Donestock Store

Today, I had a meeting with an existing client of ours. For a Japanese woman president, she is truly a trailblazer in a society still dominated by men, so that is always a fresh breath of air, yet, regardless of who one deals with here, the key is patience. It is said that one of the chief reasons American businesses fail in Japan is because by the time the Japanese make a decision to work together with their U.S. counterpart, the U.S. business has either moved on to other things or lost way too much time and money to continue further efforts. The Japanese decision-making process can take time, and it not unusual for discussions to go on for months or years before a business deal is reached. Yet, it is my firm opinion that patience in sitting through never ending meetings in Japan and doing a lot of listening rather than talking will bear much more fruit than giving up half way through. Doing business in Japan requires patience, iron-clad resolve and an investment of time to get to know your potential business partners. I find that I am able to transplant this ideas quite easily to America, because when one is doing the listening and considering, rather than speaking in a one-way direction, you can get a truer picture of the intentions and considerations of the other party. One of our cultural habits as Americans is to cut people off mid-sentence when we have a thought. In Japan, that is a major taboo. You wait until the other person has finished their though before responding. My friends, complex problems, negotiations with potential clients, or for a City Council Member, other members of the Council, the Mayor's administration, local civic leaders and residents requires more patience on the part of all involved, especially the City Council Member, or prospective one such as I. Without careful consideration of the other party's point of view, their input or advice, plans or goals become that much harder to implement. I hope to be a candidate and City Council Member who does much listening, but not a blind starting kind of listening, I mean an interactive dialogue where all of the points the person I am speaking to are taken into account so that your problems can be solved. I find learning lessons in literally every minute I am alive, and Japan has taught me many things about waiting and being patient with the process, as much as we in America look at the results. This mixing of a healthy, vibrant process and results I believe will make for better resolution to problems and a quicker achievement of goals you and I and this campaign have set forth for the election and beyond.