So my task is to shape a model of team leadership and multiple leaders and empower young people – that’s my vision.” - … In the 1970s, Mr. Yanai decided to return to Ube, Hiroshima’s southwestern province to take over the job of managing the family’s sewing shop. But I was very interested in young people’s culture and fashion in Europe and the US. But the trendy, disposable nature of fast fashion is the opposite of what Yanai aims for. He allows his team to be confident enough to let the designers feel free to show their personality, and he is intent on producing good products, at the right price, that people want. Not everything I did worked but at the end of it, it was eye-opening.” - On the steep learning curve when he joined his father's company in 1972. All rights reserved. So my task is to shape a model of team leadership and multiple leaders and empower young people – that’s my vision.” - On picking his successor. They have very thick arms, you know.” - On why his Asian stores are more successful than those in the US and UK. I am the owner of this business. It’s easy to mistake Fast Retailing’s Uniqlo unit for “fast fashion”: Its clothes, after all, are cheap and ubiquitous. Uniqlo chief Tadashi Yanai. Caucasians are round like pillars. I’m a dictator. It was a devastating failure but on the flip side there was the opportunity to learn and absorb everything. In an interview during Conversation With , the 67-year-old business man imparted some pretty knowledgeable lessons, so instead of keeping it to ourselves, we’ve decided to collate it for you: So is Fast Retailing. “I wish he was still alive and kind enough to come to Japan and rebuild it. 1. “Partly because the countries are physically closer to Japan. You have to analyse what you have to do to be successful in the second attempt.”. “Many businesses want stability over challenge. In a recent interview to the Nikkei, Mr. Tadashi Yanai shared his leadership philosophy, working habits and views on doing business in Japan. When I joined, six of them quit. It’s refreshing to not get bogged down in a complex hierarchy, and I have been given complete freedom to create exactly the sort of designs that I would like. There were seven employees working for my father then. The government is only about spending money, not making it. Uniqlo’s warehouse-style shops are stocked with durable, practical clothes that work in any season, an approach that has positioned it as a leader in sustainable fashion. Put Customers First. Powered and implemented by Interactive Data Managed Solutions. But this is not the model that future leaders of the company should follow. Let’s start with the fact that he’s among the richest men in the world, the second richest in Japan, and is behind a global brand that people really, really like. FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. Unless you can do that, you run the risk of failing in the business. It has been one of my most exciting collaborations. Yanai's number one management principle is: “Respond to customer needs and create new customers.” The sentiment is rooted in his deeply practical experience running a … Massively popular retail brand Uniqlo’s founder and CEO Tadashi Yanai has some lessons that we can use, even if we don’t own a business. He allows his team to be confident enough to let the designers feel free to show their personality, and he is intent on producing good products, at the right price, that people want. And they tend to give up when they do. Terms & Conditions. Making Time for What Matters: Kelvin Lee’s Simple Pleasures. Tadashi Yanai of Fast Retailing, and others in Japan, late Steve Jobs of Apple and Elon Musk of Tesla Motors and SpaceX, and others overseas.