67: Gregory Lyon, President, Gregory Lyon Inc.

Gregory Lyon is the President and founder of Gregory Lyon Inc.,
company specialized in providing furniture, workplace solutions
and project management. Mr. Lyon originally moved to Japan in the
late 90s to teach English which then led him to move to Tokyo to
work in a freight forwarding company. There, Mr. Lyon became
interested in working in an organization where he could be
responsible for projects from beginning to end. Mr. Lyon
eventually landed a position at Herman Miller as a sales
representative going back and forth between Korea and Japan.
Seeing more opportunities in the furniture business in Korea, Mr.
Lyon persuaded his boss and moved to Korea to focus on managing
the distributors there. He eventually returned to Japan and
worked at Herman Miller for nine years and had finished an MBA
program. Mr. Lyon then decided to start Gregory Lyon Inc.


 


On leading in a multinational environment as a western brand
marketing to Korea and Japan, Mr. Lyon notes: “You're going by
the Western brands rules in terms of marketing and how you manage
your business, how you engage with clients, and then you have the
Japanese side of things, which is very different. So bridging
that gap can be a challenge…and finding a way to engage with
clients based on what the company's line is and getting that to
translate in the Japanese way.” Mr. Lyon had also received a
360-degree survey from his staff and realized he needed to be
more patient and explain the background behind his opinion. Mr.
Lyon also decided to focus entirely on project management and
client relations which allowed him to gain trust and respect from
his colleagues as he was brining in business. When dealing with
global accounts, Mr. Lyon spent much of his time and effort
speaking to his international clients and overseas
decision-makers to ensure smooth communication and project
management.


 


On engagement, Mr. Lyon found that by focusing on trying to solve
issues locally, the Japanses staff began to trust him instead of
seeing him as an outsider who only wanted to talk to the overseas
decision-makers. Mr. Lyon recalls he had been able to do so
effectively by discussing with the international and Japanese
staff together on conference calls, ensuring people were on the
same page. Mr. Lyon notes: “There's two sides [to] our clients.
You have the non-Japanese side who rightly or wrongly typically
will sign the checks for things and then make the decisions.
That's usually the side that I've dealt with. The other side,
which is equally important is the Japanese side who has to
implement all of these projects and get everything done. So both
sides have to feel comfortable. Both sides have to be attended
to. And so, if I can help the decision-making side, it clears the
path for the rest of the folks.” Moreover, Mr. Lyon holds
kick-off meetings in July to review the annual company
performance based on revenue and profit, as well as making plans
for next year. Overtime, Mr. Lyon has learned that it is also
important to be able to rely on his staff as he does not know
everything, and this humble attitude has made him more trusted.
He has also shown flexibility in adjusting his team’s work hours.


 


On advice to newcomers, Mr. Lyon recommends gaining a basic
understanding of Japanese history to be able to better understand
the culture. Secondly, he advises to learn enough Japanese to be
able to “understand the sentiment around what is being said in
Japanese.” He adds: “I think in my experience [with] Japanese
clients, Japanese partners, [and] Japanese venders, if you speak
[English] in a way that they understand, if you speak clearly
enough and you speak slowly enough…especially for people who
don't speak English very well, If you do that over time, the more
comfortable they are listening to you, the better your
relationship is going to be. And if they understand what you're
saying whether you throw some Japanese words in or not, if it's
all in English…they're going to be thrilled to talk to you.”
Thirdly, Mr. Lyon advises to be honest, direct and keep things in
moderation. He adds: “be genuine and be approachable and let
staff know that you're on their side and you're trying to help
them.”