BMSA Leaders in the Spotlight – Tadashi Masamune, CEO

This feature article is part of a series of three profiles on very experienced leaders within Bridgestone Mining Solutions Australia. Their skills, commitment and drive not only enrich the Australian operation, they each seek to inspire our teams and make a positive contribution to the overall success of the business.

BMSA’s newly appointed CEO, Tadashi Masamune, follows on from the highly regarded Gerry Duffy, who steered us through the difficult COVID years and retired in August 2023 after 36 commendable years.

Tad-san has held a variety of senior management roles with Bridgestone in Japan across a number of business units prior to his commencement with BMSA in March 2023 as Deputy Chief Executive Officer and then three months later, CEO.

His roles since joining Bridgestone Japan in 1999 have spanned Corporate Planning, Operations, Financial Direction, and Business Planning Development. In 2017 and then 2019, he was appointed Manager and then General Manager at Bridgestone HQ of the Olympics & Paralympics Tokyo-2020 Project which he handled with energy and efficiency. Over the years, Tad-san has earned a reputation as a progressive innovator with a forward-thinking approach to business leadership.

1. When did you start as CEO at BMSA and what attracted you to take the role?

I was truly privileged to work with Gerry-san during the handover period from April 2023. Officially I took on the CEO role from June, but until Gerry’s last day, we spent time working closely together, facing some difficulties, but most of the time enjoying interacting with the BMSA team. Since joining the Bridgestone Corporation in Japan in 1999, I have been seeking opportunities to embark on new things to challenge and grow. To lead and manage an organisation is the ultimate responsibility and a big challenge for me and I am thrilled to take this on in Australia.

2. What are your top three goals for the next 12 months?

• Zero safety accidents, and creating a strong safety-oriented culture and mindset.
• To visit on-site, meet in person, and communicate with as many teammates as possible.
• By leveraging Bridgestone’s global strength, I want to further grow our business with creative and innovative solutions to contribute to our customers and society, especially with environmental initiatives.

3. What have been a couple of your most recent positions within the Bridgestone group?

Before this role I was in the business planning function of global Off the Road tyre business in our Tokyo headquarters. This included tyre and solution sales planning covering the entire range of tyre products not for public roads as well as it covering global markets.

Until August 2020, I was the Project Manager for Activation of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics & Paralympics. It was a completely different role for me in Bridgestone and a really unique and interesting experience. Due to COVID-19, the project was almost cancelled four months before the Games and I completed the re-kick-off of the project after the IOC made the decision to postpone the Games a year into 2021.

4. What do you see as the major challenges facing our industry over the next five years?

Fundamentally, how to adapt to ongoing changes happening and expected to happen in coming years. The move towards sustainability in society such as de-carbonisation, electrification, and the transition to renewable energy, is affecting our industry’s demand for ore as well as how our work is done. Competition between companies and countries is also getting more complex and severe and more productivity competitiveness will be another key challenge.

Another challenge is that in five to ten years, many knowledgeable and experienced people in the industry will be retiring while many young people are not interested in joining the industry, so there will be a knowledge drain. As far as the tyre industry in Australia is concerned, I see reusing, reducing, and recycling tyres as resources being major challenges to every business

5. Do you have a motto in life, and a favourite quote that keeps you positive?

I have several favourites. One is “Ji To Myo, Ho To Myo” which was the actual words of the Buddha's teachings, meaning that “Rely on yourself. Enlighten your inner self. At the same time, we must rely on the truth.” Another one is “Stay hungry. Stay foolish,” which was originally the words from the Indian non-fiction author, but become famous by being quoted in a famous speech by Steve Jobs at Stanford University. Also, “Learn from yesterday, live for today, hope for tomorrow. The important thing is not to stop questioning,” by Albert Einstein. For me, it’s important to be curious and interested in everything and to challenge conventional ideas, even if they are considered ‘common sense’.

"For me, it’s important to be curious and interested in everything and to challenge conventional ideas, even if they are considered ‘common sense’."

6. Were you mentored earlier in your career? If so, what have been some of the benefits of that?

Yes, when I joined Bridgestone, I was actually mentored by my direct reporting manager at the time. I am so grateful, as he showed how the job should be done properly by instructing me to watch and learn. I was truly lucky because my mentor was exactly the perfect role model for me to follow. He did not teach me in any detail, but consistent gave me the opportunity to practice with him.

Some work seemed boring and not productive or contributing much to management, but the principle I followed at the initial stage was based on the “Shu, Ha Ri” principle in martial art. “Shu” means ‘to keep’, “Ha” means ‘to fall’ and “Ri” means ‘to break away’. So basically, it’s follow the rules, break the rules, transcend the rules. Now I understand the importance of this, which can be applied to broad aspects of expertise or professional fields. I believe it’s critical in building a satisfying professional career.

7. What’s the best piece of advice you have ever been given?

“When two paths open before you, take the harder one. When you fall down, fall in the sunshine, not in the shade”. This advice was from my direct boss when I was around 30 years old, just before I moved to Thailand for my next assignment. He knew it would be a tough job, but expected me to face the adversity positively as new challenges for me to grow. Good things will not continue forever while bad things won’t either. This kind of positive thinking gave me great power to stretch myself to embark on new challenges.

8. What advice would you like to give others at the company who are at an earlier stage of their career?

Focus on what's in front of you and just do what you can. At an earlier stage in your career, it’s not always easy to have a holistic view. However, this would be a great opportunity for you to gain deep knowledge in real on-site operations. So you can learn and obtain real business insight in some specific area. You can be the best person in the company to understand the actual business situation in that specific area. This will give you absolute strength in your career. When you are still starting out, you cannot imagine how what you are currently doing will be enriching your career. Yet when you are at a mature stage of your career, you can look back and understand just how these experiences enriched your professional expertise.

9. How do you juggle the sometimes competing demands of Work, Life and Family?

Personally, I’m very fortunate to have a very understanding and supportive wife. When work and life is competing, I consider the importance and necessity of life requirements, then prioritise this and come up with good solutions to win/win in both work and life. I try not to consider this as ‘sacrifice’, but rather a ‘solution’. Also ‘on’ and ‘off’ is sometimes ambiguous for me and I try to enjoy both times without thinking of having clear-cut divides. Something learned from life will help my work and vice versa. I value both.

10. What are a couple of interesting facts about you that no-one at BMSA would know?

I enjoy sports driving, sometimes at racing circuits, with my Honda Type R hatch. I’ve been driving these for more than ten years before I moved to Australia. On the way back home, sometimes I’m really excited to see people driving 20+ year old models of the Type R which they have done up to look like a new car.

When I was a junior high school student, I won some Tetris Game competitions at big EXPO events. I was a really skilled Tetris player, but not a gamer at all. Also, when in Japan, my hidden nickname was ‘Yoshiki Masamune’ named after a famous Japanese hard-rock band artist. And I love singing various song genres at Karaoke, but have not done so for three years due to Covid-19. I must do it again soon.