118: Jennie Petit, President & CEO, TUV Rheinland in Japan

<p>Jennelle “Jennie” Petit is the President of TUV Rheinland in Japan. Over 30 years, Ms. Petit has gone through different positions in a various companies including the service and manufacturing industry. Her first leadership experience was after her first year in Japan when she was training new teachers who had come to Japan to teach English. In the corporate world, Ms. Petit first had an opportunity to lead a team when she was about 35 years old in the hospitality industry. Her main function was training and development of all the staff in the hotel.</p> <p> </p> <p>Ms. Petit feels that trust is an essential factor in motivating team members and encouraging collaboration. According to Ms. Petit, many Japanese employees prefer to take orders and avoid responsibility. Therefore, she tries to have an engaging conversation with them in the beginning. She claims, it is important to take a collaborative, soft, low-key approach and try to understand the culture. Ms. Petit adds, this approach needs patience. She tries to be authentic and consistent, treating people equally. She also points out that trust comes from communication, and if you are not communicating with anybody, you cannot expect to have a high level of trust.</p> <p> </p> <p>To get engagement in Japan, Ms. Petit takes a bottom up style. Although it is difficult to implement change in Japan, trust is what makes it possible. One of the examples is teleworking. Ms. Petit was already looking into teleworking before the pandemic. Work-life balance was the key word. She focuses on having engagement, empathy, and a bottom-up approach to her leadership. By listening to the voice from the field-level, Ms. Petit is constantly rewriting the employee committee and guideline and other implementing changes.</p> <p> </p> <p>In terms of making innovation, Ms. Petit encourages it through regular meetings. TUV Rheinland has different committees and different groups of people that meet regularly. They have discussions about strategy, and how to grow the company. In doing