Challenge

When I was in the third year of the junior high school, I competed in the high jump at the sports festival of Meguro-ku (ward). I was in basketball team for tree years but the track and field athletics was not my specialty. One week before the tournament, my teacher suggested me to try the high jump because he knew that I had a jump power.

 

My friends who belonged to the track and field athletic team showed me the technic of high jump such as rollover and belly roll, but I just jumped from the front like a jump for hurdles because it was the first time for me to try the high jump. I was chosen with a good luck as one of the athlete, to compete as a high jumper in the sports festival among the 12 junior high schools in the ward, which was held at the Komazawa Olympic stadium.

 

I remember that the day of the competition was a fine weather. I was in the field and felt very good mood seeing the cheerleaders using the color signs in the auditorium of the stadium. The game started and the jumpers of the other schools were clearing the bar with the great forms, and after I cleared the 1m60cm, I was waiting for the other jumpers but no one cleared it and I won.

 

I might have jumped more higher if other players could have cleared the 1m60cm, but I could not clear the higher bar because I lost my target and the other competitors. I also strongly realized at the practice that I could not jumped higher if there was not a bar. It made me think that we can demonstrate our abilities when we challenge to the target.

 

After starting my job career, I tried to challenge with a clear target when working. Once in October, I was given a mission to construct the global network within a three months period.

 

Everybody believed that it was impossible to complete the project within three months, but I set a clear target to be completed on the January 23 (namely 123) and I shared the target with all the team members and partners such as equipment vendors. As a result, I was able to complete the project and start the service on the January 23.

 

Later I heard this story, that the president of the equipment vendors was hitting the desk with a voice out loud saying “123, 123” to promote the project.

 

In another occasion, as a part of the global business expansion, I was given a mission to expand the business of the region. I set the target to triple the sales in three years. So I conducted myself the personal interviews with all local staff members and gave more responsibilities to them and we achieved three times sales and profitability in three years.

 

After successfully completing my mission, at my farewell party before returning to Japan, one of the local staff told me that nobody believed in a such an aggressive target to boost the sales three times in three years but at the end, I was able to achieve the target. So they asked me why I set up such an aggressive target and it was a great fun to explain why. Because of my name “Mikami” written in Japanese character mean “three times i.e. Three Up” if translated directly to English, and that is why I did so.