Reverse Mentoring

Dialogue between executives and young talent turns a new lens on leadership.

Reverse mentoring challenges the traditional notion of mentorship by reversing the flow of insight. Instead of guidance coming from senior leaders to rising professionals, young professionals take the lead, offering their perspectives to executives.

In December 2025, the ACCJ Young Professionals Forum (YPF), together with the ACCJ CEO Forum, hosted the second Reverse Mentoring event to create meaningful dialogue across generations. The evening was generously hosted and sponsored by Cisco Systems G.K., whose support helped set the tone for open and thoughtful conversation.

This year’s event brought together six senior executives who stepped into the mentee role with genuine curiosity and openness. Participants included:

• Mizuho Abe, corporate officer of the Corporate Segment Division and head of the Financial Lines Department at AIG General Insurance Co., Ltd.
• Sarah Bader, executive director at Gensler Associates International Ltd.
• Anderson Carneiro, managing director for Northeast Asia at The Kraft Heinz Company
• Azusa Koike, executive director at Morgan Stanley Japan Holdings Co., Ltd.
• Yoshiyuki Hamada, president and executive officer of Cisco Systems G.K.
• Jarrod Trusler, president of Dow Chemical Japan Ltd.

They were joined by 23 young professionals from diverse industries and backgrounds, organized into small groups of three to four per executive.

The evening encouraged candid exchanges that bypassed the typical constraints of hierarchy. What immediately distinguished this event from a typical mentoring or networking session was the tone. The conversations were warm, honest, and unfiltered. Executives asked questions that are rarely answered candidly in their own organizations, and young professionals spoke openly about their experiences, expectations, and concerns.

Several themes surfaced throughout the evening. Talent retention and employee alignment emerged frequently as executives sought to understand what keeps high-potential young talent engaged and motivated. Young professionals emphasized the importance of transparent communication, opportunities for growth, and leadership that models the values it promotes.

Stress, workload, and burnout were also major points. Executives expressed interest in how younger generations navigate the growing demands of modern work, while young professionals highlighted the need for clearer expectations, balanced workloads, and supportive management.

The most prominent topic of the night was the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in the future of work. Executives were eager to learn how young professionals use AI tools, what excites them, and what concerns they have about shifting job roles. Young professionals shared a mix of optimism and uncertainty, noting that AI improves productivity and creativity but also raises questions about which skills will matter most in the future. Both groups acknowledged that adapting to AI requires collaboration and continuous learning across generations.

The reverse mentoring initiative reflects the YPF’s commitment to bridging the communication gap between young professionals and senior leaders. In many organizations, rising talent and executives rarely have opportunities for real dialogue, and the views of the next generation can be difficult to access. By placing young professionals in the mentor seat, the event creates the conditions for candor, mutual learning, and a deeper understanding of the challenges and motivations present at all levels of an organization.

Executives left the event with valuable insights into the expectations and work styles of younger employees—perspectives that are increasingly essential in shaping modern workplace culture. Young professionals, in turn, gained a clearer view of the realities executives navigate, recognizing that leadership involves constant decision-making, uncertainty, and a strong desire to steer their organizations forward. The blend of Japanese and international participants enriched the discussion further, reflecting the ACCJ’s multicultural environment and the diversity that defines its membership.