46: Loic Rethore, North Asia President, Dyson

Japan's Top Business Interviews Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan

Loic Rethore, North Asia President of Dyson, shares his diverse background working in the consumer, luxury and premium goods industry across multiple countries including Japan, Australia, Korea and Hong Kong. Mr. Rethore originally developed a fascination with Japan after working as an intern in the Japan branch of L’Oreal. In order to stay in Japan, Mr. Rethore started working at LVMH Perfumes & Cosmetics, working for Givenchy as the North Asia Area Manager. He has then worked in Unilever as General Manager of the Asia Pacific region and Nespresso as Head of the Oceania region before coming into his current role at Dyson.

During his first few years as a leader, Mr. Rethore’s biggest challenge was building credibility and trust amongst stakeholders and his staff. In order to overcome this, Mr. Rethore tried to get to know people beyond just formal business meetings. He actively invited his team on lunches and held one-on-one conversations to establish a trusting relationship. Mr. Rethore also notes the importance of body language and introspection to overcome language and culture barriers. Working with a diverse group, Mr. Rethore provided insight on the different working style and relationship building between Japan, Korea and Hong Kong. For example, he notes that when doing business in Korea for Dyson, they are quick to buy the newest technology. On the other hand, in Japan, people are interested in high-tech brands but are more cautious and want to find out if the product suits their needs. When comparing Japan with other countries he’s worked in Mr. Rethore says: “I think the relationship to speed, but also the relationship to technology is [different].”

Mr. Rethore’s experience in Japan helped him develop skills that benefited him when leading in other countries. The experience gave him ability to be more inquisitive and talk to people in stores to gain a better understanding of consumers and the market. When coming back from Hong Kong to Japan during his time at Unilever, Mr. Rethore also discovered his leadership ability had grown as he had worked with staff and stakeholders from all over the world and was able to relate to a diverse group of people. In addition, he felt recognized as people understood he was adding value by bringing in emerging distributors and exporters in premium brands. Mr. Rethore also encouraged his team to question ideas and think outside of the box to increase the engagement level and overall performance.

When becoming the lead of Nespresso Japan, Mr. Rethore worked to bridge the gap between head office and Japanese leadership to find an agreed strategy. In order to gain trust from the Japanese side, he listened carefully to his team including the staff in the retail stores through one-on-one discussions and casual conversations. Furthermore, Mr. Rethore held workshops on organizational issues and in doing so, was able to form strategies in a collaborative way. He was also able to build new connections between his team and external organization as well, which helped expand the company’s network. As a result, during his time at Nespresso, Mr. Rethore was able to oversee the opening of the flagship Nespresso store in Omotesando, move Nespresso products to the more visible depachika (underground level of Department stores) and launched popular original products like combining champagne fruits with Nespresso Iced Coffee.

Working at Dyson, Mr. Rethore has built trust based on his previous leadership experience of open communication and collaboration as well as being a role model for others. In order for people to stay connected, Dyson has formed several virtual community groups similar to a Facebook group including a reading, cooking, and animal loving group. Dyson also hosts virtual café briefings which were held every week during the height of the COVID-19 crisis, and is still ongoing now. This briefing serves as the hub for information sharing and community building.

To newcomers arriving in Japan to lead, Mr. Rethore advises to “find that balance between pushing too much and pushing not enough. Managing change in a country like Japan, that's [going to] move slowly, sometimes requires a lot of persistence and energy.” He adds: “really work with [your team] and consider it as a journey.”