COACH A Co., Ltd. President and CEO Yoshiyuki Suzuki

Achieving organizational development through dialogue with management

COACH A Co., Ltd. President and CEO　 Yoshiyuki Suzuki(Yoshiyuki Suzuki)

■ Profile

An executive coach with a proven track record of coaching over 200 business executives.
He has been interested in psychology since his student days, and after graduating from the Faculty of Letters at Keio University, he worked at an advertising agency before completing a master's course in clinical psychology at Middle Tennessee State University Graduate School. In 1997, when the concept of coaching was unheard of in the Japanese business world, he participated in the founding of COACH A (then COACH 1). In 2001, he became Executive Vice President. After serving as President and CEO, he has held his current position since January 2018.

From his student days of constant search, to his two shocking trips to the US, to his encounter with coaching, President Suzuki has always chosen his own path while constantly facing his own heart. What does he really mean when he says, "I want to increase the number of leaders who initiate dialogue within organizations?" We spoke to him about the concept of coaching and his future outlook.

When I was a child, I was what you would call a "good student."
I went to an integrated school in Shizuoka Prefecture for junior high and high school, but I only ever got first or second place in my grades, and I was even recognized for my outstanding grades for six years. But in reality, after getting second place in the first midterm exam when I entered junior high school, I studied desperately, determined not to drop in the rankings. I guess I was worried about what others thought of me. Looking back, the pressure may have actually made me suffer.

In addition to studying, I played rugby and Japanese dance during my university days. Originally, I wanted to do theater because I admired Tsuka Kohei, so I went to see the Keio University Theater Study Group, but after actually seeing it, I felt it wasn't for me and didn't join. Instead, I decided to learn Japanese dance, thinking it might be a foundation for theater. I continued playing rugby, which I had been doing since junior high school, in a club.

During my university studies, I particularly focused on social psychology. I found the study of dissemination, which asks, "What kind of impact does a message someone sends out have on the world?" particularly fascinating. I took a year off to study abroad in the United States. After returning to Japan, I pursued my interest in dissemination and aspired to work at an advertising agency, which I admired as a glamorous place at the time, and got a job at McCann Erickson Hakuhodo. As I worked there, my interest shifted from one-to-many influence to how I could influence someone one-to-one.

So I went on to graduate school in the United States to study clinical psychology. During my master's degree, I interned for two years at a women's prison in Tennessee, where I counseled female offenders incarcerated there. Some of the women would suddenly reveal completely different personalities while talking. Everyone has several personalities depending on the situation and the person they're talking to, but these women end up losing control of them. Through my experience communicating with these people, I realized how difficult it is to be a counselor. At the same time, I returned to Japan wanting to put the communication skills I'd developed up until then to good use.

It was at this time that I was approached by Mamoru Ito, founder of Coach A, and that's how I encountered coaching. An article about coaching was published in Newsweek in 1996, and after reading it, Ito contacted coaching pioneer Thomas Leonard (founder of Coach U Inc. in the US), and in October 1997, we started a program in Japan for individuals to learn coaching. Initially, we started with services for individuals, but now we mainly provide coaching services that approach entire companies and organizations.

The key to coaching is "dialogue"

At COACH A, we define coaching as "a process of maximizing a client's abilities, resources, and potential to achieve their goals through dialogue." Specifically, we support clients in moving forward toward achieving their goals through regular sessions. The process takes eight to ten months, and in addition to these sessions, we also utilize specialized IT tools, interview relevant parties, and write reports. This entire process is considered coaching.

Regarding "dialogue," we clearly distinguish between the definitions of "dialogue" and "conversation."
The focus of conversation is on "sameness." For example, "It's cold today, isn't it?" It is communication that builds trust by finding common ground and fostering empathy. On the other hand, dialogue focuses on "differences." By bringing out the differences between both parties and confronting them, new ideas and perspectives are created between the two people. That is dialogue. We consider what is discussed in coaching sessions to be "dialogue."

In coaching, for example, a coach might ask a client, "What is your definition of leadership?" At that time, the coach might look at how quickly the client responds. If the client quickly responds, "This is my definition of leadership," it suggests that the client has a clear and distinct definition of leadership. While this in itself is not a bad thing, in some cases it may have remained fixed for a long period of time. So the next question to ask is, "When was the last time you updated your definition of leadership?"

As the environment changes rapidly, we will not be able to keep up with the changes unless we change ourselves. Changing means changing the way we see, perceive, and think about things. If our views and definitions of leadership are fixed, it will be difficult to manage in the new era.

This kind of "dialogue with management" is what executive coaching is all about.
The assumptions and hypotheses we hold are shaped unconsciously by the environment in which we grew up and the influence of the people we interact with. Because they are unconscious, it is difficult for us to recognize them on our own. Having a coach's perspective helps us become aware of our own thought patterns and habits. This helps us realize that there are other options available and allows us to make different choices than we have made in the past. Even if we make the same choice, it is meaningful to consider the other options before making it.

This is true for us as coaches as well.
That's why at COACH A, the coaches themselves have their own coaches. It is very important for the coaches to have first-hand experience that if their thinking is not rigid and flexible, they will not be able to adapt to their environment.

Seeking real-life talent to create innovation

We are a company that supports organizational development through coaching.
Ultimately, we want to see those who have received our coaching to create a situation where they are initiating a lot of dialogue within their organizations. I believe that in today's Japanese companies, there is very little dialogue between superiors and subordinates or between departments, where opinions are exchanged. It could be said that this lack of dialogue is one of the factors that is lowering the productivity of the Japanese economy and hindering the creation of innovation. In this context, we aim to "increase the number of leaders who initiate dialogue within organizations" through coaching. We believe that with more leaders who initiate dialogue themselves, new innovations will be born.

When hiring a coach, the most important thing is whether the person can speak in a realistic manner. We previously had a candidate who was extremely sharp and could answer any question one after another, but unfortunately we rejected him. The reason for this was that, from the perspective of the listener, he seemed to be responding with pre-prepared stories and information stored in his own memory. On the other hand, we had a candidate who, although not particularly sharp, was able to look deeply into himself and speak in his own words in a realistic manner in response to each question, and we hired him.

The most important thing to gain the trust of seasoned business managers is not to be smart or fluent, but to be true to yourself. However, this attitude is quite difficult to train after joining the company. Therefore, we would like to see people who have the ability to speak true to themselves without any unnecessary armor join us.

Message to university students

I hope you don't decide your career path based on what others think.
It's actually quite difficult to find what you want to do.
It's good to get a job at a large company, but I also want people to take risks, such as studying abroad or joining a venture company. As you get older, it becomes harder to take risks.
Be willing to take risks while you're young.

Interviewed by Student Newspaper Online on March 1, 2023 by Yui Takemura, a third-year student at Senshu University