In this episode of the FocusCore Podcast, host David Sweet interviews Carlo La Porta, Managing Director of Mpowered Sales about the challenges of disengagement in large Japanese firms. Carlo discusses his 35-year career in Japan, his book on generational management issues, and the importance of empowering employees. He shares insights on the evolution of Japanese business practices, the differences in management styles among generations, and the issue of low employee motivation. Carlo outlines his six-step delegation process and emphasizes the need for better communication and delegation to enhance team performance. He also highlights the plans for expanding MPowered's training programs to help improve leadership and productivity in Japanese SMEs.

In this episode you will hear:

• The evolution of Japanese business practices
• The key to successful delegation and leadership
• Carlo's unique journey and what keeps him dedicated
• The roots of motivation and how to nurture it in the workplace
• How delegation can boost team performance and drive change
• Carlo's approach to Mission Command and Servant Leadership

Carlo La Porta is  the Motivation Architect and Managing Director of Empowered Sales K.K. He has built his 35-year career around designing and delivering business solutions in Japan. Drawing on his experience in multinational, multilingual, and multicultural organizations, as well as fully Japanese environments fluent in both local and western business practices. He believes in empowering teams to perform at their best. This conviction led him to establish MPowered Sales K.K. dedicated to evaluating. Employee work life quality and productivity with a focus on Japanese SMEs.

Carlo has also written a book in Japanese focusing on people management issues in Japanese environments due to the generation gap. The book is entitled in Japanese, “The Reiwa Era Leadership Revolution” and uh, of course that can be found on Amazon and it's been very, uh, popular with male managers in their forties and fifties. Carlo has held roles at KPMG consulting, bearing point, low end down Masai, which is now aiming Japan and Thompson Financial Services. He's worked with such prestigious clients as IKK Brita, Ong, NTT Urban Develop. Bent, MHI and Luxottica among many others. He's a graduate of Tokyo University where he focused on international trade in Japanese.

He holds an N1 Japanese language certification, which means he speaks nipon, go very well, as well as a plethora of other languages, including English, Italian, French, German, and he's lived in Japan for three decades and calls it.

The latest FocusCore Salary Guide is here: 2025 Salary Guide

Connect with Carlo La Porta:

Website: https://mpoweredsales.com/

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/carlolaporta/

Connect with David Sweet:

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdavidsweet/

Twitter: https://twitter.com/focuscorejp

Facebook: :https://www.facebook.com/focuscoreasia

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/focuscorejp/

Website: https://www.japan.focuscoregroup.com/

“Doin’ the Uptown Lowdown,” used by permission of Christopher Davis-Shannon. To find out more, check out www.thetinman.co. Support independent musicians and artists.

Mentioned in this episode:

Find out more about salaries, the job market, hiring and what's important to both companies and individuals looking for a job specifically in Japan.

2025 Salary Guide