Best of the Best Encore #39: Andrew Hankinson, President, Zwilling J.A. Henckels Japan

Best of the Best Encore #39: Andrew Hankinson, President,
Zwilling J.A. Henckels Japan

Originally released Feb 27, 2021






Andrew Hankinson is the President of Zwilling J.A.
Henckels Japan and host of the podcast Now and Zen.
Originally from Seattle, Washington, Mr. Hankinson’s
passion for Japan grew at a young age, having been
exposed to Japanese culture by family members living in
the country, leading him to learn the language from high
school. After briefly teaching English in Osaka, Mr.
Hankinson returned to Japan with a degree in
international business and Japanese language from the US.
He shortly began working at a Japanese department store
as a menswear buyer which he describes as an
“eye-opening” experience and a “great foundation to be
living and working in Japan.”


 


Mr. Hankinson’s next move was in the travel industry,
where he worked for a travel publishing company as a
salesperson. He explains the company to be “very flexible
and very open” as they originally hired Mr. Hankinson in
hopes of increasing innovation. Mr. Hankinson was quickly
able to gain the trust of the organization due to
achieving success early on where his suggestions led to
better results for the organization. Mr. Hankinson’s
first official leadership role was working as country
manager for a European-based office product company where
he managed seven employees. He describes his work there
as hands-on, especially with client facing aspects of the
organization.


 


Currently, as head of a much larger organization, Mr.
Hankinson leads about 250 employees. Mr. Hankinson says
jumping into an organization that he had no previous
knowledge of required lots of catching up, and building
trust with the people had its challenges. To overcome
this, Mr. Hankinson interviewed his staff in the Tokyo
office to build rapport and connect with them at a more
individual basis. In order to lead a much larger team,
Mr. Hankinson is mindful of the Japanese way of thinking
through group consensus. He explains: “if we do it all
together…[and] if it fails, nobody’s responsible.” He is
also conscious of fostering empowerment amongst his
employees to give them a safe space to express their
thoughts and encourage innovation. Mr. Hankinson also
leads through other managers by delegating to ensure
everybody is providing input to determine the direction
of the organization. The Japanese office of the global
kitchenware manufacturing company have introduced many
innovative products such as Japanese kitchen knives and
pots that have become popular on a global scale.


 


Mr. Hankinson sums up his ideals of leadership as being
able to “deliver results, have good people skills, being
engaged and having market intelligence,”


 


To newcomers leading in Japan, Mr. Hankinson advises to
enjoy travelling and exploring the culture and sharing
that with one’s team, which is a wonderful way to connect
with others on a human level. Secondly, Mr. Hankinson
advises to earn some “quick wins” as a fast-track way to
earn credibility and trust amongst Japanese staff when
trying to implement change. Thirdly, he recommends
finding the perfect balance between adapting to local
culture and retaining your personal management style in
order to find the best of both worlds.