{"id":18322,"date":"2026-09-25T08:00:38","date_gmt":"2026-09-24T23:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/careers.zen.group\/?p=18322"},"modified":"2026-09-25T09:58:32","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T00:58:32","slug":"scoop-vol4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/careers.zen.group\/en\/2026\/09\/25\/scoop-vol4\/","title":{"rendered":"Inside Scoop: What\u2019s It Really Like to Lead a Multicultural Team? Four Leaders Share Their Experiences"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Our Inside Scoop series gives you a closer look at what life at ZenGroup is really like.<\/p>\n

For this edition, we brought together four women who lead very different teams across ZenGroup. They shared their experiences of what they find rewarding about leadership, the challenges they face, and what they keep in mind when working in a multicultural environment.<\/p>\n

This is Part 1 of a two-part series featuring their perspectives and experiences.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Whether you\u2019re interested in becoming a leader someday or simply wondering what leadership looks like at ZenGroup, read on to meet four of the people behind our teams!
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Meet the Four Leaders<\/h4><\/div>
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Dzvinka | Marketing<\/h6>\n

Dzvinka leads the ZenMarket marketing team, which brings together members from a wide range of countries and regions.<\/p>\n

Shihori | Purchasing<\/h6>\n

Shihori leads a team responsible for the purchasing process, from placing orders all the way through to delivery at our warehouse in Japan. She also works on improving workflows and building systems that help the team operate more effectively.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Nana\uff5cAccounting<\/h6>\n

Nana leads the accounting team while working to strengthen processes and team operations as part of ZenGroup\u2019s IPO preparations.<\/p>\n

Riho\uff5cHR<\/h6>\n

Riho leads the Labor Relations and Employee Assessment teams, helping shape ZenGroup\u2019s organization and work environment for people from diverse backgrounds.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

What Makes Leadership Rewarding?<\/h4><\/div>

We started by asking a simple question: \u201cWhen do you find being a leader most rewarding?\u201d Each of the four had a different answer.<\/p>\n

Dzvinka: <\/strong>\u201cWhat I find most rewarding is seeing team members grow. They gain experience, and eventually some of them move into management roles themselves. It makes me really happy to see that kind of growth.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Dzvinka talked about seeing her team members grow, Nana shared a moment when she noticed a change in the way her team approached their work.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Nana: <\/strong>\u201cAs part of our IPO preparations, I sometimes have to introduce checks that we didn\u2019t need before and ask the team to start following them. I thought they probably saw me as the person who was always nagging them about things. But then one of the team members came to me and said, \u2018Shouldn\u2019t we add a check here too?\u2019 That made me really happy because it showed that they understood why the checks were necessary and were taking the initiative themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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For Shihori, one of the most rewarding moments is when everything comes together and the team\u2019s work runs smoothly.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shihori: <\/strong>\u201cAs our workload grows, I\u2019m thinking about how we can use automation and training to expand what the team can handle as a whole. Different people are motivated by different things, and there isn\u2019t one right answer. But when the work is running smoothly and everyone can head home in a good mood, that makes me happy.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riho also talked about how working as a team can raise the quality of the work itself.<\/p>\n

Riho: <\/strong>\u201cSome of the work I used to handle entirely on my own is now being taken on by other team members, and our next challenge is to improve the quality even further. They improve things I never would have thought of myself, including areas I wasn\u2019t particularly good at. I find it really interesting that, as a team, we can achieve things I could never have done alone.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

Seeing team members grow and watching the team become capable of more\u2014there are plenty of rewarding moments that come with being a leader!
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What\u2019s Challenging About Being a Leader?<\/h4><\/div>
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We also asked the four leaders about the challenges they face in their roles.
\nDzvinka\u2019s marketing team grew from around 20 people to more than 40 in less than a year. Alongside working toward KPIs, the team has been onboarding new members and developing processes that can work effectively at a larger scale.<\/p>\n

