Elevate Your Mind, Grow Your Business: In the End, a Leader's Success Depends on Their Character

There is an equation that cannot be avoided when discussing the philosophy of Kazuo Inamori.

Life and Work Results = Mindset × Enthusiasm × Ability

Enthusiasm and ability take values from 0 to 100.

However, mindset alone takes values from minus 100 to plus 100.

Therefore, if your mindset is negative, no matter how much enthusiasm and ability you have, the result will be negative.

This is an equation that Inamori has been teaching repeatedly since the founding of Kyocera.

Though it looks like a simple formula, it encapsulates Inamori's entire view of humanity.

Many business leaders try to improve their abilities.

They learn new knowledge, hone their skills, and expand their networks.

These are correct efforts.

Many business leaders try to maintain their enthusiasm.

They boost their motivation, never forget their original intentions, and try not to let their passion fade.

These are also correct efforts.

However, results are not determined by ability and enthusiasm alone.

What ultimately determines the result is the direction of one's "mindset."

What is a "mindset"?

It is the fundamental way one perceives the world.

A leader who manages an organization thinking, "People will slack off if left alone," and a leader who manages thinking, "People inherently want to be useful to others," will achieve different results even if they implement the same policies.

Why is that?

This is because one's way of thinking unconsciously acts as the root of how policies are designed.

Systems designed based on the belief that people are inherently bad make members feel that they are not trusted.

Systems designed based on the belief that people are inherently good make members feel that they are trusted.

The former causes people to shrink, while the latter helps them grow.

What Mr. Inamori calls 'elevating the mind' means continuously refining this root 'way of thinking' in a positive direction.

Refining one's character.

Accumulating virtue.

Choosing altruism.

Remaining humble.

Never forgetting gratitude.

Continuing to reflect on oneself.

Writing it this way makes it sound like a moral textbook.

However, this is a discussion about management.

An organization managed by someone whose mind is not elevated will inevitably hit a wall at some point.

It is not ability or strategy, but the height of one's mind that determines the ceiling of an organization.

This is a harsh reality.

If it were just ability, it could be improved through training.

If it were just enthusiasm, it could be maintained through techniques.

But the mind cannot be deceived.

It can only be elevated through the accumulation of daily choices.

Elevate your mind little by little every day.

Read books, meet people, stand on the front lines, and reflect.

Keep this cycle going.

There is no immediate effect.

However, where you stand after five years of doing this versus not doing it will be completely different.

In the end, a business leader wins through their character.

What did you do today to elevate your mind, even just a little?

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