Vol.49
25 November, 2012
Resources for Global Management Development and Innovation
Japan Management Association
3-1-22 Shiba Koen,Minato-ku, Tokyo 1058522
URL:http://www.jma.or.jp/en
E-mail:jmapr@jma.or.jp
The first 10 years or so of the new millennium can be summarized as a “time of change.” The pace of social and
economic change is accelerating, and companies cannot survive unless they appropriately adapt themselves to the
changes.
In this business environment, views on what good leadership is are also changing. Powerful companies
traditionally have been led by one charismatic leader. Steve Jobs was one such example. However, in the current
constantly changing environment, companies cannot just wait until such a super-leader appears.
The survival of companies now relies on the constant efforts of each employee—rather than a single
leader—leveraging their wisdom to create new value. It is therefore becoming increasingly important for every
employee to learn and practice leadership.
Introducing the Japanese version of The Leadership Challenge® Workshop
Japan Management Association (JMA) has studied a wide range of leadership development techniques and offered
various programs over its 70-year history.
JMA started offering the Japanese version of The Leadership Challenge®
Workshop in 2011. This is a leadership development program centered on the concept
of “Leadership is everyone’s business,” based on a theory developed by Dr. James M.
Kouzes and Dr. Barry Z. Posner, professors at Santa Clara University. Their book, “The
Leadership Challenge®,” published in 1987, has been translated into more than 20
languages and has become a best-seller with more than 2 million copies sold. The
Japanese translation of the book was published in 2010.
The most unique and noteworthy characteristic of The Leadership Challenge®
Workshop is that the program is based on a practical theory developed from interviews
Participant Workbook
with thousands of ordinary people who led others to get extraordinary things done.
(Japanese version)
The Leadership Challenge® Workshop is
attracting great interest from the top
management and human resource development
managers of Japanese companies, and both open
programs and closed programs for specific
companies provided by JMA have proved
popular among participants.
The next workshops are slated to be held
on January 29 and 30, 2013, in Osaka and
The Leadership Challenge® Workshop
February 14 and 15 in Tokyo (both of them
offers an opportunity for participants to
broaden their perspectives.
are two-day programs/Japanese only).
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The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®
In what way did these ordinary people who were interviewed lead others to achieve the extraordinary? As an
answer to this question, The Leadership Challenge® Workshop proposes The Five Practices of Exemplary
Leadership® ―namely, “Model the Way,” “Inspire a hared Vision,” “Challenge the Process,” “Enable Others to
Act,” and “Encourage the Heart.” (See Table 1.)
（Table 1）The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership®
Model the Way
Inspire a Shared
Vision
Challenge the
Process
Enable Others to
Act
Encourage the
Heart
・Clarify values by finding your voice and affirming shared ideals.
・Set the example by aligning actions with shared values.
・Envision the future by imagining exciting and ennobling possibilities.
・Enlist others in a common vision by appealing to shared aspirations.
・Search for opportunities by seizing the initiative and by looking outward for
innovative ways to improve.
・Experiment and take risks by constantly generating small wins and learning
from experience.
・Foster collaboration by building trust and facilitating relationships.
・Strengthen others by increasing self-determination and developing
competence.
・Recognize contributions by showing appreciation for individual excellence.
・Celebrate the values and victories by creating a spirit of community.
As the first step of this program, participants are requested to complete a questionnaire called The Leadership
Practices Inventory (LPI®) to identify which of the five practices each participant should focus more on. Then,
participants construct an image of their future selves and experience self-change and self-improvement processes
by trial and error through self-reflection and workshops.
The workshop-style format of the program allows the participants to fully use their five senses and thereby
impress what they have learnt deeply into their minds. Participants can also repeatedly practice what they have
learnt after the workshop is over.
And most important of all, the program offers an opportunity for participants to broaden their perspectives through
coming into contact with the facilitator and the diverse views of the other participants.
The Leadership Challenge® Workshop is a worldwide movement
A
wide variety of approaches to leadership development are being
implemented vigorously around the world. Among those techniques, The
Leadership Challenge® Workshop is one of the most successful and
effective programs adopted widely by companies. It can be safely said that
the program has become the “common language” of all who are learning
leadership, providing a gateway to becoming a great leader.
As an opportunity for advocators of this program ―facilitators and
human resource development staff of companies and organizations ―to
gather to extend their knowledge and share their experiences, The
Leadership Challenge Forum is organized every year. This year, the forum
was held in San Francisco in July, attracting more than 300 professionals.
Educational institutions, as well as companies, have recently started to
adopt this program as a way to develop the leadership capabilities of their
staff at an early stage in their careers. The program has thus begun to be used
in a wider spectrum of applications.
＜Inquiry＞
The secretariat of Leadership ChallengeR Workshop（Mr. Kazutoshi Maeda）c/o Japan Management Association
3-1-22 Shibakoen Minato-ku Tokyo Japan TEL:+81-3-3434-0931 FAX: +81-3-3435-9216
E-mail：globalseminar@jma.or.jp
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