Transcriber: Reiko Bovee Reviewer: Elisabeth Buffard
Good evening.
My name is Ann Sado,
and I am a Japanese-American 3rd generation
but have lived in Japan for over 40 years.
My topic today is: Do you feel a 21st century shift in values?
Which is increasing the feminine in terms of energy and feeling.
Do you feel it?
Do you see it?
Feminine is often considered
to mean inclusion, acceptance.
Women are very good at that.
It is also a balancing of the feminine and masculine energy,
the yin and yang.
which is another expression, and in Japanese we say: "in" "yo."
Many people go to dojos and meditation centers
to find their inner balance,
their inner being,
so they can balance these opposite energies
of feminine and masculine.
We live often in a very masculine world.
When I was doing management consulting
I always had to think of my male clients.
CEOs and executives, always, who were men.
And we learned to use our intuition
and emotional intelligence.
but I could not come out with that.
I had to make sure
that everything was step-by-step constructed by logic
which is the value from our 20th century.
The 21st century is dominated
by more intuition and emotional intelligence.
We have to be able to discuss
balancing the two energies
of masculine and feminine.
But we need to learn how to talk with each other
and to accept the diverse and be inclusive.
We have some women who are really powerful out there
in terms of innovation.
This is Dr. Sophie Vanderbrook
who is the head of Xerox Innovation.
She told us in a talk one day at the ACCJ
that patience is no longer a virtue,
impatience is a virtue.
I was shocked because being in Japan,
you're always told to be patient.
It's the Confucian value
that the Japanese have upheld for many, many years.
But impatience is fine.
And in this sense
men are able to express
their own more feminine side.
And now we have a major milestone in Japan
because the paradigm shift is allowing
for us to be inclusive of the diverse
which is the LGTB movement that is starting in Japan.
Many young men in companies have told me how oppressed they felt
when they couldn't express their feminine side as gay,
and women also of their masculine side as lesbian.
Now, we have the Shibuya ward accepting gay couples.
This is an incredible progress.
I had an uncle who was a band man and later became a dressmaker.
He was gay, and I learned a lot from him
to accept diversity and inclusion.
Now the paradigm shift continues,
and I really think
it's the ignition of the smart power.
Women are considered to have soft power,
they are able to manage and help other people.
Men are considered to have more hard power, they like to fight.
But combining the two,
the soft and hard power,
we have this strategic combination of smart power.
We are able to...
[Forget fighting, let's talk. Respect and accept each other.]
accept each other, forget fighting
and talk with the depth of diversity and inclusion
which means we respect and accept each other.
So, how many of you in this room feel
that you are really accepting diversity and inclusion?
Please raise your hand.
I'm glad to see many hands up there.
And we are now able to let our inner child out,
so that it doesn't matter which gender side we are,
whether female or male, we are now partnering with each other
to be able to accept each other
in a more dynamic and intimate relationship.
Japanese men and women have been taught
not to express their emotions so honestly,
but the 21st century shift in the value
and the paradigm shift allows all of us
to be truly proud of our own selves,
standing up for our conviction as to what we believe in.
So, I ask all of you to forget to fight,
just talk and really understand each other.
This is the key,
and to have that diversity and inclusion mindset,
respecting and accepting each other.
Thank you.
(Applause)