ABOUT US
The High-Impact Coaching Alliance (HICA) is focused on serving as an educational, professional networking organization and knowledge base.
HICA is both industry-segment and industry-vertical agnostic, covering industries and verticals such as information technology, semiconductors, industrial, automotive, life science, pharma, fashion, consumer/FMCG, banking & finance, professional services as well as educational services, NGO's and government institutions.
Woven throughout the organization are the core principles of ethical coaching.
HICA is both industry-segment and industry-vertical agnostic, covering industries and verticals such as information technology, semiconductors, industrial, automotive, life science, pharma, fashion, consumer/FMCG, banking & finance, professional services as well as educational services, NGO's and government institutions.
Woven throughout the organization are the core principles of ethical coaching.
1. What Is The High-impact Coaching Alliance's Guiding Philosophy?

The High-Impact Coaching Alliance
Our ethics & guiding philosophy are fairly simple and can be boiled down to this.
Here It Is:
a. We view the world through a prism of abundance rather than scarcity.
b. Life and coaching is not and has never been a zero-sum game.
c. Short-term decision-making and short-sighted perspectives mean smaller payoffs.
d. We always strive to leave people (candidates, clients, co-workers, employees, employers, etc.) in a better place than where we initially found them.
Here It Is:
a. We view the world through a prism of abundance rather than scarcity.
b. Life and coaching is not and has never been a zero-sum game.
c. Short-term decision-making and short-sighted perspectives mean smaller payoffs.
d. We always strive to leave people (candidates, clients, co-workers, employees, employers, etc.) in a better place than where we initially found them.
2. Sustaining Companies / Sponsors / Volunteers

We'd like to recognize and thank SiliconEdge for their generous support in making the High-Impact Coaching Alliance's community and platform a reality as well as providing our event and meeting room space in the prestigious Shin-Marunouchi Building in Tokyo, Japan.
As we grow, we'll be holding some very informative and enjoyable networking events here and at other prestigious venues around the world.
As we grow, we'll be holding some very informative and enjoyable networking events here and at other prestigious venues around the world.
3. Board of Advisors
a) James Santagata (Co-Founder & Executive Director, Asia-Pacific Coaching Alliance):
As a Principal Consultant at SiliconEdge™ (High-Impact Communications & Leadership)and Career OverDrive!™ (A Platform for Career Acceleration & Expert Advice) as well as the editor of FirstPointJapan™ (Japan Market & Business Information Portal), James is a proven International Executive Coach and Leadership Development professional having deep US, Japan and Asia-Pacific Coaching, Training and Consulting experience coupled with hands-on business & technical expertise.
As a Principal Consultant at SiliconEdge™ (High-Impact Communications & Leadership)and Career OverDrive!™ (A Platform for Career Acceleration & Expert Advice) as well as the editor of FirstPointJapan™ (Japan Market & Business Information Portal), James is a proven International Executive Coach and Leadership Development professional having deep US, Japan and Asia-Pacific Coaching, Training and Consulting experience coupled with hands-on business & technical expertise.
Serving as the Executive Director of the Asia-Pacific Coaching Alliance (APCA), his role includes setting the strategic direction of the organization, creating original content, advising members and developing relationships with industry thought leaders globally. His biggest passion and joy, however, is found in helping others realize their true potential by guiding them as they move outside their comfort zone and onto their individual path to success.
James is also the creator of the highly-acclaimed Crush Any Interview!™ system and the world-changing Psychological Jujutsu™ (published by ImpactEQ™). Psychological Jujutsu™ is a high-impact communication system utilizing influence, persuasion, negotiation, assertiveness and leadership skill sets across numerous communication and real world situations. |
James holds a BS, Business/Marketing (Magna Cum Laude; Distinction in Field) from San Diego State University and attended the MBA program at University of Southern California. Originally from California, he has chosen to base himself in Tokyo, Japan since 2006.
View James' Professional Profile On LinkedIn.
View James' Professional Profile On LinkedIn.
b) Hank Chin (Co-Founder & Director, Asia-Pacific Coaching Alliance / Expert Personal Branding and Career Consultant):
Hank is the No.1 certified job campaigner and personal branding strategist in the Chinese-speaking world, having earned 5 career-related credentials and prides himself on high customer satisfaction. Using achievable methods, he assists small- and mid-sized business owners in constructing their personal brands, fulfilling their career goals and broadening their business opportunities with a clear “who-I-am”. |
In Hank's own words:
Perhaps like you, I was confused before about who I am and my career. In the beginning, I majored in social work assisting my clients to regain their normal lives through my skill sets in counseling, communication, empathy, resources connecting and son. I found, however, that the core element necessary to effectively help my clients was the ability to trigger them to know who they are and teach them how to differentiate themselves (this is where marketing kicks in).
Therefore, I naturally took the initiative to undertake double majors in social work and marketing, enabling me to help my clients with comprehensive thinking and diverse marketing skills.
After graduation, I entered the real business world and luckily, I was let go due to cultural conflicts. I can tell you that I will always remember very clearly the feeling that morning after losing my job: I felt dumped and confused about who I was and where I was to go.
Honestly speaking, I REALLY didn't and don’t like that feeling; however, I must say getting fired when you are young like I was is always a GOOD thing. As I tackled this challenge, the social-worker side of me supported me so that I could recover soon while the marketing part told me I should be positioning myself for success. It also help me prepare marketing campaigns to seek my future employment.
After overcoming my own challenges, I entered a world-class company during the economic crash to become a brand lecturer and product manager, marketing a product that was named the innovative product by Fast Company (Nissan LEAF).
Although I marketed the most innovative product in the word, I was always searching for an opportunity to combine and contribute my experience and knowledge to real human beings. Suddenly, I found many people around the world, just like "previous" me, that didn’t know who they are nor how to acquire a job that suits them.
