YPF Next Generation: From HR Leader to Business Leader

Stryker Japan chief explains why passion is key to a fulfilling career

Being self-aware—cognizant of your unique strengths and what sort of work brings you joy—and not just climbing the corporate ladder because that’s what everyone else seems to be doing is critical to building a satisfying career.

That was one piece of advice shared by Satoshi Mizusawa, president and representative director of Stryker Japan K.K., when he spoke on September 16 at the latest installment of the Next Generation Leader Series, hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan (ACCJ) Young Professionals Forum (YPF).

Seeking out honest feedback from people around you—including from your subordinates—is also important, said the 43-year-old human resources (HR) leader turned healthcare executive. During his presentation, Mizusawa talked about his life journey and the path that led him to becoming president of one of the leading medical device makers in Japan.

Find Your Passion

“There are actually a lot of people who haven’t thought through what it is they want to achieve in life,” said Mizusawa, urging his listeners to think about what they want to have accomplished by age 60.

“What’s most important is identifying which moments bring you joy and making sure your career aspirations really align with those,” he said. “When that’s clear, then you need to work backward to plan the steps to get there.”

Born and raised in Saitama Prefecture, Mizusawa has followed a career path that, in Japan, is somewhat unusual. In 2002, right after college, he started out at a Japanese electronics company before joining a series of US-based companies. He’s also a rare example of someone who has moved from HR to heading up a business.

Mizusawa spoke frankly about the ups and downs of his life and career, using a graph to chart his career trajectory, with a meandering line that indicated the emotional and professional highs and lows he experienced along the way.

His most difficult experience came when he was just 11, amid tension and conflict between his parents. He was the second of three sons, and his elder brother was drawn toward a rebellious lifestyle. “I wondered why only my family was like this. It seemed like other families were so happy. As I look back now, this was probably the toughest time in my life.”

In middle school, his perspective of the world suddenly expanded thanks to a two-week homestay in Alabama—an experience that would shape the rest of his life. It was the first time he went abroad and first time he rode in an airplane. Everyone around him seemed cheerful, and he even fell in love with an American girl with whom he remained pen pals for seven years. “I began to think that I wanted to get a job that had some international aspect,” he said.

Later, while at Aoyama Gakuin University, he explored study abroad programs, but he didn’t have the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) scores to qualify. So instead, he enrolled independently for a year at the University of Alabama, thanks to the influence of his American female pen pal, who he made during his middle school homestay.

First Steps

When Mizusawa joined a Japanese electronic company after college, he desperately wanted to work in international sales. But a grinning personnel staffer told him that he should first get some experience in HR before moving on to other departments—a typical practice in Japan meant to give new employees a breadth of experience.

Mizusawa’s daunting first task was to overhaul the company’s pension system. “I had no interest in this, but I decided to give it my best and hoped that would lead me closer to my career ambitions,” he said. After that, he was sent to business units in Malaysia and Thailand, where he gained a measure of international experience before returning to corporate headquarters.

Three years later, he decided to move to a leading global electronics and energy company and was immediately thrown into an intense, two-year HR training program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The program comprised three six-month assignments during which he was expected to build strong working relationships and deliver results—entirely in English.

Functioning in a fast-paced, rigorous environment full of ambitious young Americans who loved to debate and argue, Mizusawa found the program grueling and worlds apart from his Japanese corporate experience.

At one point, he experienced a crisis of sorts when he discovered that he had been left off a group email from a team leader, making him fear that he was viewed as a non-contributing member. “In Japan, if you worked all night, you could somehow solve the problem,” he said. “But in a totally different context, where culture and language were major issues, I really didn’t know what to do.”

Mizusawa approached a Chinese American colleague, hoping they would fix the problem by talking with the team leader. Instead, his colleague said Mizusawa needed to go directly to the team leader himself and tell her that, unless she added him to the group email, he couldn’t do his job. “America isn’t like Japan, where someone might try to help you,” he explained. “You have to take the initiative yourself.”

Being raised in a rough-and-tumble environment with two brothers, Mizusawa wasn’t about to shrink from a confrontation. So, he mustered the courage to go talk with his team leader, who told him it was all an oversight and added him back to the group email chain. “This doesn’t sound like such a big deal as I describe it but, at the time, it was a real crisis for me,” he said. Soon after, he was put in charge of his own team.

Proving Yourself

In 2009, Mizusawa joined a US-based medical device company as senior manager of HR and was later promoted to director. There he gained experience in mergers and acquisitions, as well as staff integration and working with diverse colleagues—his first boss was Argentine and his second was Indian.

When he joined Stryker in 2014 as senior HR director, the company “didn’t have that good a reputation in Japan,” Mizusawa said. They were known for low pay, hard work, and a constantly changing management. “The head office asked me to change that.”

Mizusawa explained that he implemented numerous changes, including moving personnel who had been doing the same job for 10–15 years, creating a talent development program, fostering motivation within teams, and even contributing to the overall business strategy.

Apparently, the bosses were pleased. Three years later, Mizusawa was promoted to vice president, heading up Stryker Japan’s medical and surgical business. This was his first leadership experience on the business side of a company, and he said he studied very hard the first three months to get up to speed.

In 2020, he became general manager, leading Stryker’s legacy business units and expanding his responsibility into orthopedics and other areas. In January 2021, he was promoted to deputy president, with responsibilities for the company’s overall business in Japan and driving growth. In April, he was named president.

When asked how he made that transition from HR to company leader, Mizusawa said his overarching goals have remained the same: set a direction and build the organizational capacity to reach those goals. “It shouldn’t be just fireworks; the vision needs to be realistic,” he said. “And just creating a new system isn’t enough, either. You have to inspire workers and treat them as valuable.” He told participants that, if they feel they have leadership gifts and focus on using them, they, too, may be given opportunities as he has.

More Advice

During the Q&A session, Mizusawa was asked what makes for effective communication. He explained that developing trust is vital. “If you give feedback to someone with whom you don’t have a relationship of trust, they most likely won’t take it very well,” he noted. “But if you do have that kind of relationship, you can have those tough conversations.”

Asked about key qualities for young, aspiring leaders, Mizusawa stressed the importance of being self-aware—something that he absorbed from his time in HR, which involved lots of self-assessments. “I was fortunate that I had a lot of people who gave me feedback,” he said. “And I also sought out feedback. Even now, I seek out feedback from my direct reports, and their feedback has helped me grow.”

Mizusawa was also asked about how to promote diversity and inclusion in Japanese workplaces. He said that when he joined Stryker Japan, there were very few women in sales and senior management. But that has changed. “Women now account for more than 40 percent of directors,” he said, adding that their presence has “brought new perspectives, changed the atmosphere, and made discussions livelier.”

In closing, Mizusawa said that he feels comfortable and fulfilled when he’s leading people. And when he sees that his staffers are motivated, that reinforces his own motivation. But everyone has different talents, and it’s critical that you identify your gifts and then use them, he said.

“Instead of just thinking, ‘I have to climb the corporate ladder,’ try to think about what it is that you enjoy and how that might guide your career,” he said. “I’m 43, so I’m still learning a lot.”

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