The Elegant Manager Episode 2: Elegance at 0.5x Speed 

The Elegant Manager Series 

This isn’t about speaking slowly.

It’s about how “elegance” becomes a moving target when someone wants control.

“Slow Down” Training

This is a story from when I used to work for a well-known Japanese company—let’s call it Sinclair Japan Holdings (a pseudonym).

The manager there was… quite something.

She had an intense obsession with “elegant” customer service and “refined” speech.

One day, while I was answering a phone call, she gave me this feedback:

“You speak too fast.

If you want to sound elegant, you must speak more slowly and more carefully.”

So from the next call onward, I consciously slowed down a little.

Still, she said, “Too fast.”

And honestly, I thought I was speaking really slowly.

So I slowed down even more.

Her verdict?

“Still too fast.”

Then she decided to demonstrate the “correct” speed.

And it went like this:

“Thaaaank… yooou… for… caaalliiing.

Thiiis… iiis… Siiinclair… Japaaaan… Hooooldings…”

Like she was speaking in 0.5x slow motion.

And the best part?

She NEVER talked that slowly on the phone herself.

For a second I thought she was joking, but she was completely serious.

Of course, I couldn’t say,

“That’s… a bit too slow.”

So on the next call, I tried speaking at her “elegant” speed:

“Thaaaank… yooou… for… caaalliiing.

Thiiis… iiis… Siiinclair… Japaaaan… Hooooldings…”

She nodded proudly beside me.

Apparently this was “correct.”

But halfway through, the woman on the other end snapped:

“Can you PLEASE talk faster? I’m in a hurry!”

So I apologized and switched back to a normal speed.

When I hung up and glanced at my manager, she said:

“That was too slow. You overdid it.”

…She’s the one who told me to do it. 💢