Moving to Tokyo from abroad with technology skills đŒ28. Interview with Paul Dupuis, backpacker, high school teacher, volunteer, Guinness World record holder, global company CEO, and recently the founder of a leadership & strategy consulting firm.(Part 1)
Hello Paul, thank you for your precious time today. I am so happy to listen to your journey!
It is International Womenâs Day today!
Thank you so much for this opportunity Kaori, I am happy to share my journey with you over a coffee!
First of all, could you please tell us your name and what you do for a living?
SureâŠI am Paul Dupuis, a Leadership Coach, Business Consultant, author, and CEO of Take-5 Global K.K.
I see! You gave me your best-seller book. Thank you! So English title is THE E5 MOMENT, and the Japanese title is ćç ŽăCEOăäžçăæ©ăăŠćŠăă ăȘăŒăăŒïŒă€ăźé»éćŸ
Yes, the English version was published in 2020 and released around the world. I wrote it when I was living in India back in 2017â2021. The book was published during the worst time of COVID-19 while we were in total lockdown in India in 2020.
The Japanese version was published in October 2023, after I returned to Japan from India. Iâve been very fortunate as a first-time author with both books reaching the bestseller list.
And, after an action-packed corporate career, I launched my company, Take-5 Global K.K. in February 2024.
As you might have noticed on my business card, my title is Chief Enabling Officer. My mission is to enable leaders to make a positive impact on their organizations and the world around them. Simply put, to support leaders to âdo well, and do goodâ.
Along with 1:1 leadership coaching and group facilitation, Iâm developing a series of mastermind programs on an e-learning platform in English. These programs will connect with many of the key themes in my book, in both a B to C format (open programs) and B to B (company-specific, customized programs). In the second phase, we will create a program specifically in Japanese for Japan. And we have a roadmap with plans to develop an app on our mission to leverage âtech for touchâ.
Several global companies and MBA schools have shown interest in partnering on these programs, with a focus on specific themes such as transformational leadership, employee engagement, employer branding, succession planning, globalization, and innovation. The concept of âfuture-readinessâ is at the center of the program. The target audience ranges from aspiring leaders at the early stage of their journey to seasoned CEOs.
I love e-learning. It is a game-changer for me. During the pandemic time, I got a certificate from Google certificate, and I could shift change into tech in the US.
Thatâs great!
Yes, online learning is a great option for people to learn anywhere, and at anytime.
Okay, so first of all, I was born and raised in Windsor, Ontario, which is right across from Detroit, on the border between Canada and the U.S.
I was always interested in martial arts, especially Karate. During my university years, I practiced it in Canada, while working as a welder at Chrysler on the assembly line to pay my school tuition.
When I was working at Chrysler, I learned some valuable lessons, including the true meaning of hard work! In 1988, while working on the assembly line, I first heard the word, Kaizen. I also saw firsthand how supply chain management and just-in-time production work.
Fast-forward 36 years later, Kaizen has become a very important part of my approach, not only to leadership but to life in general. The concept of Kaizen can be very complicated but I think Kaizen is simple â Kaizen just means trying to be better than yesterday.
As a product designer, I am also a big fan of this word, KaizenâŠ(Smile)
Iâm sure you are!
Rewind to 1990. I was 22 years old, young, and ready for an adventure. This was well before the internet was created so the best way to get information about the world was to go to the library. So thatâs what I did! I went to my neighborhood library and took a book about Japan off the shelf. It was a Lonely Planet travel guidebook. As I flipped through the pages, I was mesmerized by the photos of this faraway land.
I read about Tokyoâ âthe capital city, international, fast-paced, fashionableâ, etcâŠ
Then I happened to come across the chapter on a city called Osaka. I have to confess that I had never heard of Osaka, let alone just about any other city in Japan aside from Tokyo.
In the section about Osaka, it read; âPeople in Osaka are friendly, warmâŠthey speak their mind, they are passionate about their local food, sports and they love to laughâ.
Decision made. I put the book back on the shelf and drove straight to the travel agent to buy my ticket to Osaka (yes, back in the âold daysâ, you had to go to a travel agent to buy plane tickets!)
I arrived in Osaka on September 5th/1990. After buying my round-trip ticket, and a very cool 1980âs style double-breasted green suit, I was left with my life savings of about $300 Canadian (25,000 yen) and a big red backpack. After a 40+ hour journey (aka discount ticket) I landed in Osaka. I had nowhere to stay, I didnât know anyone, so I slept on a park bench my first night in Osaka in a neighborhood called Nishinari, Kamagasaki. As I soon discovered, this was an infamous slum in Osaka, and a few weeks after my arrival, I was caught in the latest riots in modern Japanese history, known as the âNishinari Bodoâ (riots). Iâll save that story for another dayâŠ.
Thatâs your start in Japan!
