The Asia Pacific Headhunter

Japan's Disaster - Putting things in Perspective

 

It's hard to tear myself away from news, footage, tweets and FB updates on the devastation happening in Japan. I feel so saddened and worried about what I see and what could come. Having lived there and still in touch with many good friends and colleagues over there, I feel helpless, yet I admire the strength and will of the Japanese to work together in a time of crisis.

At times like this, you can't help but look around yourself and see your life in a clearer perspective. I'm looking out the window - sun is shining, sky is blue. I've got a beautiful family - healthy and thriving kids, a roof over my head, food in the fridge, clean water to drink, and clean air to breathe. I'm thankful for everything at this very moment. We need to reset ourselves when we get wrapped up with the stress and angst of career overload, financial strains, or the trivial things we tend to focus on.

It's also a time to lend out a hand for those in need. If you'd like to make a donation or contribution for disaster relief, here are some links to the main reputable charities:

American Red Cross - Japan Earthquake and Pacific Tsunami

Salvation Army Japan Disaster Fund

If you want to find more on donating, check Charity Navigator.

Take control of your career: How to Recession-Proof your job in a Slowing Job Market

I just did a google news search on "job market" and the top results were all about stagnation, talent demand-supply tension, and impending recession:

From Forbes: "Japan's job market recovery at a standstill as companies battle higher costs"  
From Economic Times, India: "Shrinking Job Market"

From Viet Nam News: "Job market suffers from shortage of skilled staff"

From BBC: "New dip in US consumer confidence"

All a bit negative, but then I saw this article from SmartMoney.com: Four ways to keep your job during a slowing job market. While there may be some worry to job cuts (depending on which industry you're in), you still can do something about it. It's important to always be positive, to be prepared, and to perform strong. To "recession-proof" your job, here's a recap of SmartMoney.com's advice:

1. Make yourself indispensable. Best way to do this is to maintain a good relationship with your boss, along with other managers. Make sure they know your up-to-date accomplishments, skills and how you give value to your company. The decision-makers who know how good you are will back you up and vouch for you when it comes to letting people go.

2.Don't be high maintenance. It's human nature, isn't it? High-maintenance people drain you, and make things unpleasant. So even though you perform well, if you're a difficult person to work with, causing problems either through constant complaining or being a "stirrer", you will be on the top of the list when it comes to downsizing, no matter what the official reason may be.

3. Stay busy. This is a given. It also counters the number one step of making yourself indispensable. Show your managers how good you are by taking on assignments and getting involved in projects. Of course, you don't want to bury yourself in work where you can't produce or perform, so be realistic, keep communication open and try your darnest to impress.

4. Do damage control. If the worst does happen - their advice especially for 45-60 year-old employees who may be laid-off, try to negotiate a lower salary to stay on. Although not ideal, it would keep you from having to look for a job when the market is down and also something that's much harder for people in that age group.

Here's what I'd like to add to these steps:

1. Always keep an open mind for opportunities. Whether it be within your company or outside. This means maintaining good relationships with key people in your industry both within and outside of your company, including headhunters & recruiters.

2. Being creative and flexible in your career path. When they suggested making yourself indispensable, that included giving an updated resume/CV to your boss. Take stock of where you've progressed and grown in your career, your accomplishments, newly acquired skills and expertise and gauge it against your overall career goals. Where do you want to be? How close have you gotten? Or how far did you stray? Are the goals still the same as when you made them? Have you found that you've acquired all these new skills that you enjoy and want to pursue even further? Perhaps apply them to a growing industry that won't face big hits as other industries - like green tech or biotech? Consider other locations where the market is still strong? Keep an open mind for opportunities with a creative outlook and where you could go.

Interview with Takafumi Horie - Japan Times

Link: Horie didn't like his job, he was just good at it | The Japan Times Online.

Here's an update to the Livedoor debacle last year in Japan when CEO Takafumi Horie was arrested for violating Securities and Exchange laws. Even though he's still in criminal proceedings, this week he gave the Japan Times an exclusive interview about his views on the whole prosecution, why it happened, how he feels about Livedoor today, and what's in store for him in the future.

Staying in line with his brash, straight-talking, anti-corporate Japan attitude, Horie maintains his innocence, and that he was just good at being an entrepreneur. Why the prosecution went after him so suddenly and quickly, he theorizes that they perceived Livedoor to be a "criminal grab bag" (he notes - people buy grab bags because they're exciting, but once they open one up, there's really nothing exciting inside).

