Aflac Incorporated (AFL.F)

How the first female executive of Aflac Japan was promoted

Dan Amos, the long time CEO of healthcare insurance company Aflac (AFL) prides himself on equality and diversity in the workplace. In Japan, where Aflac conducts close to 70% of its business, Amos was confused as to why women were not being promoted to executive leadership positions. He asked the senior leadership team in Japan to give him the names of qualified female candidates to promote. After two years of back and forth, the Japanese leadership at Aflac came back empty-handed. Amos then turned the tables and rejected a list of male promotions he was asked to sign off on. Amos says, “God touched them that night,” and they came back to him with a candidate. In 1997 Mikie Yumoto, became the first female senior vice president of Aflac Japan. For more on our Lead This Way series, click here, and tune in to Yahoo Finance Live for more expert insight and the latest market action, Monday through Friday. This post was written by Brian Vitagliano.