LeadGL Academy designs education that connects the classroom to the world outside it — through English,
leadership and entrepreneurship.
From secondary school students to working professionals,
we help people think and act authentically,
and build the capability to work with the world.
From the founder
The method came out of my own struggle with English
I hated English at school, and I was bad at it. I applied only to university faculties where English was not one of the entrance exam subjects. Then, in my second year of work, something changed: I wanted to be able to present my research in English and handle the questions that came after it.
I reorganized my week around one-to-one lessons and reached that goal in six months. That opened the door to a job in the United States. After many years leading teams and developing people at three global companies, I founded LeadGL to teach intercultural communication and leadership in English.
What we teach now is not a theory I read about. It is what I did myself, what learners in dozens of other countries do as a matter of course, and what the research on second language acquisition supports.
Why do people study English for ten years in Japan and still not use it? Because most of those years go into the wrong method. Language ability is not a talent you are born with. Anyone can reach a level that works globally.
The LeadGL Method makes English stick, because people use it on real work instead of studying it. Getting there takes a change in how you think, and enough practice to make it habit. That is what our workshops, real work and one-to-one sessions are all built to do.
Toshi Iwata — Founder and CEO, LeadGL Inc.
Vision
A future where Japanese people thrive in every corner of the world.
Mission
Empowering people to take the global stage.
Core Values
Integrity
Customer first
Do the right thing
Accountability
Respect for the individual, and for difference
Global objectivity
What we believe
We believe every person has something no one else has, together with a real wish to grow and to make things better for the people around them.
Education, at any stage of life, is what builds the capacity to find what you care about, act on it with purpose and integrity, and work with people beyond borders and job titles.
LeadGL Academy supports learners from secondary school through to working professionals as they grow into authentic leaders and global citizens: people who connect with others, influence them, and create value beyond their own culture.
How we teach
We develop authentic leaders with a global outlook: lifelong learners who think and act beyond borders, lead with empathy and purpose, and change things for the better.
What that takes: four capabilities
- English Communication & Influence Skills
Saying exactly what you mean in English, understanding the other person, and having real influence on what they decide.
- Authentic Leadership
Moving people and building something better, from who you actually are.
- Cultural Quotient
Reading values that are not your own, and building trust across the gap.
- Entrepreneurship
Finding the problem worth solving, executing creatively, and creating value.
Our method
We insist on using English, not studying it. Learners work on real problems, which is what turns knowledge into action, and build on it through 360-degree feedback, self-reflection and dialogue. It all runs on a single cycle, repeated until it sticks: try, think, act, assess, reflect, improve.
How English is acquired
English is not studied here; it is acquired by using it. We work on subjects people need and care about — their business, social problems, innovation — with the weight on comprehensible input, output that means something, and a real reason to be talking at all.
The methods we use are standard practice outside Japan, and they rest on second language acquisition research. What we have done is rebuild them for the reality inside Japan, where people study English for years and still cannot use it. The result is English that works as a tool for thinking and expressing yourself, and the confidence to use it.
We have written up exactly which second language acquisition research the method rests on, in two forms: a short plain-language guide, and an academic paper with full citations.
Realizing authentic leadership in every individual
The seed of leadership is in everyone. Through 360-degree feedback, self-reflection and dialogue, people come to understand themselves better and to act from their own values and strengths rather than a borrowed template.
On that foundation, students take on projects around social problems and innovation, and professionals take on their own work and their own organization — which is where learning turns into growth and contribution.
Learning by doing
Learning here runs on a cycle: try, think, act, assess, reflect, improve. It moves between theory and practice, keeps the learning tied to something real, and turns it into results.
Intercultural intelligence
Understanding another culture is not the goal; being able to operate in one is. Through research, collaboration and conversation with people doing the work, learners sharpen both empathy and strategic judgment — students by working alongside multicultural practitioners, professionals by making sense of their own experience.
Entrepreneurship in the age of AI
Entrepreneurship and authentic leadership are the two things AI cannot do for you. Students build the ability to create value for business and for society through projects; professionals build it through elective modules and their own company’s innovation work.
Leadership team
Our programs are designed and taught by people who have worked in both education and industry.
Founder and CEO
Toshi Iwata
English is not the goal. It is how you reach the rest of the world.
Leadership is not reserved for a certain kind of person. It is taking one step from your own values.
Working across cultures is no longer a specialism. It is a baseline.
Workplaces are going to keep getting more mixed. The people who can turn that difference into an advantage are the ones who will do well.
LeadGL exists to be the place where someone first thinks “I could do this too” — and then builds what it takes.
Profile
- GLOBIS University MBA (taught in English)
- Osaka Prefecture University BSc, Agricultural Chemistry
- 33 years of global technical leadership at P&G, Sumitomo Dow and BASF.
- Has given guest lectures at the National University of Singapore (NUS)
Director, Curriculum Supervisor
Becky Sanchez
We set out to design learning that is academically sound and still close to how children actually feel. I want a place where every child feels valued, recognizes their own worth, and steps out into the world with curiosity and some resilience.
And that every child who graduates from LeadGL leaves believing in what they could become.
Profile
- University of South Carolina — PhD candidate, Educational Practice and Innovation: Learning Design and Technologies
- GLOBIS University — MBA
- University of Oregon — MA, Language Teaching and Linguistics
- Western Oregon University — BA, Linguistics (English and Spanish)
- Over ten years as a university lecturer, curriculum developer, program director and teacher trainer.
- Speaks at international conferences and runs workshops in the United States, Japan, Korea, Cambodia, Thailand and Peru.
Director and Chief Financial Officer
Makoto Aso
I want children to think for themselves, choose for themselves and build their own future, rather than follow a track someone else laid down. I am convinced that capacity grows through English, authentic leadership and the ability to work across cultures. My job is to use what I know about finance and running a business to give LeadGL the foundation to become real educational infrastructure.
Profile
- GLOBIS University — MBA
- Keio University BA, Economics
Over 20 years at Bridgestone, a Fortune 500 company, at the center of finance, management control and business strategy in Japan and abroad — restructuring at home and overseas, M&A, financial strategy, management accounting, funding, and building out the FP&A function.
He has led organizations as CFO and GM, and since completing his MBA has run his own company, advising others on financial and growth strategy.
Company information
| Company | LeadGL Inc. | |
| Head office | Kuwano Bldg. 2F, 6-23-4 Jingumae, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0001, Japan | |
| Representative Director | Toshi Iwata | |
| Founded | 22 January 2024 | |
| Capital | JPY 4,000,000 | |
| Corporate number | Corporate Number: 2010001241755 | |
| Qualified invoice issuer number | T2010001241755 |