Konosuke Matsushita on Human Development

I believe that in managing people you mustn’t be artificial.

It’s important to be natural.

If you are angry, be angry.

If you have to admonish your employees, be natural and admonish them.

Being natural is best, but that alone is not sufficient.

It’s also important to have a sound management philosophy.

If you don’t, even if you try to cultivate your people, they won’t grow and develop properly.

It’s important to know that you have a mission to manage your company, and to talk and act in accordance with that mission.

That is the motivating power that makes people grow.

The next thing is how to manage people.

Each person has his or her own mind and character.

Each person has different qualities.

It’s important to know what their special qualities are and how to make the most of them.

I think the secret behind my success was that I was rather skilled at that.

Many times, when I was told an employee wasn’t capable, I’d think he still had certain good points that made him valuable.

Even people who seemed troublesome because they did nothing but complain, ended up doing an excellent job when they joined our company.

Things other companies considered a weakness became strength for us.

Don’t worry about weaknesses, just pay attention to the person’s strengths.

Know the person’s character and make the most of it.

It’s not difficult.

But it’s crucial in determining whether a person grows or not.

It wasn’t because we hired the best and the brightest that Matsushita Electric became the company it is today.

They may have all been quite ordinary.

But by all cooperating, they brought the company to where it is today.