As for the future, he's pursuing projects overseas, and will most likely stay away from corporation building in Japan. His verdict will come in this Friday.

Top Asian cities in Quality of Living Survey

So how do Asian cities fare in Mercer's World-wide Quality of Living Survey released this month? The survey, which considered 215 cities, evaluated 39 factors under the following general categories: political and social environment, economic environment, socio-cultural environment, medical and health considerations, schools and education, public services and transportation,  recreation, consumer goods, housing, and natural environment. New York City was the base city with an index score of 100 (and ranked 39th overall). This information is useful for expatriate assignments for multinational companies. According to Mercer:

“When multinational companies set up expatriate assignments they have to provide attractive reward packages to compensate employees for any negative changes to their quality of living. Moving abroad can be a big upheaval for expatriates and their families, so international assignments tend to carry large price tags, particularly if they are in cities with low living standards facing political unrest or terrorist threats. Many companies use benchmark data to help them structure pay deals at the right level.”

In Asia, the top ranking cities were:

1. Singapore (ranked 34th)
2. Tokyo (35th)
3. Yokohama (37th)
4. Kobe (40th)
5. Osaka (51st)

Hong Kong moved up to 63rd and Shanghai ranked 103rd. In India, the highest ranked cities are tied between Mumbai and New Delhi at 150th. Mercer noted that China and India are on the rise and will most likely move up the ranks in the next few years.

Cities I'd like to note: Top honour goes to Zurich. New Zealand's two biggest cities move up the ranks with Auckland at 5th place and Wellington at 12th! Which city ranked as the lowest? ... Baghdad.

Is NZ benefitting from US Brain Drain of Immigrants?

With too many years of uncertainty in waiting for a US greencard, Many skilled foreigners are leaving U.S.: Exodus rooted in backlog for permanent status. According to Immigration Voice, there are 526,000 pending green card applications, many from skilled and educated workers in the IT industry from India and China who have been waiting for 2 - 3 years. The usual wait is 6 years or more. US companies are losing senior people who are returning to their home countries now that the economies in China, India, and Russia are growing and provide better paying jobs than before.

Not only are immigrants returning to their home countries, but many are choosing other countries with relatively shorter and easier immigration processes, such as Canada and New Zealand.

So is New Zealand ready to welcome these skilled immigrants? Let's hope so. IMHO, with our economy slowing down and our objectives to grow our ICT sector, encourage exporting business, and raise our numbers in the health and medical field among many other things, skilled and educated immigrants with true business experience in bigger markets can only help us to get there faster.

Asia's Billionaires

The World's Richest People List is the focus for this weeks Forbes Asia edition. The changes in Asia make interesting reading:

• India is home to 10 new Billionaires, more than any other country except the USA.
• Two of the newest Billionaires in Asia are involved in alternative energy production. Tulsi Tanti in India, a former textile trader whose company owns Asia's largest windfarm and China's Zhengrong Shi who is a leader in solar power cell production.
• China has 8 Billionaires which is four times as many as last year.
• The entire Asia Pacific region has 115 Billionaires this year, 25 more than last year.

What do I like best in Forbes Asia? The advertisements for the following properties in the magazine are spectacular - Villa Bel-Air, Island South, Hong Kong, and Sentosa Cove in Singapore.

More Horiemon

Joi Ito has a great post on the public flogging that Horie is taking from the Japanese media. Not surprising really and pretty typical of the Japanese media. My previous post on Horie got picked up by CBSNews.com, which is surprising to say the least! Joi's post has four pieces of advice for those looking to become media figures in Japan. In retrospect it looks like Horie broke all of them.

From Joi Ito:

1) Manage media exposure - Take breaks from media appearances and be wary of articles that want to make you look better than you really are. Try to get out from under labels that at first glance may appear flattering but could piss people off or make you look stupid.

2) Don't believe the hype - Obvious point, but EVERYONE seems to get a dose of invincibility madness when the get glowing press and get shuttled around in motorcades. This madness is the weakness that will be exploited.

