The air stewardess who became president
Mitsuko Tottori (pictured) began her career as a member of the cabin crew at a Japanese airline in 1985. The company she worked for then was later absorbed by Japan Airlines. Now, aged 59, she is the company’s president. The seeds of her success were sown more than a decade ago in the aftermath of the carrier’s bankruptcy, says Reuters. It was the country’s biggest ever corporate failure outside the financial sector, and led to “sweeping organisational changes”, led by “God of management” and ordained
Buddhist monk, Kazuo Inamori, who turned the company around. Inamori, who died in 2022, was “disdainful of hierarchy and unquestioning obedience” and encouraged all his staff to “act as business leaders”. In a 2012 interview with the BBC, Inamori said Japan Airlines had been arrogant and did not care about its customers. But under his leadership, the airline started to promote people from frontline operations such as pilots and engineers, rather than from bureaucratic posts.
Tottori seized the opportunity and started to climb the ranks. “She may look quiet on the outside, but she has a strong core,” one executive at the airline said. “She speaks her mind firmly at meetings.” She became a senior manager of cabin safety in 2013 and took up her role as president in April. Her ascent has been hailed as a model for progressive change in corporate Japan, where opportunities for career advancement for women are still scarce and the gender pay gap among the worst in the G7. Tottori’s leadership will be “characterised by a deep understanding of aviation operations and a commitment to safety”, says CEO World magazine.
Her appointment may have “sent a shock wave” through the country’s corporate sector. But Tottori doesn’t like to think of herself as “the first woman” or “first former flight attendant” to get the role. “I want to act as an individual,” she told the BBC. Success, she says, is not just about the mindset of the corporate establishment, but about women’s attitudes too. It is “important for women to have the confidence to become a manager”, she says. “I hope my appointment will encourage other women to try things they were afraid of trying before.”