My Boss Akio Toyoda was published in September. To mark the occasion, the author, Toyota Fellow Hideki Fujii, appeared on Toyota Times News.
Joining him in the studio were novelist Eri Yoshikawa, author of Toyota no Ko, and Yuta Tomikawa, author of Important Things About Communication I Learned from the Media and Toyota. The trio of authors who all wrote about Chairman Toyoda came together to discuss My Boss Akio Toyoda.
From here on, this article follows Fujii’s book in referring to Chairman Toyoda as “Mr. Toyoda.”
Fujii worked under Mr. Toyoda for thirteen years and eight months during his presidency. The idea for the book came from a training session for newly appointed general managers held two years ago, where he arranged the opportunity to speak as an instructor and share what he himself had learned.
When he consulted Mr. Toyoda about it, he was told two things: “Thank you” and “Stories fade and disappear. If there’s something you want to pass on, why not write a book?”
“The things Mr. Toyoda told me were what he wanted to tell everyone working at Toyota.” With this in mind, Fujii spent his career communicating Mr. Toyoda’s messages to employees and felt it was something he had to do.
Although My Boss Akio Toyoda is a business book filled with Mr. Toyoda’s words and actions during his presidency, it is also a human story about “Fujii, the subordinate,” and the years he spent working alongside him.
After being assigned as the president’s dedicated PR representative, Fujii spent a gloomy Golden Week holiday. He was told “PR is my enemy” at his first meeting. His career as a speechwriter really took off when he received handwritten notes from the president himself. He learned to imagine what Mr. Toyoda wanted to convey and collaborate in crafting messages. His toughest moment was the 2020 COVID-era financial results announcement.
Each episode Fujii recounts is filled with human drama.
When asked what Mr. Toyoda means to him, Fujii says he considers him “a boss who I want to call a mentor.” This prompts Ms. Yoshikawa to say, “I’m jealous.” Why might that be??
This week’s episode explores how each guest interpreted My Boss Akio Toyoda and how they related to Mr. Toyoda —contrasts that make the conversation especially compelling.
Whether you’ve already read the book or are discovering it for the first time, enjoy the episode via the link below.