67: Gregory Lyon, President, Gregory Lyon Inc.

<p>Gregory Lyon is the President and founder of Gregory Lyon Inc., company specialized in providing furniture, workplace solutions and project management. Mr. 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.</p> <p> </p> <p>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.</p> <p> </p> <p>On engagement, Mr. Lyon found that by focusing on trying to solve issues locally, the Japanses staff began to trust him instead of seeing hi