The Growth Zone

Steven Bleistein
  • 0.0 (0)
  • Management
  • Updated Weekly

Growth Zone explores dauntless leadership and dramatic business growth. Each episode delivers strategies and tactics you can use to drive growth in your business in Japan, and beyond. Hosted by Steven Bleistein, the leading authority on business growth and leadership in Japan.

Episodes

  1. 5d ago

    Do You Have an AI Strategy — or Just an AI Plan?

    A new Gartner study has just landed a finding that every CEO in Japan should read carefully. Among organizations deploying AI and autonomous business capabilities, approximately 80% report workforce reductions. Yet those reductions do not appear to translate into ROI. Companies cutting headcount with AI are getting roughly the same returns as those that aren’t. […]

    5 min

  2. 5d ago

    The Thriving Minority: Why the 44% Number Misses the Point

    A new survey is making headlines across the business press. Only 44% of employees globally feel they are thriving at work. In Japan, the number is even lower — just 31%. And only 8% of employees in Japan report being engaged at work. Eight percent. The global average is 20%, which is already nothing to […]

    6 min

  3. Jun 15

    Entrepreneurial Mindset of the Employed

    Let me ask you a direct question. Are you an entrepreneur — or are you a careerist? Most salaried employees are careerists. Their decisions are filtered through a specific lens — what advances the career, protects the position, avoids the wrong kind of visibility. The incentives are different from an entrepreneur’s. The risk calculus is […]

    9 min

  4. May 28

    When the Disruptor Gets Disrupted: The Lesson Toshifumi Suzuki Left Behind

    Toshifumi Suzuki died last week. He was 93. And if you have spent any time in Japan, you have felt his work every single day — even if you never knew his name. He was the man who built the konbini. Not just as a business — as infrastructure. As a part of daily life […]

    8 min

  5. May 25

    Market Entry Manifesto

    A reporter from The Telegraph in the UK contacted me for my views on the challenges of market entry in Japan. What follows is my manifesto — a set of principles I believe apply not just to Japan, but to any market, anywhere in the world…

    6 min

  6. May 12

    CEO Roundtable Discusssion Summary: Strategy on Your Own Terms

    I run a monthly, private CEO Roundtable for my best clients and business leaders in the community whom I choose to invite and share the discussion summary with my community. During the May 2026 CEO Roundtable, we discussed “Strategy on Your Own Terms.” Strategy failures are rarely caused by insufficient data or inadequate frameworks. What […]

    8 min

  7. May 4

    The Constructive Disharmony of Shareholder Activism

    Japan’s ruling Liberal Democratic Party is moving to raise the thresholds required for activist shareholders to propose resolutions at company annual general meetings. This is not a technical adjustment to securities law. This is protection — for incumbent boards, for mediocre capital allocation, for the status quo that suits the people already comfortable inside it. […]

    8 min

  8. Apr 27

    When Bold Strategy Becomes a Bet You Can’t Afford to Lose

    Honda just announced its first net loss since listing on the Tokyo Stock Exchange — in 1957. Let that sink in. Nearly seventy years of profitability, and this is the year it ended. The company cancelled three EV models it had been engineering for years — writing off up to two and a half trillion […]

    6 min

  9. Apr 22

    Sales in Japan: 7 Unconventional Tactics

    Today’s episode hits close to home for many of the CEOs I work with. Almost every week, I’m in a conversation with a senior leader who tells me the same thing: “Steve, my sales team is underperforming — and I don’t know what to do about it.” They see it in the behaviors. They see […]

    8 min
  • 9 Episodes

About

Growth Zone explores dauntless leadership and dramatic business growth. Each episode delivers strategies and tactics you can use to drive growth in your business in Japan, and beyond. Hosted by Steven Bleistein, the leading authority on business growth and leadership in Japan.

Information

  • Creator
    Steven Bleistein
  • Years Active
    2K
  • Episodes
    9
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Steven Bleistein
  • Show Website
    The Growth Zone