104: Joe Latteri, Managing Director, Customer Success, Meltwater Japan

Joe Latteri is currently the Managing Director for Customer
Success with Meltwater Japan. Meltwater is a global company and
originally started in Oslo, Norway. Meltwater was founded by a
tech entrepreneur named Jorn Lyseggen, who currently oversees the
global board. They are a global leader in media intelligence and
social media analytics. They work with close to 30,000 companies
around the world including 800 clients and about 50 employees in
Japan. Mr. Latteri’s history was quite unique and with Japan
started when he was 6 years old, his parents encouraged him to
pick a language and he opted to do a Japanese immersion program
in elementary school. Mr. Latteri went to an English-speaking
Middle School, but he tried to keep up his Japanese and although
he was a business major, he took a minor in Japanese at
University to keep up with some of his language skills. His plan
was to work in the US and was hired in Sales at Meltwater in the
US, but he started working in London and then later moved to
Singapore and he had more success in Singapore and that was when
he started to research Japan and he spoke Japanese. Mr. Latteri
launched the team in Japan in 2008 with 3 other team members.
Initially he thought he would be in Japan for a year or two but
there was a lot of potential in Japan, so he kept getting drawn
back to Japan.


 


Mr. Latteri says that something that drives engagement is finding
the best fit and that would mean finding someone who has the same
core values that the company has. Fun is the first core value of
Meltwater Japan. He says that he believes that is a very
important core value, fun can mean going to Karaoke after work or
it can mean having a pleasant customer meeting and he emphasizes
that since the employees spend so much time at work, they need to
be having fun while they are doing it. Enjoying the personal
development that comes from work, the thrill of doing the job or
trying to be the very best also provides enjoyment and
satisfaction for some people.


 


Advice for someone that is new to Japan from overseas is to try
and understand the team and be patient. Mr. Latteri says to try
and understand the staff and the influencers within the team. Mr.
Latteri says that usual way of doing things is engrained into
people’s way of doing things and the staff really needs to
understand that you are here for a long time with them. He also
suggests being humble and be open. He suggests being humble and
open to new ideas, hear their staff out and try and implement
their ideas. Approaching the staff as people is always a good
approach and embrace Japanese culture. People pay close attention
to little things, if you are open to learning about Japan, if you
attempt to speak and learn the language, if you attempt to eat
using chopsticks, these things are noticed and will go a long
way. Embracing Japan will get you a more positive response as the
people think you are open to learning about Japan and you like
Japan and people are more willing to trust and like you. If you
are coming to Japan, it is important to be genuine and work to
build that trust. If you really want to have long-term success,
being genuine and consistent builds a lot more integrity and
trust and builds stronger relationship. Owning your mistakes and
being humble are core tenants of leadership, especially in Japan.