I think itâs really important when we come to a foreign country like Japan to jump in and dive into the culture. Itâs easy, and I guess natural, to gravitate towards people from your own country. But I made a promise to myself that I would make a strong effort to surround myself with Japanese people and to make friends with people in Japan during my short stay thereâŠ
So I went deep into JapanâŠI found the courage to walk into a karate dojo in south Osaka, a blue-collar neighborhood, where they had never seen a Western person before. Nobody spoke English, in hindsight, it was the best place for me to get immersed in the culture and build friendships. Once I got settled, my days were pretty predictable. I would teach English during the day and practice Karate in the evening, followed by a dip in the local sento (public bath) and then to the izakaya with my Karate teachers and fellow dojo members.
A life-changing moment was in 1995. It was the Great Hanshin earthquake. I was in Osaka at that time and I had just been accepted to law school in Windsor. My goal was to become a lawyer, go back to Canada, go to law school, become a lawyer in my hometown, and live happily ever after.
But the earthquake and the devastation I witnessed afterward made me rethink my âwhyâ. I thought, why do I want to be a lawyer? I didnât have a strong reason, it was superficial â i.e., make good money, have a nice lifestyle, drive a nice car, etcâŠ
Perhaps this was the first time I came to understand the true meaning of âpurposeâ. I felt that our life purpose should be deeper. And it should include an element of âdoing goodâ.
The earthquake was a wake-up moment. So I decided to change my path. Instead, I went back to Canada to Vancouver on the west coast, my first time going there, it was a new city but this time no park bench! I worked for the Fairmont Hotel as a concierge and doorman and in other customer-facing roles. At the same time, I attended graduate school at the Teacherâs College at Simon Fraser University, and I became a licensed high school teacher in Canada in 1997.
I taught high school for a while and then moved back to Kansai, and married my wife who is from Kobe. I worked in international education at a private girlsâ school, arranging study abroad programs, and getting a taste of the business side of education.
We sent 16-year-old Japanese girls to Canada and New Zealand. So I had to negotiate with airlines, insurance companies, homestays, and more.
So I learned about the importance of matching, ensuring the girls were living in the right town, in the right school, in the right homestay, so they could be happy, and ultimately it would be a win-win arrangement.
If youâre in business, a win-lose arrangement isnât sustainable. In our personal and professional lives, we should always aim for a win-win outcome. There has to be benefit on both sides. That would prove to be a very important learning for me because the next step was when I had an opportunity to get into business.
And I always wanted to get into business. Although I was a teacher, in my heart, I always loved competition. As an ice hockey player, I tend to be competitive both on and off the ice rink.
I was eager to move from education, into a new arena, and I thought that by making the transition into the business world, I could build some new muscles. In 2005 I had an opportunity to get into the recruiting and staffing business (äșșæçŽčä» business). I was given the opportunity to start up the Osaka & Nagoya office of a recruitment company called Wall Street Associates. Over the years, the Founder, Nick Johnston, became my business mentor and a very close friend.
We followed the principle of the book, âGood to Greatâ by Jim Collins as we set out on a mission to build a great company that was admired and a leader in the industry. We talked about the role of technology, and this soon became a key part of our strategy â implementing best-in-class tools, starting with an intuitive ATS (applicant tracking system) and CRM (customer relations management system). We went on to grow rapidly and attracted the attention of many potential buyers. In the end, we were acquired by en-japan, the top job board site in Japan, and publicly listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. In 2011 I was then asked to move to Singapore to lead the global expansion, launching the Singapore and Hong Kong offices, and focusing on M&A in the APAC region.
And then in 2013, I happened to meet someone from a company called Randstad. I didnât know much about the company at that time but I soon came to discover that itâs a company from the Netherlands and the worldâs largest staffing and recruiting company Randstad.
Oh! It is a big global company!
Yes, itâs about two times bigger than Recruit. They reached out to me because Randstead had acquired a Japanese staffing company here called Fuji Staff. So they needed somebody like me who speaks Japanese, who understands Japanese culture, but also is a Westerner who can be like a bridge between Tokyo and Amsterdam. This was a big task for anyone who has experienced working in a domestic Japanese environment while bridging the global headquarters. With nearly 100 offices in Japan, and nearly 25,000 employees (full-time and temp staff), the size and complexity of the operations were far away from anything I had experienced up to that point in my career.
My default reaction when a new challenge comes always seems to be; âWhy not?â
It has become kind of a guiding mantra for me through my journey; When in doubt, say yes.
I love it. Me too! âWhy not!!!â
So in 2013, I got on a plane to Tokyo. In fact, after living in Kansai for 18 years, I had only visited Tokyo on business a few times. This was my first time living in the big city, but I proudly brought my Kansai-ben (local dialect) with me. From 2013â2017 I was one of three managing directors, in the second-level later of the senior management team. My mission was clear â to help globalize Randstad Japan while launching several new business solutions.
Those four years were an amazing learning experience, not easy thatâs for sure. But, thanks to the great people who we were able to hire, we gained solid traction and Randstad Japan became an increasingly important part of the company globally. We were on the radar.
