Kazuo Inamori's One Word a Day, April 23
Hello! The entry for April 23 (Tue) of "Kazuo Inamori's One Word a Day" is “Ignite your fighting spirit” .
Key point: A "fighting spirit" is essential for management. If you have a strong sense of responsibility to protect your company and employees at all costs, you will surely find the resolve needed as a manager.
In the 2015 publication "Kazuo Inamori's Selected Management Lectures Vol. 2: A Management Philosophy Without Selfishness" (by Kazuo Inamori, Diamond Inc.), Honorary Chairman Inamori explains that management requires a fierce fighting spirit, stating the following:
Management is a formidable endeavor, requiring a more intense fighting spirit than any martial artist possesses. Therefore, those who are half-hearted should not engage in management. This is because it requires tremendous courage and nerve. Even if a powerful giant appears as a competitor, you cannot manage unless you have the courage to fight, even if it means biting and scratching, knowing you might lose.
So, when making various management decisions, what should be the standard? It is not based on instinct, sensation, or emotion, and certainly not on reason alone, but rather judging by reflecting on one's own soul.
However, even while living a life of working every spare moment with tremendous intensity, it is necessary to have at least 20 minutes a day to calm your mind. This is because by intentionally taking time to calm your mind, you create time to touch your soul.
To calm the mind, some people use zazen, while others use meditation. The reason business owners often go to Zen temples and study under a master to practice Zen is actually because of this. Unless you calm your mind, you can never touch your own soul.
(Summary)
Today's quote states, "Originally gentle and having never fought, showing not a shred of fighting spirit, the moment one becomes a manager, one stands up resolutely to protect many employees. Unless you are such a manager, you cannot gain the trust of your employees."
In the 2012 publication "Speaking on the Spirit of Kyocera Manufacturing" (by Kensuke Ito, edited by Kyocera Management Research Department / Not for sale), former Kyocera Chairman Ito explains the importance of creating a burning group as follows:
Kyocera has grown because it has been a "burning group" filled with enthusiasm. A "burning group" is a group where each organization sets its own goals autonomously through Amoeba Management, and each member constituting the organization carries out their duties with a strong sense of responsibility and will.
To create a "burning group," it is necessary for each individual to have a tremendous fighting spirit. At the same time, one must be well-prepared, such as by repeating simulations while anticipating various situations that may occur. Also, it is necessary for each individual to have a strong passion for their work and for the entire workplace to have high awareness.
Each individual constituting the group must not only be chased by the work in front of them but must also continue to refine themselves daily to accumulate true ability. And no matter how difficult the situation, they must have an indomitable fighting spirit and a burning soul to achieve their goals at all costs.
Even when we say to have a burning fighting spirit, it refers to the state of the soul, not fighting or raising one's voice. It means having a quiet fighting spirit and will hidden within, to do whatever it takes.
No matter how much history passes or how much the scale expands, we must not lose this corporate culture. It is necessary for each employee to clearly understand "what they must do now" and to exert all their wisdom and strength to carry it out. (Summary)
The Honorary Chairman explains the importance of having a burning fighting spirit to "managers," while the former Chairman Ito explains it to "each employee, including Amoeba leaders."
I believe that at the root of this is the idea that all actions taken by humans will go well if judged at the level of the soul.
Regarding this, the Honorary Chairman states the following:
We managers live in a tremendous battlefield. Especially for small and medium-sized enterprises, a moment of carelessness could lead to the company going bankrupt. If you are sluggish, orders might escape to competitors, and profits will vanish in an instant.
Living in such a fierce, cutthroat battlefield, the moment of judgment must be made at the level of the soul, with an altruistic heart of "Truth, Goodness, and Beauty." Those who are in the battlefield of fiercely pursuing profit are the very ones who must possess such a heart.
(Summary)
No matter what adversity I face, I will never drop my "fighting pose." Not just in management, but in life as well, I want to continue to maintain that attitude and walk a positive life from here on out.