38: David Sweet, CEO & Founder, FocusCore

<p>Dr. David Sweet initially worked in the US Treasury Department in labor relations and organizational development for 10 years before moving to Japan. He has been working in executive search, having worked in en world Japan and serving as Director of the Tokyo consultancy Wall Street Associates, Dr. Sweet is currently the CEO and founder of FocusCore, a recruitment company focused on mid to executive level search for small to medium sized businesses. He is also the author of Sweet Sales, Sweet Success and host of the podcast series, Barefoot Lunch. </p> <p> </p> <p>One of the biggest leadership challenges Dr. Sweet faced was encouraging open communication and having his diverse team of people from various backgrounds all work together in the same direction. He found that having open forums enabled people to express ideas without fear as well as having offsite training and team building opportunities. Delegation and trust are also key factors, especially when the team grows to over 30 and it becomes important for mid-level management to take on more leadership. Dr. Sweet adds: “you need to really care about their wellbeing and follow up.” By doing so, he notes that the managers overtime learn to manage through outcomes instead of micro-managing, Dr. Sweet mentions the need to adapt to the Japanese style of communication, which is “high context,” and the importance of <em>nemawashi</em> before finalizing a decision. He adds, “[decisions are made] a little slower oftentimes, but I think there's a lot more buy-in and less mistakes along the way.” Dr. Sweet also notes the long-term trust and relationship building component of Japanese business that drives workers to always maintain a high standard of product and service quality. This strong sense of customer service and emphasis on softer communication skills such as listening to the buyers needs was something Dr. Sweet brought back to the US when he returned to run a sales training company.</p> <p> </p> <p>Dr. Sweet believes that employee development is crucial in