I read 『若手育成の教科書――サイバーエージェント式　人が育つ「抜擢メソッド」』曽山哲人（著） (“The Young Talent Development Textbook: CyberAgent’s ‘Promotion Method’ for Growing People” by Tetsuto Soyama), so I’ll share the insights I gained from the book.

Background: Recommended by a Famous Career Agent

I was recommended this book by a famous career agent and decided to read it.

Below are quotes and notes from the parts that left an impression on me.

Introduction: The Problem Every Company Struggles With: "Young People Don't Grow"

The most important thing in developing young talent is to build their confidence.

I want to be conscious of building confidence.

What's important for continuously increasing market value is becoming a person who can adapt to change. This is a quality demanded precisely because we live in an era of uncertainty. With confidence, people can boldly challenge work they've never done before. What's needed is confidence—specifically, well-founded confidence. Well-founded confidence can be described as something obtained after growth.

In an era of uncertainty, we need to become “people who can adapt to change.” For this, we need “well-founded confidence.”

Most companies think education comes first and conduct training in the name of education, but they rarely promote people afterward. This is a company's "nurturing" stance. Rather than that, promote first. In other words, "promotion" comes first. This is a stance where young people "grow" on their own.

I want to try the approach of hiring → promotion → self-direction → self-growth.

Naturally, I alone cannot develop 300 people. However, I can create an environment where 300 people can "grow themselves."

I want to create an environment for self-growth.

Part 1, Before Promotion: Creating an Atmosphere Where Young People Say "I Want to Do It" Chapter 1: People Grow Through "Let Them Say It, Let Them Do It"

Development exists to achieve results.

I don’t want to lose sight of this essential point.

The "self-direction cycle" consists of the following four elements: 1. Promotion: Being given expectations turns on the "self-direction switch" 2. Decision: Making a commitment. Increasing "decision-making experience" through one's own choices 3. Failure: Something indispensable for growth. Understanding it as a necessary process 4. Learning: Reflection to apply failure to the next experience. Preparation for the next stage

"Let them say it, let them do it" can be rephrased as declaration → approval, and this is the basic rule for young people to grow. What's important is that both supervisor and subordinate (leader and member) take their respective responsibilities. The supervisor has responsibility for the approval "I'm entrusting this work (role) to you," and the subordinate has responsibility for the declaration "I will do this work (role) of my own will."

Declaration → approval. Both parties take responsibility.

The more detailed micromanagement becomes, the more subordinates fall into thoughtless behavior.

I need to be careful about this.

• Openly talk about your own failures • Share team failure experiences

The last two are especially important. Talking about failures isn’t just about sharing information for accident prevention or recurrence prevention, like “near misses.” Particularly, when supervisors actively talk about their own failures, it makes subordinates feel “that person in charge also failed before, so it’s okay,” which is very effective from a psychological safety perspective for subordinates. Additionally, I recommend openly talking about failures because it conveys the supervisor’s personality and brings them closer to subordinates.

I want to consciously and actively share failure stories.

Part 2, Promotion: Young People Grow on Their Own When You Turn on the "Self-Direction Switch" Chapter 2: Promotion—"Setting Expectations" Makes Them Start Moving

"Promotion" has the following basic rules: Set expectations, let them say it, let them do it.

This is correct “promotion.” In other words, Expectation → Declaration → Approval These three steps constitute “promotion.”

I want to practice the basic rules of promotion.

"Since I promoted you as the person in charge, be careful about your behavior" "I want you to be humble because I want you to be a role model for others"

In essence, clearly tell them “don’t get carried away.” This is very important.

Communicate carefully to avoid misleading promotion.

What's important is "communicate briefly, simply, and say things that would make you happy to hear"—this is the key point. It stays in the listener's memory and becomes something they can tell others directly.

Promotion messages should be brief, simple, and pleasant.

Radar charts can only evaluate the abilities listed in the items.

Radar charts can only be used for understanding current status. I don’t refer to them much even now, but I want to be careful not to use them for future promotions.

1. Make goals "bite-sized" 2. Change the contribution vector from individual to organization

These two approaches are effective when practiced separately, but the most effective approach is mixing 1 and 2. In other words, “make the tasks small” while also assigning something that “enables team contribution.”

What people who don’t meet targets overwhelmingly lack is “success experience.”

First, help them accumulate small success experiences.

Chapter 5: Learning—Finding Issues and Connecting to the Next Promotion

Complaints are "stories about the past," but when you change those "complaints" into "issues" and think about how to solve the issues, they become "stories about the future."

Change complaints into issues and think toward the future.

That’s all from the Gemba regarding wanting to actively promote people.