Dzvinka:<\/strong> \u201cMarketing strategies differ depending on the country, language, and channel. Bringing all those different perspectives together and moving in one direction is still challenging. I try to listen to what team members have to say and keep improving the way we work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>

Nana:<\/strong> \u201cUnderstanding something yourself and explaining it in a way that someone else can understand and agree with are two different things.
\nIf I want to make sure the team and I are on the same page, I need to understand something well enough to explain it clearly in my own words.\u201d<\/p>\n

Shihori:<\/strong> \u201cWhen things stay busy, we still need to deliver results while paying attention to each person\u2019s well-being and motivation. I think about how we can strengthen the team as a whole\u2014for example, by breaking down tasks and identifying more work that can be delegated to other team members.\u201d<\/p>\n

After moving from an individual contributor role into management, Riho began to see how important it was to explain the reasoning behind decisions.<\/p>\n

Riho:<\/strong> \u201cWhen I was working on my own, there were probably things I did more intuitively. But when you\u2019re working with a team, you need to have a clear rationale for why you do things a certain way. Sometimes, when I try to explain my reasoning, I realize there actually wasn\u2019t a logical reason behind a particular way of doing things that I had been attached to.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

Being a leader doesn\u2019t mean having to come up with every answer on your own. What stood out to us was how each of them listens to their team, puts their thinking into words, and works together with others to shape the team.
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What\u2019s It Really Like to Work in a Multicultural Environment?<\/h4><\/div>

If you\u2019re considering working at ZenGroup, you might be wondering what communication is like in such a multicultural workplace.<\/p>\n<\/div>

Shihori\u2019s team is primarily made up of Japanese members, but her work gives her plenty of opportunities to communicate with colleagues of different nationalities.<\/p>\n

Shihori:<\/strong> \u201cSometimes, when we communicate internally, there are expressions that Japanese colleagues might understand from context but that aren\u2019t as clear to colleagues from other countries. So I try to keep things concise and communicate the key points clearly. And when I do that, I find that the message becomes easier for Japanese colleagues to understand too.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Dzvinka leads a multicultural team and says that differences in language and culture can sometimes lead to misunderstandings.<\/p>\n

Dzvinka:<\/strong> \u201cWe speak different languages and come from different cultures, so misunderstandings do happen. But if you start from the assumption that the other person wasn\u2019t trying to be rude or hurtful, you can talk things through and resolve the issue. I think it\u2019s important not to immediately assume the worst about what someone meant.\u201d<\/p>\n

For Riho, it\u2019s also important to question her own assumptions about what is \u201cnormal\u201d or \u201cobvious.\u201d<\/p>\n

Riho:<\/strong> \u201cI\u2019ve realized that there really isn\u2019t one universal idea of what\u2019s \u2018normal\u2019 or \u2018obvious.\u2019 As you gain experience, it\u2019s easy to start thinking in patterns: \u2018This happened before, so it\u2019ll probably happen the same way this time.\u2019 That\u2019s why I try to stay aware of my own assumptions and biases. For example, I sometimes ask myself: if I were part of a very small minority in a meeting, would I still feel as confident speaking up as I do now?\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

Communicate clearly. Don\u2019t jump to conclusions about someone\u2019s intentions. Question your own assumptions. Rather than relying on a special set of rules for working in a multicultural environment, each of the four focuses on how they communicate with the person in front of them.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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Closing Thoughts<\/h4><\/div>

So, what\u2019s it really like to lead a multicultural team? One thing that came through in our conversation was that there isn\u2019t a single special formula for managing a diverse team.<\/p>\n

Communicating clearly. Not making assumptions about someone\u2019s intentions. Questioning your own idea of what\u2019s \u201cnormal.\u201d And taking the time to understand each team member\u2019s situation and perspective. It\u2019s these everyday habits that can help people with different backgrounds work together as a team.<\/p>\n

But how did these four leaders get to where they are today? In Part 2, we\u2019ll explore their career journeys, how their roles have evolved at ZenGroup, and their experiences of building careers as women.<\/p>\n

Stay tuned for Part 2!<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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