107: Peter Cammaerts, Managing Director, AB InBev, Japan

Peter Cammaerts is currently the Managing Director, AB InBev in
Japan. Mr. Cammaerts is originally from Belgium. He studied in
Leuven in Belgium, which is still where AB’s headquarters are
located. He started working at AB as a student and worked in
different positions first as a sales rep where he was visiting
stores and ensuring good store execution and then moved up into
different positions in Belgium. After 9 years in Belgium, he
moved to France before relocating to Japan in 2020 for his
current role with AB InBev.


 


Mr. Cammaerts says he builds trust with his team by showing his
effort to learn Japanese and the culture to ensure that he is
invested in the team in Japan. He tries to run the company as if
it is his own business, which shows ownership to the firm. He
also tries to connect with the team by holding 30 minute one on
one conversations with all 70 of the staff members. During COVID,
these conversations were held on Zoom, and he believes that they
helped in building a trusting relationship. Additionally,
delivering results was another big factor in establishing
credibility. Mr. Cammaerts explains that  if people can see
the results, they are more passionate and more likely to work
hard on those projects. Similarly, they will not be as passionate
if they don’t see the results materializing.


 


Mr. Cammaerts would advise a new person coming into Japan to try
and learn Japanese if they are willing and able to invest the
time. Mr. Cammaerts also light-heartedly suggests learning golf
before coming to Japan. He explains that many people in Japan
have asked him whether he plays golf, and many customers would
like to play golf so that is a good way to connect with people.
Mr. Cammaerts would also recommend that if anyone is considering
relocation to ensure they are happy in their personal life as
well. He gives his example of ensuring that his family was happy,
and he was able to deliver well in his professional life because
his personal life was sorted.