46: Loic Rethore, North Asia President, Dyson

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.”