Running a salon and working corporate. A lot of people ask me how that's possible. Of course, depending on the kind of job you have it may not be, but just because you have a corporate job doesn't mean you don't have any freedom.
会社に勤めながらサロン経営、そんなの出来るの？って良く聞かれるんだけど、以外と出来る！もちろん、仕事内容によって出来ない方も多いでしょうけど、必ずしも会社で働いているから自由が無いと言う訳でもない。
I have always been lucky with meeting great people and being placed in a comfortable working environment. But you need more than luck to keep those things going for you.
昔から人と環境に恵まれてきたことは確か。でも、例え運が良くてその環境に巡り合えても、それを維持するのは自分自身。
There are two things I am conscious about in my interaction with my bosses and clients to achieve this so called "freedom". First thing is constant responsiveness and availability. After work and even during vacation, I make sure that I am always reachable. The second thing, I try and share a little bit of "life" with them. Basically, I try to keep work and life somewhat intertwined.
私は、一緒にお仕事をする上司やクライアントに対して、常に心がけていることが2つある。1つ目は、仕事が終わっても、有給中でも常に連絡が取れる状態でいること。2つ目は、お互いのライフを少し共有すること。要は、ワークとライフをくっきり訳ない。
There is lots of opinion on work-life balance and some people may say that it's better to keep the two separate. But for me, I have found it work to my advantage to not draw such a distinct line.
仕事とプライベートは、別けたい、別けるべきと言う人がほとんどかも。でも、自由を確保するためにも、私はあえてその線を引かない（矛盾しているようだけど）。何を自由と捉えるかだけど。
In a previous project that I was involved in a few years ago, there was a contractor that would constantly go missing. No matter whether the delivery date was creeping up or if the task was already past due, you just couldn't get a hold of them. It was no surprise then that the client gradually lost trust. The situation did become better towards the end, but the trust that they had lost was never fully recovered.
以前担当していたプロジェクトでよく音信不通になる業者さんがいた。仕事の期限が近付いても連絡が取れず、過ぎても特に報告はなし。クライアントの信頼は徐々に低下。責任者を通してレスポンスは少し良くなったものの、失った信頼は中々取り戻せず。
The problem wasn't that they didn't meet deadlines. It was that they weren't communicative. "We are running behind schedule for these reasons, but we will definitely be able to complete this task by ..." that's all we needed. Because of this one email that was never sent, this company lost their client's trust. In other words, if they would have just sent this one email, they would have probably been able to win a lot more projects.
問題は、期限を守れなかったことではなく、連絡が取れなかったこと。「こう言う理由で遅れています。でも、いつまでには出来そうです。」この一通のメールが無かったことで信頼関係は崩れた。逆にこの一通のメールさえ打ってたら次の仕事にも繋がったかも。。
This responsiveness doesn't apply just for work, but for any relationship. If a boyfriend is not responding to the girlfriend's texts, she'll naturally get suspicious. He may just be out with his guy friends and not paying attention. Even if absolutely nothing happens, the girl is already in a bad mood. If only the guy could have taken a couple of seconds to let her know he's going out with friends, he could have avoided the painful lecture that night.
これは仕事だけではなくて、恋愛でもそう。例えば、彼氏が音信不通にったら彼女は、確実に怪しむ。彼は、友達と飲んでるだけかも。特に何もなくても彼女は、連絡が取れない時点でご機嫌斜め。移動中の時、信号待ちの時にでも「今日は、友達に誘われて飲みに行くから遅くなる」って一通入れておけば彼女は以外と落ち着くのに。説教されずに済むのに。レスポンスだけで全然違う。
I know. Sometimes you don't want to reply or communicate. It's not always good news. But these are the times like when it is most important to be responsive and available. These are the times where you build trust.
分かる。連絡取りたくない時もある。全ての報告が良いわけではない。でも、そう言う時こそちゃんと連絡を取れるかどうかで信頼関係は大きく変わる。
Second thing I make sure to do is to share a little bit of "life." I am quite open about my personal life with my bosses and clients. The more I tell them about me, the more they open up and all of the sudden they have an understanding. This girl is this way because of this. When we understand something, we feel a lot more at ease and a lot more sympathetic.
2つ目、お互いのライフを少し共有すること。私は結構オープンに自分のプライベートの話を上司やクライアントにする。それによって相手もオープンになってくれて、親近感が湧き、相手の理解度が一気に上がる。この子はこうだからこうなんだ。人間って理解すると楽になって共感もしやすくなる。
Not only do I share a little bit of my life, but I try to get a bit involved in theirs. A few months ago my client asked me to support him in a 2-day walking event by driving around to various checkpoints every few hours to drop off food and change of clothes. So there I was in the mountains on a Friday night heating up spaghetti in the back of a van and stuffing it into Tupperware. Sounds crappy? Actually, I was very glad to do it. It's not all the time that you get asked to support your client in something like this outside of work; I thought it was a great opportunity and believe it or not it was a lot of fun. (not just saying that because I know you're reading this!)
自分のライフを共有するだけではなく、相手のライフに関わるのも重要。私は、業務外でも何か頼まれたら喜んでお手伝いする。数ヶ月前、2日間掛けて100km歩くイベントに参加するクライアントにサポートを頼まれた。週末小田原に行き、徹夜で数時間おきにあるチェックポイントを車でぐるぐる回って食べ物や着替えを渡すサポート。もちろん手伝います。むしろ、こんなお願いなんてめったに無いので、ぶちぶち言いながらも本心嬉しかった。
When you gain trust, you gain freedom. This past year and a half, there have been few days where I stayed past 7PM, which is quite abnormal in the consulting world. But even if I'm sitting at home or out drinking with friends, I make sure I am always "online." I may not reply right away, but I will as soon as I get home and I don't ever mind dialing into an 11PM conference call. I try and free up the 7PM to 10PM slot where I'm likely to have all of my personal plans, and work early in the morning or late at night.
信頼関係を築くと、楽になるし自由になる。私は、この1年半ほぼ毎日19時前には会社を出ている。コンサルではあり得ないスケジュール。でも、もちろん家でゴロゴロしてても、合コンでワイワイしてても連絡は取れる状態。その場では返信できなくても、家に帰ったら直ぐ返信する。朝の5時でも夜の11時でも電話会議には文句なく参加する。プライベートの予定が一番入りうな19時～22時を自由に使って、予定が入らない早朝や夜中には仕事をする。
Some people may not consider this freedom, but this is how I am able to do what I want to do. And for me, there's nothing more free than being able to do what you want.
人によってはこれは自由じゃないのかも。でも、私はこれでやりたいことが出来ている。やりたいことを出来る環境があることを自由と言うのではないのかな？
