#Japan #Tokyo #CHRO #Coaching Forward #Takashi Aikawa

Launch of "Meeting Revolution Coach @ External CHRO"

Coaching Forward, based in Chuo City, Tokyo and led by CEO Takashi Aikawa, has launched a new YouTube channel targeted at executives and HR leaders. Titled "Meeting Revolution Coach @ External CHRO", this platform aims to transform organizations by focusing on the critical role of meetings as a reflection of organizational health.

Channel URL: https://www.youtube.com/@coaching-forward

Takashi Aikawa, as an external CHRO, has immersed himself in resolving organizational issues across various companies. He emphasizes that meetings serve as mirrors of an organization's state, showcasing its productivity, the quality of decision-making, management practices, and talent development through discussions.

Meetings: The Organizational Mirror
All organizational challenges manifest during meetings. The way participants engage—who speaks up and who remains silent, their punctuality, the clarity of objectives, and how decisions are made—offers a wealth of information about the health of an organization.

Observing a few meetings allows Aikawa to identify recurrent decision-making patterns, interdepartmental communication challenges, management maturity levels, delegation of authority, and the overall psychological safety within teams. While numerous strategies exist for improving talent development, evaluation systems, organizational design, and enhancing management, the reality is that unless the quality of everyday meetings changes, organizational behavior will not significantly shift.

Maximizing the Potential of Meetings
Many business professionals spend a significant amount of their time in meetings. When considering the accumulated time spent in meetings every month and across the entire organization, it becomes strikingly clear that this aspect represents a substantial investment of resources. Yet, few leaders confidently assert that the productivity of their meetings is high.

Meetings should aim for high-level decision-making rather than merely serving as formalities. They should cultivate an environment for deep discussions that yield new insights and actionable plans. Unfortunately, many meetings fall into the trap of simply checking off boxes.

Examples of ineffective meetings are abundant: rotating report formats that limit deep engagement, excessive attendance without clear roles, and discussions dominated by monotonous presentations instead of strategic conversations. Such practices gradually erode organizational productivity, resulting in slow decision-making processes, unclear accountability, and a frustrating sense of stagnation among employees, who feel that despite attending, progress is lacking.

In contrast, when meetings are structured effectively—including thoughtful preparation, progressive facilitation, strategic questioning, decisive resolution-making, and diligent action management—the transformation can be remarkable. Meetings can become far more than just time-consuming tasks; they can evolve into crucial infrastructures that inspire innovative thinking and initiative within an organization.

Core Themes of the Channel
"Meeting Revolution Coach @ External CHRO" focuses on organizational issues and managerial challenges through the lens of meeting reform. Aikawa will share solutions employing his unique methodology called "reverse thinking".

For instance, unlike traditional meeting styles that cram discussions into the meeting day, leading to unresolved agendas, the reverse thinking approach advocates for pre-meeting preparation so that the actual meeting day is dedicated entirely to essential discussions.

Future episodes will not only showcase successful organizational change cases but also explore how improved meeting strategies can boost decision-making speed and autonomy within organizations. Notable industry figures will also be invited for in-depth discussions on specific themes, enriching the channel’s content offerings.

Comment from Takashi Aikawa
"Meetings serve as a microcosm of an organization. Observing meetings can reveal what is valued within a company, where decisions may be stalling, and how power dynamics play out. As an external CHRO, I’ve made it a priority to focus on meetings due to their frequent occurrence among employees, as they clearly reflect organizational thought processes, relationships, decision-making, and actions.

When meetings transform, organizations do too. The goal isn’t merely to shorten meeting durations. It’s about enhancing the quality of inquiries, clarifying discussions, drawing out participants' insights, and elucidating responsibility for decisions and execution, to turn meetings into powerful catalysts for progress.

Through this channel, I aim to make meetings within Japanese companies more productive, creative, and attuned to high-level decision-making. By positioning meetings as a starting point, we can help more businesses unleash their true potential."

Channel Details

• - Program Name: Meeting Revolution Coach @ External CHRO
• - Media: YouTube
• - Launch Date: Every Tuesday at 19:00
• - Target Audience: Executives, HR leaders, managers, and business leaders involved in decision-making.
• - Producer/Host: Takashi Aikawa
• - Channel URL: https://www.youtube.com/@coaching-forward

About Takashi Aikawa
Takashi Aikawa is the founder and representative of Coaching Forward. He is an external CHRO, organizational development consultant, and business coach.

• - Certified coach by the International Coaching Federation.
• - Recognized by the Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry as a reskilling service provider.
• - Author of the bestselling book "Reverse Thinking," with top rankings in two categories on Amazon.

After working on large-scale DX projects at NEC Corporation, Aikawa developed HR services at Recruit Holdings. He has also been instrumental in setting up human resources and marketing departments for startups. Currently, he provides support centered on organizational development, management transformation, talent cultivation, meeting reform, and coaching for executives and HR leaders.