September 08, 2004
A Business Lunch with the CEO
I had a long lunch with the CEO.
It was related to my goal in this internship. That is to understand situation in a company better. Having a view of what is happening in the company is important to work well and with fun. But when I was in Japan, I sometimes lost such a comprehension. The key seemed to be communication.
CEO is a position that is required to have the widest view of the company. That’s why I asked the CEO to have an interview session with me. He had a lot of things to do, but he allocated time at lunch. His view was both informative and inspiring. Here is the outline.
He started by saying that communication was so important for an executive that it could safely be said “everything” about business. Any outstanding skills can not be outstanding without communication. However, communication is not easy in two ways.
First, we cannot improve our communication in one day. We can improve it only gradually. The CEO has made long efforts to develop it. For example, he makes it a rule to have a talk once a week with other CEO. He selects a CEO who is new to him. Then, he has an opportunity to develop a new interest. The more interests he has, the more people he can establish communication with. It’s because people want to communicate with those who share the same interest. Have as many interests as possible, he advised me.
Second, we cannot avoid miscommunication. Foe example, if the CEO says his idea to his subordinate, that idea will be interpreted differently, a little or dramatically, in the head of the subordinate. The CEO has his own communication style to avoid such misconception. That is, what I named recently, “goal-oriented project management style”. He shares the goal of a project with others. Then, misconception in details will not lead to a catastrophe. Thus, any work here is treated as a project with a goal.
He said that there was no quick way to improve communication. But he also said that steady efforts were really rewarding. He recommended me to try some. I am now thinking what to start after going back to Japan.
After work, I went to see a musical with T. Today’s musical was an original of San Francisco. It means that we can see it only in San Francisco. We positioned ourselves near the stage, in the forth row. Beautiful songs, surprising dresses, and stylish music made us all happy. After it finished, we went to a fancy Italian restaurant for dinner.
