“Work with an Owner’s Mindset”—Then Pay Me Like an Owner

The other day, the writer Ryu Murakami passed away.

Murakami was known not only as a novelist but also as the longtime interviewer on TV Tokyo’s Cambrian Palace.

The program invites prominent business leaders to discuss their management philosophies and the secrets of their success.

When news of his death broke, many people posted tributes to Murakami online.

One anecdote presented as an example of his “writer’s spirit” caught my attention.

Objecting to “Work Instead of Sleeping”

Apparently, one episode featured a company president who was the very image of a passionate, hard-driving leader.

He had absolute confidence in his own management abilities and, naturally, demanded the same relentless work ethic from his employees.

“If you have time to sleep, you have time to work.” “There is no time to rest.”

That was the management philosophy he reportedly delivered with great enthusiasm.

An ordinary host might have praised him by saying, “I see. Successful business leaders really are different,” and left it at that.

Ryu Murakami, however, was different.

“That is wrong. At least, I do not agree.”

He reportedly challenged the president directly.

When I read this story, I found it deeply satisfying.

On a program that could easily become a vehicle for praising business leaders, Murakami refused to compromise his own views, regardless of whom he was interviewing.

So that, I thought, must be what a writer’s spirit looks like.

Employees Are Not Owners

To begin with, it is unreasonable to expect employees to have the same passion as a company’s founder.

If the company succeeds, the founder may acquire enormous wealth.

But what about an ordinary employee?

Even if the company doubles its revenue, the employee’s salary will not necessarily double.

The workload might double while the salary remains exactly the same.

Under those conditions, being told to “work with the same passion I do” is not very convincing.

If that is the expectation, then compensation should have the same unlimited upside as the owner’s.

If the company becomes a huge success, the employees should become millionaires too.

Under those terms, some people might indeed sacrifice sleep to work.

But an ordinary employee’s salary combined with a founder’s workload is another matter.

That sounds less like a management philosophy and more like an extremely convenient request.

The Convenient “Owner’s Mindset”

At Japanese companies, employees are often told to “think with an owner’s mindset.”

I have heard this phrase many times in my own work, and it has always made me uncomfortable.

Be conscious of costs from an owner’s perspective.

Think about profit from an owner’s perspective.

Consider the company’s future from an owner’s perspective.

But when the company’s profits increase dramatically, will those profits also be distributed from an owner’s perspective?

At that point, the response suddenly becomes, “You are an employee.”

Then, when business performance declines, management begins laying people off as a business decision.

Employees are expected to be loyal to the company, but apparently the company has no obligation to be loyal to its employees.

That is not an owner’s mindset. It is simply a perspective that is convenient for the owner.

The President Still Believes He Is Right

I do not think that passionate presidents like this are necessarily lying.

The president probably did sacrifice sleep, work relentlessly, and succeed as a result.

So he expects his employees to do the same.

If I could do it, you should be able to do it too.

But there is a crucial difference.

The president is working to grow his own company. The employee is working to support their own life.

Their objectives are different, so naturally their levels of enthusiasm are different too.

I cannot help smiling when I see business leaders complain that their employees lack motivation without understanding this distinction.

If they want the passion of a founder, they should offer the potential rewards of a founder.

If they cannot do that, they should be grateful for employees who do a reasonable amount of work for a normal salary.

Then again, an employee who truly develops an owner’s mindset may one day reach a conclusion like this:

“I could make more money by starting my own company than by working for this salary.”

And then the employee leaves to become independent.

That is the moment the president’s training succeeds perfectly.