Exclusive Interview with
SAPL Office GM Mr Yoshikazu Ishikawa
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
Mr Yoshikazu Ishikawa
SAPL Office GM
Sumitomo Australia Pty Ltd
You have set out an ambitious goal for SAPL to be an ASX200-equivalent company (in size) in 5 years. Please share with us your thoughts behind this goal.
In order to change the organisation, the most important first step is to set and share an ambitious target. When I joined SAPL, I observed that all the staff members needed to enhance ownership and to share goals. To address the issue, SAPL board members intensively discussed the strategies and organisational development of SAPL for 7 months in the middle of COVID-19. We came up with this goal during those sessions.
Speaking at Sydney Office’s 2022 Staff Christmas Party
With colleagues at Sydney Office’s 2022 Staff Christmas Party
What has been your most difficult career-related decision so far? What impact did it have on you?
On the occasion of our participation into San Cristobal project in Bolivia, I could not make up my mind if we should continue with the project when the Bolivian president declared the nationalisation of gas and oil assets. It took a couple of days for me to make the decision.
What do you love about Australia?
To borrow the words from political advisor Dr Matsumoto, Australia is a country of “common people”. In Japan, when a greengrocer’s house and a banker’s house are next to each other, the two families do not get along. This is because there are invisible barriers such as barriers of occupation, education, income and so on. On the other hand, in Australia, regardless of your background, as long as you have the ability, you can become a doctor, minister, or anything else. In fact, the current Prime Minister is the child of a single immigrant mother. In Japan, people with such backgrounds do not become prime minister. The Foreign Minister herself is also an immigrant from Hong Kong. If a child is willing and abled, he or she can receive free education up to high school, and graduate from university on student loan. The loan is repaid by your advancement and deducted from your salary once it has reached a certain amount. In Australia, the average blue-collar wage is higher than the average white-collar wage, and children can become anything they want as long as their parents are diligent in their employment.
Sydney Office Staff Lunch March 2022
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SNAPSHOT
I strongly believe in… Formula for Success = Mindset x Passion x Ability (Kazuo Inamori, founder of Kyocera Corporation and KDDI)
Ability x 5 (5 times), Passion x 100 (100 times) (Shigenobu Nagamori, Chairman & CEO of Nidec)
I spend most of my time.. for the course I’m taking at the Graduate School of Project Design
The food I crave most often is… sichuan style bean curd
One personal rule that I never break is… meditate daily
The thing that cheers me up whenever I think about is… Daniel Craig 007 James Bond
One thing I really want but can’t afford yet is… space travel
If I could go back in time, I would… want to meet Oda Nobunaga, the first “great unifier” of japan in history
If I have enough money to live comfortably without having to work, I would… conceive and realise projects that energise the world