But when I entered the 4th year I started to feel like I was in a comfort zone. And, one day my big boss from the HQ in Amsterdam called and said, âPaulm, things are going well for you in JapanâŠitâs time for a change. How about going to India to lead our business there?â
I paused for a momentâŠ. âIndia???â. And after a few seconds, I replied âWhy not?!â
And then, of course, I had to discuss it with my wife! To make a long story short, after some thought, she also said, âWhy not!?â
Have you been to India?
Not yet.
You have to go.
I would love to.
I think everyone needs to visit India one time in their life. India is not one country, itâs like many, many countries in one country. You need to go, itâs an amazing place on so many levels.
My mission in India proved to be the toughest challenge of my career.
So hereâs the storyâŠ.
Our company in India was struggling. It wasnât making a profit, the ship was shaking.
Employee engagement was low, employee turnover was high and the brand name had lost its shine in the Indian market over the years. So, my mission was to steady the ship, and get it on the right course. In simple terms, my mission was to lead the turnaround of the business, making tough decisions about people, strategy & processes, while also ensuring the organization was future-ready. And of course, achieving sustainable profitability and self-reliance was mission-critical...
It sounds like you had to rescue the Titanic before it crashed??
Well, I guess thatâs one way to say it!
The first step was to get a grip on the situation on the ground in the organization. Aside from a brief business trip, I had never spent time in India. It was a foreign arena on many levels â culture, languages, business practices, labor law, etcâŠ
I was reminded of something my father used to say. âWhen youâre stepping out of your comfort zone, itâs important to remember these two things;
âFirst, start with two ears and one mouth. And, second, always ask for advice along the wayâ
Following my dadâs advice to focus on listening more than speaking, I set a target to have one-on-one meetings with 150 colleagues across Randstad India. We had 75 offices across all of India. Over the first three months, I traveled all over the vast country to visit around 30 offices.
I met with colleagues at all levels from senior to mid-level managers, to very junior members of the team, across all functions in the organization, with a solid balance between men and women. One-to-one, 30 minutes each. And with the âtwo ears, one mouthâ mantra as my guide, just like you know Kaori, with a pen and a notebook, I started out on my journey across India.
I asked every person the same questions:
1. Why did you join this company?
2. Why do you stay in this company?
3. If you were the CEO of the company, what is one thing that you would change?
Mmm, amazing questions.
Thank youâŠin hindsight, these simple questions resulted in extremely valuable insights. As I hopped on planes, trains, and taxis across the four corners of India and filled my notebook with comments from colleagues, I started to see a pattern emerge. After 90 days, I could start to see through the fog, and the challenges, and more importantly â the opportunities â became clear.
As I collected thoughts from colleagues, I came up with an acronym; A . I . R. âAnswers are In the Roomâ. I started to realize that sometimes as leaders, we tend to tell too much when we should be focused on asking and listening. I went hunting for the answers by listening rather than telling, and then I got the answers. Some amazing, game-changing ideas emerged along the way, reaffirming the notion that the answers are really in the room!
Once I achieved my target of meeting 150 people across the four corners of the organization, the next step was to create an action plan to steady the ship. And then to add the much-needed muscle (people, vision, strategy, technology) to turbocharge the engines, and accelerate forward.
The short story is that between 2017â2021 we went from one of the worst performing countries of 39 countries around the world in the company. In 2021, we were number one in the world of Randstad on most growth metrics, profitable, certified as a Great Place to Work, and had a leadership team in place that was future-ready. All of this in the midst of Covid which had a devastating impact on India. I am especially proud that my right hand, Vishy PS was promoted to take on the role of CEO when I returned to Japan in 2021 to take on the role of CEO & Chairman of Randstad Japan.
We have heard a lot about âtransformationâ recently. Leaders are searching for ways to trigger transformation, and many people are trying hard to transform their lives. In many ways, my time in India was transformational, both personally and professionally.
People often ask me; âPaul, how did you do it?â The answer is simple â âI didnât do it. One person does not completely transform the world. But one person can trigger movements that lead to transformationâ. It really is about the power of many.
And I donât believe that only one person changes the world. I think one person moves the wheels, which starts to change the world. So thatâs the gear wheel? And thatâs why I wrote my book, âThe E5 Movementâ, based on the belief that leadership is about creating a movement.
You create a movement by bringing people together, creating a shared purpose, a clear purpose, and then you create a movement. And the movement is about many people coming together? These wheels start to move.
So my job was to kind of start pushing the wheels, connecting the wheels, and then pushing the wheels.
Amazing! âlisten more, speak less.â and you discover âAnswers are In the Roomâ. And you literally filled up three notebooks with the comments from your team members.
Yes, these notes became my treasure chest as a leader.
Witnessing the speed of the move from analog to digital
India is very similar to Japan on many levels. It is a very traditional culture, while also very modern in certain pockets. There are examples of analog processes in daily life in both countries, with technology emerging as well. But in India, the speed to adopt technology is simply breathtakingâŠI saw firsthand how the country went from almost entirely cash-based consumer market to embracing e-payments. The digital experience in India extends even to the most remote places. The auto (tuk-tuk) drivers are fully digitally-enabled, in fact the tuk-tuk is one of the many choices on the Uber app in India, and e-payment is the norm.
