Profile of Hideyuki Sugawara

Hideyuki Sugawara

Professor of International Business
President, Academic Coaching Association
Founder, Silicon Valley Coaching Academy

While still a student, I co-founded the International Business Research Center, Inc. in Tsurumaki-cho, Waseda, Tokyo, together with my academic advisor, Professor Kenichi Enatsu (former Vice President of Waseda University). More than 30 years later, the company continues to operate successfully.

During my graduate studies, I served as Executive Managing Director, experiencing both the exhilaration and the harsh realities of management—including sudden business crises, bounced bills, and severe cash-flow shortages that at times forced me to rely on consumer loans.

At the same time, as a specialist in international business, I traveled extensively across North America, South America, Asia, Europe, and Africa, taking my first steps toward becoming a true global citizen. I have long since lost count of how many countries I have visited.

Pursuing business management and academic research in parallel, I completed the Ph.D. program at the Waseda University Graduate School.

During this period, I spent five years hospitalized while battling a serious illness. I held my student ID card for 11 years, but at the age of 31, I reluctantly stepped into professional life. Later, I had the privilege of studying under Yasushi Mieno, the 26th Governor of the Bank of Japan. Through shared meals and conversations, I was fortunate to learn world-class ways of thinking firsthand.

I conducted innovation research at Stanford University in Silicon Valley and at the University of Washington in Seattle, learning at the global frontier.
My primary field is international business, particularly BOP/SDGs Business, which tackles social issues in developing countries through business solutions. As a pioneer in this field, I appeared on NHK’s Close-up Gendai.

From my student days to the present, I have learned under seven mentors, including Professor Enatsu and Governor Mieno. Only later did I realize that they all shared a "coach-like" stance—treating others with gentle respect, listening deeply, and helping people generate insight and awareness.

Since 2005, I have conducted research on coaching and identified the limitations of conventional approaches. To transcend those limitations, I developed Coaching 3.0, integrating business theory under the concept of "everyday coaching"—a form of coaching that can be used naturally in daily life and work.

To bring this approach into education and business, I founded the Silicon Valley Coaching Academy in 2020—the only research-based coach training institution in Japan headquartered at a university.

Together with 40 trained coaches, I formed a coaching team that has provided pro-bono coaching to 500 university students as part of our social contribution activities.

Over 20 years at the university, I have advanced coaching research involving 5,000 participants, producing 10 academic papers and 5 e-books. I have also presented this research at Harvard University’s coaching conference and association.

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