Just touching an American young lady who is challenging new experiences in Japan as well as knowing you personally on how you try to grow will be very

...beneficial for both Japanese ladies and myself.'

In November I presented at the CIO Club, the meeting was held at my main office and I was invited to present on my experiences with the talent development- that meeting's theme. Being in a development program that is to give me opportunities, resources and a network to be on track to becoming a future leader has been a great experience. Though I got my start in communications at this company, and made my move to IT since I have found opportunities in every new role and every new team for better communications. Though I join the team for the chance to expand on my personal IT development, usually it ends up being a mutually beneficial relationship where I bring my communications skills. That's what's happened here in Tokyo as well. In fact I was brought in to support their IT Communications, and having found they didn't have a dedicated communications person I fell into that role yet again.

I don't mind it though, it's thrilling to be able to have the freedom to test new limits of your imagination and to be the driving force in relationship building between the Japan organization and the rest of the world. Recently, I have been asked to focus more on my IT development by my U.S. manager because my role was becoming deeply embedded in communications and so now I am working on a couple new projects involving iPad marketing and recently introduced global technology that houses documents/team calendars/etc.

Anyways, at the CIO meeting (it was held on the evening Friday, November 26th- Thanksgiving!!) I was asked to present on myself, my experiences and explain this development program I am in to all the Japan CIOs. To my surprise I learned that my company of the dozen or so represented that day, was the only one to dedicate three years to a single individual, and giving them the opportunities that I have. Most programs in the Japan offices of these international companies only gave young talend 3 months maximum to try their hand in a new area of IT. My program dedicates the three years for me to move around IT in 3 different roles and gain a diverse experience and understanding.

Following the meeting was when all the fun began. There was a CIO Club cocktail party/dinner thing where on the 22nd floor of a really tall building in Shinjuku, we mixed and chatted over delicious food and refreshing beer. At this event, the CIO of a rival company invited me to present to his female employees. He proposed that this would be a great opportunity to give them exposure to an American, something that is difficult to come by, and share with them my story. He told the CIO of my company this, and he nodded along and that was that.

The next week, I asked the CIO if he thought it was a good idea, and whether I should pursue this meet and greet chance with the rival company. He supported it and told me that I should go for it, so long as I 'cc' him on the e-mail to the rival CIO. I did that and in response got this:

"Great to have your contact!
I have confirmed that some of IT ladies in [company] Japan are also very much interested in meeting with you.
Just touching an American young lady who is challenging new experiences in Japan as well as knowing you personally on how you try to grow will be very beneficial for both Japanese ladies and myself.
What you presented at the previous CIO Club meeting will make sense for us to start discussion.
The forum will be informal so all the participants should be very open to talk."

We scheduled the meeting for January 28th, a meeting over lunch at the rival company's head office. Today the day arrived, and though my CIO was to join me he had completely forgotten about our plans and had to travel to Osaka on business. I took the trip alone to their office and entered the room to find a dozen Japanese women, the CIO of their company and his two top men. Interestingly enough, his two top men are foreign-born. The one man is Austrian, soft-spoken and brilliant at everything IT-related, the other man is Brazilian-Japanese and the IT Department's head manager. There is a large Japanese population in Brazil, dating back to some event in history where there was a mass migration there.. this man's father is from Japan, and his mother is longtime Japanese in Brazil, so he grew up in Sao Paulo.

The meeting lasted from 11:30 to 1:30 and it was terrific. Though at first it was challenging to have everyone relax and open up by the end of the session everyone had contributed to the discussion. Though I had expected the conversation to be about personal development, it quickly turned to the challenges of speaking English in an international company, when you live in a non-English environment. I was blown away by the adeptness of the people in the room. Every individual were capable with English though at times timid. Eventually I learned that everyone of them had been forced outside their comfort zone and had either lived or spent time abroad in the US/UK. It was inspiring to meet these women! I was at this lunch because they wanted to meet me, but I felt so honored to meet these amazing women. Not only do they have the work-life balancing act in juggling family and personal life with their careers, but to add to their obstacles they also continually dedicated time to learning and practicing English. One woman's story was that she had just returned to work about 1 1/2 year maternity leave and was struggling with regaining her English skills. Her and her husband nightly practice their English at home to study.

By the end of the meeting I left feeling energized by the great discussion, and the CIO admitted that the 'outcome has been better than I expected.' After the meeting different women came to exchange their 'meishi' or business card and to chat. They were all very kind and I hope to be able to keep in contact on their English adventures. The CIO and his top two guys engaged me in conversation at the very end when everyone had left. They shared that though I'm very young I have my head on right. They felt that I am 'akarui' and that my energy and optimism permeated the room and brought positivity to the discussion. It was fantastic to hear. I do my best to be myself and open with those I meet, and to hear that this translated to a room full of Japanese I had never met before.. felt like a small victory.

They suggested we do this lunchtime meeting again in a few months to update us on what's going on with the ladies and I agreed- should my CIO be okay with it as well.

It was a great experience, and I'm glad that I had the chance to meet some amazing people and hear their stories.