Yuta Taniguchi, MBA'20, had only just taken over the reigns of his 120-years old family hotel in Japan, when the Covid-19 crisis hit. Personal Leadership Professor Sofya Isaakyan saw a great learning opportunity and brought in the Full-time class of 2021 to discuss what it means to be a leader in crisis, against the backdrop of the Japanese top-down corporate leadership culture.

Taniguchi: "Earlier this year, demand in the hotel dropped to 10 percent. Most of the employees live within five minutes of the hotel and my relationship with them is very close. I wanted to support my community, but also maintain the business for the future."

"In times of crisis, many competencies and skills that are needed in normal times are no longer applicable", says Isaakyan. Many people focus on their own survival. Yuta is a great example of a leader: he pro-actively reached out to his employees and his community."

"The students grasped my situation very well, in a short time," Yuta concludes. "It really helped me with making my leadership more open, more transparent. The first thing I had to do was to have the courage to tell my employees 'I don't know, I need your help'. I encouraged them to speak up and then incorporated their ideas in my strategy." #mba #rsmmba #MBAofValue

Learn more about RSM Full-time MBA here: https://www.rsm.nl/mba/international-full-time-mba/overview/