the Truth: Journalism, Creativity, and Stories Beyond Borders with Yuri Kageyama

    Summer Re-release #2 - Telling the Truth: Journalism, Creativity, and Stories Beyond Borders with Yuri Kageyama
    Jul 31 2026

    During July and August, we'll be taking a short break from recording new episodes. To keep the conversations going, we'll be re-releasing some of our favourite recent episodes. So whether you're catching up or listening again, we hope you enjoy these episodes while soaking up the summer sunshine. We'll return in September with brand new conversations!

    In this FocusCore podcast episode, host David Sweet interviews Yuri Kageyama, an Associated Press reporter who grew up in both the US and Japan, attended international school and Huntsville High, and became bilingual through her father’s engineering career with NASA and IHI. Kage recounts being hired on the spot by The Japan Times, learning newspaper reporting and production, then choosing AP over other offers to write her own stories; AP sent her to Detroit during peak Japan-bashing, where she covered autos, crime, and policing and learned to focus on telling people’s stories despite prejudice.

    She discusses thinking and writing primarily in English, the cultural complexity of Japanese politeness, and AP’s fact-based standards amid today’s fragmented media environment.

    Yuri describes covering the Fukushima nuclear disaster and creating the multimedia performance/film “News from Fukushima,” including AP script review, then reads her poem “Fukushima” and reflects on the disaster’s ongoing impact, collaboration with artists, and balancing journalism with poetry.

    The 2026 FocusCore Salary Guide is here: 2026 Salary Guide

    In this episode you will hear:

    • Yuri's journey to becoming a bilingual reporter with the Associated Press
    • The cultural and language challenges she navigated between Japan and the US
    • Insights into the creative process behind "News from Fukushima" and its impact
    • Her experiences covering pivotal events like the Fukushima disaster
    • The blend of journalism and poetry in exploring complex narratives

    About Yuri:

    Yuri Kageyama is a reporter with the Associated Press.

    She grew up in the US and in Japan, and is a graduate of Cornell University, and she holds an MA in interdisciplinary field of sociology, anthropology, and social psychology from the University of California Berkeley.

    She is also an outstanding polymath as a celebrated poet fiction writer, essays journalist, filmmaker, and songwriter.

    Connect with Yuri:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/yurikageyama/

    Website: http://yurikageyama.com/

    Connect with David Sweet:

    LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdavidsweet/

    Twitter: https://twitter.com/focuscorejp

    Facebook: :https://www.facebook.com/focuscoreasia

    Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/focuscorejp/

    Website: https://www.japan.focuscoregroup.com/

    This podcast was proudly produced by Lisa Yasuda.

    “Doin’ the Uptown Lowdown,” used by permission of Christopher Davis-Shannon. To find out more, check out www.thetinman.co. Support independent musicians and artists.
    Mehr anzeigen Weniger anzeigen
    1 Std. und 9 Min.
adbl_web_anon_alc_button_suppression_t1
Noch keine Rezensionen vorhanden