Takeshi Ishii

When Dai-Ichi Life Insurance Company transferred Takeshi Ishii to the United States, he decided to take advantage of the opportunity by pursuing an Executive MBA program at NYU. Because his initial experience and education in Asia were in science, Takeshi chose Stern to expand his financial knowledge and his understanding of international business practices.

As a vice president of Dai-ichi Life Insurance Company, the second largest Japanese life insurer, Takeshi takes a leading role in the management team responsible for overseeing investment policies and seeking opportunities for the acquisition of U.S. life insurance companies. The acquisition opportunities under Takeshi ‘s management involve complex issues requiring input from finance, legal, IT, operations, and underwriting. This means that he spends much of his time working with groups, and the outcomes depend on the effectiveness of the team.  At Stern, he is part of another team – his Executive MBA study group. Takeshi explains how the group has helped him refine the skills he needs to make his work teams more productive: “Collaborating with my classmates, who are talented and have international experience, and discussing situations in their careers, has given me practical and helpful solutions for my own job.”

Takeshi is even improving skills in areas where he thought he had expertise.   He negotiates with clients, supervisors, and other parties almost every day, but following Professor Seth Freeman’s Collaboration, Conflict & Negotiation class, he thought about what a negotiation really is for the first time. The class provided not only practical concepts and a template for a successful negotiation, but also opportunities to test them through simulations with classmates.  The practice negotiations with management level classmates from different industries were the perfect trial for Takeshi‘s new skills. “Because many of my peers are leaders in their businesses, working with them has shown me how to become a more successful leader.”