Harry A. Hill

Harry A. Hill is an entrepreneur, business leader, investor, author and lifelong martial artist who has spent more than four decades building businesses, brands and leaders in Japan. At the centre of his approach are three ideas: organisations must continually evolve; everybody matters; and leaders create the greatest impact when they make customers and their people the heroes rather than themselves.

Harry believes high performance and purpose reinforce one another. Strong organisations set demanding expectations and hold people accountable, but they also help people understand why their work matters and how their contribution connects to something larger than themselves. People are most engaged when they feel valued and see the difference their work makes. Fair compensation is essential, but compensation alone is temporary; a sense of purpose can continue motivating people long after payday. The leader's job is not to be the hero, but to create an environment in which other people can succeed, grow and become proud of what they are building together.

During his leadership of Oak Lawn Marketing / Shop Japan, products including Billy's Boot Camp, Wonder Core and Leg Magic became household names in Japan. Underlying those successes is a marketing principle he has long taught: make the customer the hero, not the product and not the brand. Customers are rarely interested in a product for what it is; they respond to what it can help them become, accomplish or change. Harry sees a direct connection between marketing and leadership — effective marketing begins by understanding the customer, and effective leadership begins by understanding people.

He helped build and lead Oak Lawn Marketing / Shop Japan to approximately ¥70 billion in annual revenue and around 1,000 employees at peak scale. A recurring theme in his entrepreneurial career has been building organisations that create value beyond the founder. His first company, SGI Japan, was built and sold; H&R Consultants was also built and sold; Oak Lawn Marketing's growth culminated in a major strategic transaction with NTT DOCOMO in 2009; and DataWise, which he co-founded within Oak Lawn Marketing, was later separated and successfully sold.

Harry holds that organisations cannot stand still. Markets, customers, technology and society all change, and an organisation that focuses only on preserving what made it successful will eventually fall behind. Transformation is therefore not an emergency programme for organisations in trouble but a permanent responsibility of leadership — and the best time to challenge a business model or an established way of working is often while the organisation is still successful.

He remains actively engaged in business rather than speaking only from past experience. He continues to serve on the board of Oak Lawn Marketing, is actively involved in building Better-U, which operates the UFC Gym business in Japan, and serves as a board member and adviser to U-H-M-Y, a growing social-services company supporting people with disabilities in Japan.

His leadership roles have spanned industry, the international business community, nonprofit organisations and the U.S.-Japan relationship: former Chairman of the Electronic Retailing Association, former Governor of the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, U.S. Chair of CULCON from 2014 to 2019, former Chair of the U.S.-Japan Friendship Commission, Co-Chair of the U.S.-Japan Bridging Foundation, and former Chairman and continuing Board member of HOPE International Development Agency Japan.

His book, Fighter: A Guide to Life and Business, brings together lessons from decades in business and martial arts. A 5th-degree black belt in Shorinji Kempo and a certified kickboxing coach, Harry has learned that life and leadership inevitably put us into fights we did not choose. The objective is not to avoid adversity but to prepare for it and respond well: remain composed under pressure, adapt to what is actually happening, learn from setbacks, recover, and return ready for the next round.