300 Leadership Tough Love Won’t Cut It Anymore

<p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-AU" xml:lang="EN-AU">In a previous episode, I mentioned a</span> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang= "EN-US">Spa magazine survey</span> <span lang="EN-AU" xml:lang= "EN-AU">in Japan</span> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">of 1,140 male full-time employees in their 40s, about what they hated about their jobs. The top four complaints were salaries have not risen because of decades of deflation; a sense of being underappreciated and undervalued and a lost sense of purpose. The Lehman Shock in 2008 opened to door to job losses in larger companies, something which only had been possible in smaller f</span><span lang="EN-AU" xml:lang="EN-AU">i</span><span lang= "EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">rms in the past.</span> <span lang="EN-AU" xml:lang="EN-AU">The 2011 earthquake, tsunami and triple nuclear plant meltdown drove many businesses under.  The Covid pandemic finished off renown restaurants and hotels and threw people out on the street to seek work, despite their years of loyalty.</span> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">The sense of lifetime employment as a given</span> <span lang="EN-AU" xml:lang= "EN-AU">has been</span> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">removed and a brand new world of work</span> <span lang="EN-AU" xml:lang= "EN-AU">has</span> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang= "EN-US">emerged.</span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span lang="EN-US" xml:lang= "EN-US"> Feeling unappreciated is a construct of leadership. The Japanese system of hierarchy in companies has followed the lessons proffered during the military service experienced by those who participated in World War Two. Brutalisation</span> <span lang= "EN-AU" xml:lang="EN-AU">by superiors</span> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">was widespread and everyone was expendable. Postwar leaders in the West were also the graduates of</span> <span lang="EN-AU" xml:lang="EN-AU">the</span> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang="EN-US">battle</span><span lang="EN-AU" xml:lang= "EN-AU">field leadership system</span> <span lang="EN-US" xml:lang= "EN-US">a