So, I quit my job and became who I am now.
I can TRULY feel your pain and nervousness since I have also been there. After determining to be a career professional, I joined a couple of internationally renowned organizations and was proud to be professionally certified to solidify my knowledge and commitment to helping others and improving the industry.
Now, I am very satisfied with my work, having found the purpose of my life: helping my clients fulfill their dreams and career goals. You can definitely count on me to build your personal brand and advance you career because I am not a theorist but a practitioner who has helped and coached myself as well as my clients to successfully grab their dream jobs and step up their career.
You will be treated the same when we work together.
In 2013, Hank authored the No.1 LinkedIn book in the Chinese-speaking world, guiding people how to connect with more international talent and opportunities as they further their career goals in a digital way. This recent accomplishment gave him a lot of pride and continues to motivate him to keep doing his best to make each professional have a wonderful career and realize their dreams.
I “LOVE” my job and hope you do to!
View Hank's Professional Profile On LinkedIn
Perhaps like you, I was confused before about who I am and my career. In the beginning, I majored in social work assisting my clients to regain their normal lives through my skill sets in counseling, communication, empathy, resources connecting and son. I found, however, that the core element necessary to effectively help my clients was the ability to trigger them to know who they are and teach them how to differentiate themselves (this is where marketing kicks in).
Therefore, I naturally took the initiative to undertake double majors in social work and marketing, enabling me to help my clients with comprehensive thinking and diverse marketing skills.
After graduation, I entered the real business world and luckily, I was let go due to cultural conflicts. I can tell you that I will always remember very clearly the feeling that morning after losing my job: I felt dumped and confused about who I was and where I was to go.
Honestly speaking, I REALLY didn't and don’t like that feeling; however, I must say getting fired when you are young like I was is always a GOOD thing. As I tackled this challenge, the social-worker side of me supported me so that I could recover soon while the marketing part told me I should be positioning myself for success. It also help me prepare marketing campaigns to seek my future employment.
After overcoming my own challenges, I entered a world-class company during the economic crash to become a brand lecturer and product manager, marketing a product that was named the innovative product by Fast Company (Nissan LEAF).
Although I marketed the most innovative product in the word, I was always searching for an opportunity to combine and contribute my experience and knowledge to real human beings. Suddenly, I found many people around the world, just like "previous" me, that didn’t know who they are nor how to acquire a job that suits them.
So, I quit my job and became who I am now.
I can TRULY feel your pain and nervousness since I have also been there. After determining to be a career professional, I joined a couple of internationally renowned organizations and was proud to be professionally certified to solidify my knowledge and commitment to helping others and improving the industry.
Now, I am very satisfied with my work, having found the purpose of my life: helping my clients fulfill their dreams and career goals. You can definitely count on me to build your personal brand and advance you career because I am not a theorist but a practitioner who has helped and coached myself as well as my clients to successfully grab their dream jobs and step up their career.
You will be treated the same when we work together.
In 2013, Hank authored the No.1 LinkedIn book in the Chinese-speaking world, guiding people how to connect with more international talent and opportunities as they further their career goals in a digital way. This recent accomplishment gave him a lot of pride and continues to motivate him to keep doing his best to make each professional have a wonderful career and realize their dreams.
I “LOVE” my job and hope you do to!
View Hank's Professional Profile On LinkedIn
c) Kim Pedersen (Business and Working Environment Consultant):
Kim is a truly multicultural person with extensive experience living, working and doing business in and with Japan over the last 40 years. He is trilingual with native Danish and Japanese abilities as well as possessing fluent English. He also holds an export and marketing degree from the Danish Export Institute. Kim has been working under both Japanese and Danish working environment (WE) at several different levels ranging from being employed as a commercial attaché at the Royal Danish Embassy, being a manager in a Japanese company as well as running his own businesses in Japan and Denmark. |
The Danish WE is often considered one of the best in the world. Conversely, many may consider the Japanese WE to one of the worst among the developed countries. Very few people are aware of how tough it can be to work in a Japanese company under Japanese WE conditions. Moreover, not many foreign companies are aware of the actual Japanese labor laws and what legal risks they may be facing. Complying with the Japanese labor laws is one thing. Beyond that and just as important if not more so is learning how you can provide a WE that will make your Japanese employees satisfied and happy, enabling and motivating them to be as productive as possible and to produce the most value for your company.
Contrary to popular opinion, most Japanese do not work so hard and late into the night because they want to. Instead, they often feel they have no other choice. And this can and often does lead to reduced productivity and lower employee satisfaction and engagement.
Let us help you find a few simple WE improvements by uncovering what your Japanese employees really think and would never ever share with you.
Having seen and experienced both WE and having seen how beneficial a sound and healthy WE can be (as well as how damaging a bad WE can be) Kim has devoted much of his time to try to improve the Japanese WE through the launch and operations of roukan.com (and roukan.jp for the Japanese version).
Roukan.com is based solely on employee input making possible for employees to give their honest opinion and feelings.
You have the opportunity to take advantage of this system right now. Don't delay!
Contrary to popular opinion, most Japanese do not work so hard and late into the night because they want to. Instead, they often feel they have no other choice. And this can and often does lead to reduced productivity and lower employee satisfaction and engagement.
Let us help you find a few simple WE improvements by uncovering what your Japanese employees really think and would never ever share with you.
Having seen and experienced both WE and having seen how beneficial a sound and healthy WE can be (as well as how damaging a bad WE can be) Kim has devoted much of his time to try to improve the Japanese WE through the launch and operations of roukan.com (and roukan.jp for the Japanese version).
Roukan.com is based solely on employee input making possible for employees to give their honest opinion and feelings.
You have the opportunity to take advantage of this system right now. Don't delay!