On 28 January, Yoshito Hori, President of Japan’s GLOBIS University, addressed students and faculty on ‘How Visionary Leaders Create and Innovate Societies’.

Mr Hori described how he became inspired to start his own business while he was an MBA student at Harvard. Intrigued by his classmates’ dreams of entrepreneurship, he began meeting with experienced entrepreneurs to discuss their businesses. Eventually, he had the idea to start a school offering business courses based on Harvard’s case study method. In 1992, upon graduating from Harvard and returning to Japan, he opened GLOBIS with just $8,000 in venture capital and twenty students, holding classes in an apartment. Today GLOBIS is Japan’s number one business school, with five campuses across the country and an array of MBA courses in both Japanese and English. Mr Hori’s goal is to make it the top business school in Asia.

Stressing the importance of creativity, self-belief and self-reliance, he encouraged the audience to discard rigid thinking and ignore both the naysayers and their own self-imposed limits. If an entrepreneur has people, capital and knowledge, he said, he or she can do anything.

Laying out the competitive advantages every entrepreneur must consider, Mr Hori explained that the more an organisation grows, the more it can attract customers, money and quality staff, creating a virtuous cycle of expansion. He reminded the audience that in terms of scope, an organisation is competing in every aspect of its business, not just one. Communication matters too, and establishing a social media presence is vital. And entrepreneurs must think globally, he said, even if they start small.

Every organisation needs mission, vision and value, Mr Hori explained. The key to creating and growing a business is simple: increase your stakeholders. And if you want to keep them happy, he said, listen. Most importantly, a business will only ever be as good as its leader’s capabilities, so continual learning and reflection on past mistakes are vital.

Mr Hori delivered an articulate and compelling address on the need for individual enterprise while arguing government has a strong role to play in facilitating entrepreneurship,’ said MPP student Hugo Batten. ‘I enjoyed his talk immensely and was impressed with his vision for a new Japan.

For Mr Hori, being an entrepreneur is not just about skill; the essential quality is entrepreneurial spirit, and this cannot be taught.

Mr Hori is President of GLOBIS University, CEO of GLOBIS Corporation and Managing Partner of GLOBIS Capital Partners. He is the author of several books on business in leadership, and has sat on various boards and participated in regional bodies aimed at fostering dialogue and business development. In 2011, after Japan’s devastating earthquake and tsunami, he started Project KIBOW to support disaster relief in the areas affected.