Check out Takumi’s NEW English youtube channel🎵
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https://www.youtube.com/@takuway
It's winter〜〜〜
Yesterday, I kicked off starting writing my 64th book 📚✨
So nervous… and excited!
Niizono-san,
Kan-chan—thank you!!
Kyoto takusando 🥪✨
So happy! Thank you for visiting
And birthdays in Osaka
37 years old？！
Yuri-chan is holding a solo art exhibition!
Just behind Omotesando Hills!
Congratulations!
I bumped into Ms. Somi！
Such a lovely dinner with beautiful people!
Thank you!
Our coaches gathered from morning!
Wow〜〜〜
I'll join online tonight〜〜
See you there
Key Learnings from Today’s Talk by Ryuta Saeki
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0) The Big Picture (What’s the core message?)
In one sentence, this talk proposes:
Not a “success method for the strong,”
but a system for building teams where people who lack confidence
or move at a slower pace can still stay and grow.
To support this, Saeki shares
how to design a non-dropout culture and a sequence for building trust,
grounded in his own life experience on the “weaker side.”
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1) Self-Introduction (Why he talks about this)
Foundational experiences as the “weaker side”
Grew up with factors that easily damage self-esteem:
short stature, poor academic performance, bullying, and a delinquent environment.
Experiencing “effort not being rewarded” in society
Performed well in a factory and took on quasi-management roles,
but faced extreme overtime → then had evaluations and compensation cut
due to systems and company convenience.
A turning point through a business opportunity
The shock of realizing,
“Even someone like me could start” and “my life’s foundation changed”
became the basis of his current values.
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2) His Definition of "Attractiveness"
1. Not the ability to look good— but the ability not to break even when seen badly
• Builds resilience to others’ evaluations and misunderstandings, strengthening one’s core way of living.
2. We evolve because we are incomplete.
• “Lacking” is not shameful; it’s the doorway to growth. Tomato metaphor: stress (water restriction) brings out sweetness—pressure reveals essence.
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3) His Core Philosophy of Team Management (The Heart of the Talk)
A. Don’t set standards based on fast people
If you benchmark “people who can do it quickly,” those who can’t lose their sense of value and leave.
Therefore, the maximum goal is “one person per year is enough.”
B. “Lotus leaf” growth = exponential design
If one person brings one person, that’s 200% growth.
Even if everyone brings just one person per year, it looks like rapid expansion from the outside.
Outsiders think “the know-how is amazing,” but inside, everyone is struggling—just little by little.
C. Leaders are at risk of demanding too much
The more capable a leader is, the more they expect the same of others.
This leads to:
“Why can’t you do this?”
“How many times do I have to tell you?”
The other person concludes, “I’m not cut out for this,” and leaves.
The countermeasure: Base standards not on what people “have,” but on what they “don’t have.” Put humility at the center.
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4) Redesigning Recruitment Pathways (Preventing dropouts)
A. Don't lead with "you can make money"
• For people with low confidence or credibility (young people or those who are “nobody yet”), emphasizing “easy income” or “quick money” causes:
• Trust collapse due to the gap with reality
• Blame-shifting (company’s fault, team’s fault
• Increased dropouts
• So the entry point should be belonging and trust, not income dreams.
B. Teach “bias and misunderstanding” before marketing plans
• People easily generalize (e.g., one scandal → the whole group is bad).
• Teach this as bias / misbelief, and train discernment (separation of causes).
• Not “Amway is bad,” but “my way was flawed”—separating structure from execution.
C. Rule: “Have a business name”
• To avoid quitting by blaming the company, each person holds their own business name. This ensures ownership and clarifies responsibility.
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5) The Order of Human Relationships (What to do BEFORE bringing someone in)
1. Don’t throw new people straight into a huge, storm-like environment
2. First, build relationships over meals or tea
3. Trust before information
4. Once trust exists, connection to the community happens naturally
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6) Concrete ways to create "Comfort" in a Team
1. Prioritize comfort (good environment) even when results aren’t coming yet
2. Study and eliminate dropout triggers:
• Signing people up when emotions are high → crash next day → dropout
• Telling parents at the wrong timing → backlash → dropout
• Applying pressure like “You must come” → dropout
3. Structural reforms to prevent dropouts
• Easy-to-exit Zoom operations
• Encouraging rest, addressing sleep deprivation (oxygen capsules, etc.)
• No forced “hardcore mode” standards
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7) Understanding the Times (Adapting to Gen Z and Gentler work styles)
• A world designed only for “hardcore grinders” burns people out.
• The value of “hardcore is okay, but never mandatory” is spreading.
• Therefore, systems like Amway need to allow multiple tracks (hardcore / mild).
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8) New Concept: "Pre Business" Design
• Immediately after signing up, treat it not as “business,” but as pre-business (training / runway).
• It becomes a business only when the person decides, “This is my business.”
• The sole goal is simple: people don’t drop out.
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9) Conclusion--Key Takeaways
1. Set standards where slower people can stay (one person per year is fine)
2. Trust → relationship → information → community (keep the order)
3. Don’t impose strong-person standards (humility = “lack-based” )
4. Place bias-unraveling training at the entry point
5. Build structures that remove reasons to quit (pre-business, comfort, care)
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Link to Takumi Yamazaki’s
ENGLISH Book “SHIFT”
