Here's a fact not widely known in Japan: at business schools in Western countries, leadership development programs are just as popular as MBA-degree programs. “Leadership development” is different from the systematic learning designed for the acquisition of an academic degree (EMBA, MBA, MSc); its aim is rather the improvement of skills in a short time-frame, in a specific domain, in accordance with the needs of program participants.

In such programs for leadership development (i.e., education that fosters the development of candidates to be key company leaders), “leadership” is the most popular domain. European and North American business schools offer a wide variety of courses and programs in the leadership domain, including at each level of the corporate hierarchy, and for each industry type. Although such programs are still not very well-known in Japan, as MBA education penetrates our society more deeply, I hope the day will come when Japanese companies will fully utilize the essence of leadership education as they select and develop candidates for their key leadership positions.