Rapidly Achieving Outstanding Performance

At a Glance

Cosmo’s Journey is to build Scalable Growth and Leadership Empowerment.

The Challenge

To build a scalable leadership structure and a vision for sustainable growth.

Cosmo Japan Co. Ltd, based in Kobe, Japan, was founded in 1996 by three ambitious leaders and quickly became known for reliability, personal service and expertise in export/import requirements.

Today, they export high-quality Japanese cars worldwide, celebrating nearly 30 years in the industry.

The Starting Point: A Desire To Evolve

Cosmo, a dynamic and forward-thinking company, recognised that to reach its next stage of growth, it needed to evolve from within. With rapid changes in the market and increasing internal demands, the company’s three founders were shouldering too much of the leadership load.

They saw a clear need to:

• Develop a strong senior leadership team to drive sustainable operations
• Free up the founders’ time to focus on strategic growth
• Clarify a bold vision for what the next 3 years could look like
• Invest in team development to help scale both people and performance

The Work

Building the Foundation for Self-Managing Success: Partnering in a structured transformation process. Cosmo took decisive steps to strengthen its foundation and empower its people.

In Year 1, they:

• Defined a compelling 3-year Vision for success
• Created a clear Year 1 Foundation Plan using the 1-3-5® planning methodology
• Identified and clarified the company’s key differentiators
• Conducted market assessments to target two new potential growth areas
• Built and nurtured a management team ready to evolve into a senior leadership team (SLT)
• Enabled team leaders to roll out their own 1-3-5® plans, boosting alignment and engagement
• Launched individual growth journey plans for team members across the organisation

The Impact: Growth, Clarity and Cultural Momentum

Despite operating in a tough market, Cosmo saw real progress:

• The business grew in its first year of transformation, defying market conditions
• A new management team emerged, easing pressure from the founders and beginning to lead alongside them
• Company-wide understanding and adoption of 1-3-5® delivering greater accountability
• Year 2 plans were critiqued and co-created with the full senior team, embedding a sense of ownership
• Ambitious growth targets were set confidently, focused on unit sales, turnover, and gross profit improvement
• Pilot team members received personalised feedback on their 1-3-5®s, accelerating learning and performance
• All onboarding and session materials were localised with Japanese subtitles, boosting access and adoption
• A Cosmo Growth Journey culture began to take hold, investing in people to reduce churn and raise performance
• A new ASEC (Awesome Service, Excellent Communication) culture was launched, putting the customer at the heart of everything Cosmo does
• A 60% improvement in alignment and engagement around the centralised purpose

Looking Ahead: The Confidence to Aim Higher

With a strong foundation in place, Cosmo is moving forward with clarity, energy, and confidence.

The company is on a journey not just of business growth, but of building a self-sustaining culture where leaders at every level are empowered to grow themselves, their teams, and the business.