In the journey of climbing the leadership ladder, ups and downs are inevitable. When difficult situations arise, staying calm under pressure while staying true to your vision is a trait that has historically molded successful business leaders—these are qualities that aspiring leaders must master in their pursuit of leadership excellence and to separate themselves from the ordinary.
Takahisa Karita is a perfect example of such an extraordinary leader. With vast experience in business alliances, developments, and numerous industries, he has been an instrumental figure in the business world across Japan, Asia, Europe, and the United States—making him one of the most visionary leaders to follow in 2024.
Two Sides of the Coin: Positive and Negative
Before graduating from college, Takahisa Karita joined a girls’ volleyball team as a coach and planned to work as a teacher at the same school in Japan after graduation. However, after noticing numerous athletes going through injuries during practice, he planned to become a sports doctor.
To pursue this profession, he studied in a vocational school in Japan and then in the United States at a University. However, he had to return to Japan after his father’s company went bankrupt. He then worked as a sports trainer for a professional sports club, a business sports group, and a high school. With a hunger to return to work, Takahisa’s father started a new venture where a 25-year-old Takahisa joined as a director, beginning his career as a business leader and an entrepreneur.
In his illustrious career, he has encountered countless ‘aha moments,’ positive and negative.
Takahisa Karita quickly understood the importance of staying true to his identity and making suitable management decisions. He learned that with this approach, he could gather many like-minded people to move the business toward prosperity.
Going against the tide, during the product development process at one of the companies he was managing, he did not opt for a typical packaging style, adopting a bold design that directly appealed to the consumers. Despite strong opposition within the company, Takahisa launched the product based on his conviction. In just 24 hours, the company exceeded the previous annual sales, marking an unforgettable experience.
He also went through some negative experiences, realizing that despite the smooth management, there will be some unfavorable situations. When his company was about to go public, the entire world was shocked by the Lehman collapse. A sudden abolishment of the underwriting department meant that he had to abandon its listings and sell the company. While it was out of the blue, Takahisa Karita also learned valuable life lessons from such experiences.
Following His Own Path
Modern leaders are defined by three primary qualities:
- The ability to maintain balance to improve the accounting profits and the company’s own stock price while keeping the stakeholders content.
- In the VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity, and Ambiguity) Era, don’t be afraid of change and evolve constantly.
- Even during uncertain times, a leader’s thoughts and policies remain the same, even if strategies and tactics are flexible.
“As a business leader, I always try to stay calm and not get emotional. When I am unsure about a business decision, it is very important to believe in my own identity and follow my own path.”
Crafting a Better Future
With his vast experience managing multiple companies, Takahisa Karita is currently involved in Unify Platform AG, a company founded in 2019 in the canton of Zug, Switzerland. The company operates and develops UNIPLAT, an online platform that supports entrepreneurs and researchers aiming to solve SDGs (Sustainable Development Goals).
These goals were set at the United Nations Sustainable Development Summit held in September 2015, where leaders from over 150 countries were involved in deciding the agenda till 2030—the deadline year to achieve the SDGs consisting of 17 general goals and 169 specific goals.
Distinctive UNIPLAT Services
While UNIPLAT offers numerous services, the one that sets the company apart is its credit rating for entrepreneurs and researchers. Through objective evaluation of the activities of entrepreneurs and researchers, rankings get posted daily, making it easier for the supporters to consider support for specific individuals.
Next is the PreIP service, which converts live-streaming archives, videos, and documents uploaded by entrepreneurs and researchers into NFTs, issued with a certificate of ownership. It allows entrepreneurs and researchers who do not wish to pay patent-related and other fees to showcase their content to a larger demographic while protecting their content rights.
Developed in collaboration with a cutting-edge Japanese AI development company Timewitch, UNIPLAT offers a generative AI that automatically creates business plans. By leveraging this technology, even individuals who have never presented a proposal can create high-quality business plan presentations from the investor’s perspective.
Setting a Milestone
Started in September 2021, the UNIPLAT platform has 120000+ members from 136 countries, 85 business partners, and 54 advisory board members of supporters as of January 2024. Notably, 20000 members who want to solve the SDGs come from Generation Z, a number unheard of on any other platform globally.
As a milestone for this year, UNIPLAT aims to partner with 100 businesses and 100 advisory board members. Its current business alliance partner is the Group of Nations, which publishes official magazines for international summits such as the G20, G7, APEC, EUTECH as cofounded by EU, IFIA, and Silicon Valley Investclub.
Challenges along the Journey
The spread of AI, the development of quantum computers, and the worries of cyber security are the primary challenges of modern business leaders. As a result, leaders must increase their knowledge related to technology to outshine the traditional systems. As software technology advances, developing and securing hardware that can operate in sync with the software is crucial.
Maintaining and managing their confidential data is imperative when providing products and services to customers. Moreover, complying with regulations such as GDPR that originated from the EU and applies to each country.
The most vital issue is countermeasures against climate change. To tackle this, Takahisa emphasizes that each individual must take the initiative and lead all stakeholders (shareholders, employees, business partners, local communities, and governments) to address these issues.
“Timely measurement of carbon emissions and reduction of carbon emissions will be required not only by companies but also by each individual.”
Every big dream starts with small steps, and dreams do come true. Takahisa Karita wants young leaders to think freely and honestly to promote businesses that are their calling, regardless of geo-economical conditions, gender, age, culture, or religion.
| Website: https://unify21.com / https://www.uniplat.social/ |
| Industry: Technology/Information/Internet |
| Company size: Employees 11 – 50 people |
| Main office: Zug |
| Founding: 2019 |
| Specialized field: Research, Information platform, venture support, Researcher support, education, streaming video, donation, credit rating, blockchain, SDGs, data management, Connectivity, Artificial Intelligence, Social Media, Marketing Science, Open computing, Mobile connectivity, New Media, IT service. |
QUICK FACTS ABOUT THE LEADER: TAKAHISA KARITA
ROLE AT UNIPLAT
He is the co founder and the international spokesperson of UNIPLAT.
MAINTAINING THE WORK-LIFE BALANCE
Takahisa Karita takes two or at least one day of rest every week. To do this, he turns off his smartphone and avoids work communications entirely.
HOBBIES
His hobbies are reading various work-related and other books. He also enjoys walking his dog.
ROLE MODELS
Takahisa Karita’s role model is Mr. Bill Gates. He admires Bill Gates for his information-gathering abilities, data-analysis skills, and ability to predict the future.
SIGNIFICANT INDUSTRIES
Education, IT, Web3.0, finance, Pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, and more.
