Partner

Teppei Tanino

LEGAL, TOKYO

Independent Agent

ASK ME ABOUT

How rock stole my soul from Kendo, how Hollywood superstar Kevin Spacey almost saw me perform (twice), and my Anglophile penchant for painting in a park with my socks off.

AND FOR THE REST OF THE STORY

Teppei got his start in legal when a Tokyo-based recruiter friend suggested he consider executive search as a career. After several years at another firm, he decided to come on at Zensho for the superior work environment. “I like to focus on business instead of politics,” says the Hiroshima native. “Robin and the other crew members really respect each other. I couldn’t think of moving except to Zensho.” Teppei is one of those rare left and right brain guys, both practical and artistic, just as happy navigating the complexities of a deal as he is painting or writing songs on his guitar. He credits the time he spent living among musicians in the parks and pubs of London with changing forever the way he approaches people: the trust his colleagues, clients and candidates put in him tells us it was for the better, too. Teppei brings new life and energy to the tribe, as well as a native business sensibility – invaluable in our competitive industry.

Linkedin   |   tanino@zenshoagency.com

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Values: A message to our awesome tribe

Years from now, you may not remember the particulars of deals you closed at Zensho (or what the returns were). You will remember your colleagues and how it felt to work with them. The imprint you left on the world.

We invited you to join our tribe because you impressed us as someone who shares values intrinsic to our culture. But just to ensure we’re totally on the same page, here they are, spelled out in black and white and trimmed in our corporate colors.

Freedom is Zensho’s central pillar. Beyond the mere state of being free, for us the word carries with it a sense of obligation: “Freedom to…” What follows should define you as a person. Of course, to provide your business community with amazing service, but also to engage and give back to the world. And that’s where Autonomy comes in. Unlike the general implications of self-rule, ours leads not to detachment but to a broad and radical sense of interconnectivity. One that enables each of us to commune with others in infinite ways. Together, these two values empower you like nothing else on earth, and they’re here waiting for you.

So, what do we ask in return?

Transparency means not only having open books, but being one yourself. No secrets or ulterior agendas. It is to share personal and industry information without seeking to leverage it for profit or motivate others in any way. Its cousin, Clarity, is about including precision and context in the communication process. At Zensho, we always try to anticipate the details a fellow partner might need and supply them up front.

Which leads us to…

Collaboration. That is, to cooperate meaningfully. Because only through recognizing individual strengths can we thrive as a whole. For us, collaboration requires presence as we listen and respond, evolving toward a collective goal represented by the name of our charity initiative: Ayni (reciprocity). This can’t exist without Collegiality. How we care for each other and the tribe as a whole, share both opportunity and responsibility with open hearts – that’s what empowers us to excel as a firm.

With these six in place, our seventh value happens all by itself.

Harmony. When your environment manifests balance between all people and things – even forces that oppose each other – life just flows. Living completely becomes a state of being. After all, that’s the very meaning of Zensho.