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How Aflac Japan’s first female executive was promoted
Dan Amos, longtime CEO of health insurer Aflac (AFL), prides himself on equality and diversity in the workplace. In Japan, where Aflac conducts about 70% of its business, Amos was confused as to why women were not being promoted to executive leadership roles. He asked the senior leadership team in Japan to provide him with names of qualified candidates for promotion. After two years of back and forth, the Japanese leadership at Aflac returned empty-handed. Amos then turned the tables and rejected a list of men’s promotions he was asked to sign. Amos says, “God touched them that night,” and they came back to him with a candidate. In 1997, Mikie Yumoto became the first female senior vice president of Aflac Japan. To learn more about our Lead This Way series, click here and tune in to Yahoo Finance Live for more expert insights and the latest market action, Monday through Friday. This post was written by Brian Vitagliano.