Feudal warlords' noblesse oblige model for today's execs: novelist

Japan's top corporate executives can glean many useful ideas and hints from feudal warlords on how to manage their teams and find and foster able successors, according to Masashi Hisaka, a noted historical novelist.

Yoshiyuki Suzuki YOSHIAKI MIURA PHOTOS

"War was not the only task for warlords in the Sengoku (Warring States) Period in Japan from the 15th to 16th centuries," Hisaka said at a recent meeting in Tokyo. "The power-oriented time was filled with trickery, betrayal and assassination, but great warlords in the period exerted their energies to stabilize the lives of their people and create strong clans of followers."

Hisaka, who has written more than 70 books since his debut as a novelist in 1988, is the author of the novel adapted by NHK as the 2009 yearlong historical drama "Tenchijin" ("Heaven, Earth and Man").

Speaking before top businesspeople at a lecture meeting jointly organized by The Japan Times Ltd. and Coach A Co., an executive coaching service company, Hisaka said the hero of the drama, Naoe Kanetsugu, a devoted, resourceful samurai in the 16th century, inherited a respect for justice from Uesugi Kenshin, his mentor and a leading warlord who ruled Echigo, today's Niigata Prefecture.

The idea of justice or righteousness, as they understood it, called for being free from self-interest and serving people and society, Hisaka said. The idea of righteousness represents one of the five virtues established by Confucius, the others being benevolence, courtesy, wisdom and sincerity, Hisaka said.

Kanetsugu saw his people as "assets" to his organization, said Hisaka, himself a native of Niigata. Kanetsugu and his master successfully ruled their territories and people while creating new industries, expanding rice paddies, introducing cash crops and developing gold and silver mines. They thus achieved the dual goals of establishing the principle of righteousness and enriching people's livelihood, he said, adding that some of the newly introduced industries, such as textiles and fish cultivation, have become major products that support the local economy.

The idea of righteousness later became a part of the code of the samurai, called Bushido, Hisaka said.

Warlords in the Sengoku Period tried hard to survive in the turbulent age without escaping from their difficulties, Hisaka said. Their ideas and guiding principles "contain many things today's people have forgotten," he said.

Yoshiyuki Suzuki, another speaker at the lecture meeting and a certified executive coach, stressed that top corporate executives must have a clear vision and a strong resolve to overcome difficulties and accomplish what they have set out to do.

Masashi Hisaka

Corporate leaders must have the ability to rally people around them to carry out their projects, Suzuki said. To this end, they must have their own vision without being influenced by external developments.

Suzuki, president of Coach A Co., provides one-on-one coaching to Japan's top business executives on forging a vision and thinking creatively.

Noting that historical novels must have fresh points of view and ideas for modern readers, Hisaka said he felt a "sense of mission" when he wrote about the life of Kanetsugu.

The thoughts of Kanetsugu and Kenshin as his mentor were similar to noblesse oblige, and those who are in high positions must think about the public, he said, stressing this notion can be shared by leaders in today's world.

Meanwhile, Suzuki said corporate leaders should not be excessively concerned about destruction. Something must be destroyed if a new vision is to be established, he said.

A Canadian entrepreneur hoping to embark on a new venture dynamited an old plant, videotaped the scene and showed it to all employees to put together their strength toward the new direction he wanted, according to Suzuki. A different corporate executive asked employees to write down what must be discarded on pieces of paper, collected and put them in a coffin and buried it in the presence of a priest.

"It is difficult to discontinue anything, but a philosophy for destruction will be necessary when a new thing must be launched," Suzuki said.

Corporate executives should also recognize their followers as leaders themselves and share problems with them, he said. They should not run from the challenges facing them, and they should be ready to take responsibility for all consequences and be careful not to be excessively proud of their success, he said. To prevent excessive confidence, he advises his clients to, among other things, place themselves in different communities or circumstances where their titles cannot be accepted.

In a panel discussion assisted by a moderator, Hisaka said excessive self-confidence was dangerous to Sengoku Period warlords, including the powerful Takeda Shingen. He warned that people tend to be puffed up by a complete or near complete victory and forget about making corrections, according to Hisaka.

History lessons: Historical novelist Masashi Hisaka (second from right) exchanges views with Yoshiyuki Suzuki, president of Coach A Co., an executive coaching service firm, about today's corporate executives in a lecture meeting organized by The Japan Times and Coach A in Tokyo on Oct. 21. Japan Times National News Editor Sayuri Daimon (left) was the moderator.

Shingen said a 60 percent to 70 percent victory would be satisfactory because it requires continued efforts to improve the situation in the wake of the triumph. "This is one of my favorite (concepts)," he said.

Effective use of human resources was also important to feudal warlords. Tokugawa Ieyasu, founder and first shogun of the Tokugawa Shogunate after the end of the Sengoku Period, wasted no time shifting to a civilian government after peace was established, introducing nonmilitary technocrats and political advisers from outside of his clan, Hisaka said.

Another warlord in the period stressed the need to find truly able people while trying to be impartial, according to Hisaka. The warning is worth considering "when we think about the short-lived, inner circle-oriented Cabinets (of the past three years) of the Liberal Democratic Party," he said.

Asked about requirements for executives in today's business world, Suzuki said corporate leaders must be able to look at themselves objectively and manage their emotions. For instance, Suzuki advises them to leave their chair at the end of the day and see the chair from a different place or from a subordinate's chair. This helps them to evaluate their behavior from the outside, he said.