3) Don't say or do ANYTHING that might be used to tear you down - Japan (not only Japan) is full of situations where people break the law because everyone else does it. Sometimes it feels like securities and corporate statute are at the level of traffic laws - things that can be ignored as long as you don't get caught. The problem is, just because everyone else is doing it, it doesn't mean it won't be used against you. Especially if you are going to take on the establishment, you have to keep yourself squeaky clean.

4) Don't piss people off for fun - There are plenty of situations where people will get pissed off with what you do. There is no point in pissing people off on purpose. Resist the urge.

There haven't been any more new posts on Horie's blog since the one before being arrested. Now that he is also technically not Shacho anymore there probably won't be. It is interesting that they haven't been taken down, but I guess they are at least driving some traffic to the business, and they probably will need the money.

Horie's Final Blog Post Before Arrest

Here is my translation of Livedoor CEO Takafumi Horie's final post yesterday afternoon , just before being arrested, for those who are interested. I have posted the original Japanese as well.

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Yesterday I was in meetings and checking email until late in the evening about how to respond to our current situation.  Consequently, I didn't wake until late. Suddenly  I recieved about 10 calls on my cellphone from a reporter from Asahi TV's "Sunday Project" show (I don't how they got my number) telling me to appear on their live broadcast. The call had a threatening manner about it and they insinuated that they already announced that I would be on the show. This is the kind of thing the mass media do... plus the huge number of troublemaking fabricated stories that have to be refuted one by one.

Obviously we are being investigated (clearly as there is a search warrant outstanding, which I can't get a copy of and don't fully remember). Also I don't fully remember 100% of the details regarding the case, I also don't know who or where exactly the information is that is being reported in the media comes from, so it is impossible for me to comment. That is the current situation.

昨日夜遅くまで対策会議、およびメールチェック、仕事などを行っていたので、朝おきるのは遅かったのですが、なぜかテレビ朝日のサンデープロジェクトの人が、私の携帯電話番号をどこからか入手してきて、突然、10回以上もテレビに電話で生出演しろと（放送で告知しているからと）半ば脅迫めいた電話をかけてきました・・・・。マスコミって何でもありなんですね・・・。いちいち反論するのも困るくらい捏造記事も相変わらず多いですし・・・。疑いをかけられている（と明確にわかる強制捜査時の捜査令状、これはもらえないしコピーもとらせてもらえないので内容は100%覚えていませんが）件につきましては私は身に覚えがないですし、報道されている件は誰がどこでどう調べたのかもわからないような代物ですので、なんともコメントのしようがありません。現状はこんな状態です。

Takafumi Horie Arrested

Last year I spent some time translating the career blog of Japanese Internet high-flyer Takafumi Horie. I enjoyed his posts because he was straight forward with people. A lot of people would use the word arrogant but I thought there was definitely some value in his advice and that he just didn't mince words. In a shocking twist, yesterday he was arrested under suspicion of cooking the books for his company, LiveDoor. Lets be honest here, the man is innocent until proven guilty. But if there is any shred of truth to what is being written and reported out of Tokyo then it is a sad end for a man who was willing to be so direct with others. Japan is not a country that forgives a fall from grace easily. Certainly Horie's outspoken attitude will not help him and could even hurt.

I will be watching with a lot of interest. He has two blogs. One is a CEO Diary (liverdoor 社長日記) and it is still up. The last post is for yesterday (Monday 23rd) afternoon. I will translate it and post it later. That post currently has over 5000 comments and 300 trackbacks. So you can see how much coverage this is getting. His other blog is his career and recruiting blog which is also still up.

UPDATE: Nice coverage here from (who else?) The New York Times.

Tom Peters is in New Zealand

The King of Cool Projects is visiting the South Island on holiday. I have been a big Tom Peter's fan since I read the Project 50. He might not  agree with me but I see him as more of a passion consultant than a tactical consultant. My definition is that I get more drive from what he writes than actual concrete ideas that I can use on a day to day basis in my business. He is one of the best at it.

I hope he enjoys New Zealand and keeps his promise NOT to get on a computer until January 22nd. Chances are he made that decision after he found out how much 3G services are here in NZ. Perhaps he can stop off and meet the NZ Government and explain to them why competition might be good for them.  Tom likes to whip up slides for presentations and gives away a lot of them on his website. I think he would find that with the NZ government they prefer the kind you get on after you get bored of the swing.

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WANTED: Java Developers in Auckland, New Zealand - US$200 REWARD

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