An interview with Kaori Mizukoshi, who develops and delivers global leadership programs, discussing how her challenging experience with English as a student transformed, tips for working in English, and her perspective on navigating cultural differences and misunderstandings.
水越 香里 Kaori Mizukoshi
After graduating from university, Kaori Mizukoshi spent ten years managing projects for a major information systems company, both in Japan and abroad (Singapore and the U.S.). She then spent another ten years involved in launching and managing online services. Over the course of her career, she has lived in New York three times, totaling fifteen years. While raising her child in New York, she began studying at Columbia University to reflect on her international business and cross-cultural experiences and to consider the direction of her future career. Her academic background includes a Master’s in International Education and Intercultural Studies, and a Ph.D. in Adult Learning and Development. Currently, she leverages her professional and academic experience to support the development of global leadership, helping people work effectively and learn in complex, internationalized environments. She holds a Doctorate in Education.
Kaori Mizukoshi runs a private business specializing in developing global leadership skills. She works with individuals navigating cross-cultural environments, such as Japanese professionals collaborating with foreign colleagues or international employees working in Japan. Her work primarily involves one-on-one coaching and interactive workshops, rather than traditional lectures, emphasizing co-creation and team-building.
She uses both Japanese and English in her work, often switching to English when it is more comfortable for the participants. Currently, her daily communication is roughly two-thirds Japanese and one-third English, with professional research and family interactions frequently in English.
Kaori first encountered English in junior high school through mandatory classes, with no exposure to the language in elementary school. Growing up in a semi-rural area, she had little contact with non-Japanese. Her early English learning began simply with phrases like “This is a pen.”
Despite the initial excitement of connecting to a broader world through English, her classes quickly became repetitive exercises in grammar and spelling. Nevertheless, her childhood love for books and fascination with foreign cultures kept her motivated, even as formal study became laborious.
Before formally learning English, Kaori had a strong interest in Japanese language and literature. She frequently explored unfamiliar words while reading fiction and historical stories, asking her parents for clarification when needed. This approach nurtured a conceptual understanding of language and developed her curiosity, laying a foundation that later helped her learn English more effectively.
In junior high, she saw English grammar less as a language to absorb than as formulas to apply, almost like math problems. To her, it felt like solving puzzles or stacking blocks, piece by piece, to build correct sentences. Music, such as Beatles songs, provided small doses of enjoyment beyond academics.
High school, however, presented greater challenges. Attending a private school with many students who had studied abroad, Kaori struggled to keep up with peers’ advanced English. Teachers were often unprepared to meet the needs of all students, leaving her feeling behind and reinforcing a sense of English as a difficult subject. By the time she reached university, she had largely abandoned pursuing English seriously.
Kaori’s professional career reignited her English learning. After starting in the information systems industry, she encountered opportunities to work overseas. Initially, she used TOEIC and self-study tools like NHK’s Business English radio programs and ALC’s listening marathons to raise her score from roughly 500 to 700.
She also began reading English books for pleasure, choosing stories she genuinely enjoyed to keep herself motivated. This marked a shift from stacking blocks of grammar piece by piece to following the flow of a storyline, where she could fill in gaps through context and imagination. English gradually became less about assembling structures and more about using the language as a tool to explore new worlds.
Kaori’s first overseas assignment in Singapore involved managing IT systems for construction projects entirely in English. She approached this with a pragmatic mindset: understanding about 70% of interactions and filling in the rest. Support from her manager and colleagues allowed her to take initiative without needing perfection.
She developed strategies for managing communication risks, such as assuming she may not fully understand discussions and taking steps to prevent misunderstandings. This approach, coupled with a supportive environment, helped her gain confidence in using English professionally.
Kaori reflected on her approach to work: she never expects perfection but focuses on doing her best within the situation. Every project she tackled was in a new environment, and while she bore responsibility for completion, she learned how to hedge risks rather than avoid them entirely.
She emphasized the importance of her supportive work environment. Colleagues and managers would reassure her: “If anything happens, we’ll back you up.” While she always carried the burden of work herself, she was encouraged to raise the white flag before “sinking” alone. This consistent support gave her the courage to take bold steps and reminded her that, although responsibility rested on her shoulders, she was never truly on her own.
Kaori described a key strategy she developed: “Assume I haven’t heard everything.”
In construction-site meetings in English with multiple stakeholders—contractors, consultants, designers, and clients—she realized that nodding and smiling could be misinterpreted as full understanding. To mitigate risk, she explicitly informed others that she might not grasp everything and requested that critical instructions be addressed directly to her. She would then repeat back her understanding in her own words for confirmation.
This approach prevented misunderstandings, avoided unnecessary risk, and maintained trust with colleagues and clients, especially in fast-paced, multilingual contexts like Singapore. The multilingual, multicultural environment there made partial understanding acceptable, unlike monolingual English-native settings.
Kaori emphasized that trust in her relationships was built through honesty, openness, and awareness of risks. She viewed self-disclosure as natural and not a threat to her pride. Her pride lay in completing work responsibly, not in appearing flawless.
In Singapore, even workers with limited English could collaborate effectively, and fluency was not a source of pride. This allowed Kaori to focus on practical problem-solving rather than reputation management.
Upon moving to the U.S., Kaori joined a Japanese team within a mostly American company. While the English communication challenges were different, prior experience in Singapore helped her adapt. She highlighted cultural differences in business practices: Singapore’s Japanese-influenced construction culture had elements of trust familiar to her, whereas New York’s business environment required direct problem-solving, such as escalating to managers when clients were unresponsive.
Even in academia, she maintained her strategy of openly stating when she didn’t fully understand, gaining support from colleagues who respected her effort in a non-native language.
Kaori stressed the importance of expectation-setting — aligning what she understands with others’ expectations. She recognized that expectations exist on multiple levels: personal, organizational, and between colleagues or clients. Misalignment of expectations, often triggered by language or cultural differences, is common, but she treats these gaps as opportunities for action rather than as reasons to feel like a “victim.”
She explained that when situations become stuck due to uncertainty or unclear authority, she takes decisive action, even if it surprises others. She believes that acting proactively—even at the risk of temporary conflict—ultimately strengthens outcomes and relationships.
Kaori’s philosophy is grounded in the belief: “I can influence outcomes through my actions.” Even in challenging environments or when facing misalignments, she emphasizes taking initiative rather than waiting for circumstances to change. She acknowledges frequent mistakes and criticism along the way, but views these experiences as part of learning and growth.
Kaori’s approach combines responsibility, honesty, risk awareness, and proactive communication. She emphasizes that trust and effective collaboration come from openness, clarity, and action, rather than pretending to understand or passively waiting for solutions. Her strategies are applied across cultures, languages, and industries, and continue to guide her professional and personal growth.
