Episode #59: Dr. Jochen Legewie, Partner & Chairman Asia, Kekst CNC

Dr. Jochen Legewie takes us through his 30 years of leadership journey in Japan, starting at Daimler and then as Partner and Chairman of Kekst CNC, a global public relations firm. Dr. Legewie only picked up Japanese by chance as a side hobby, but his unique background in Japanese specialization and language ability, combined with a PhD in economics gave him a competitive edge and landed him a research position at Sophia University. Dr. Legewie then left academia and started at DaimlerChrysler, which at the time was investing into Mitsubishi Motors. Dr. Legewie first started off on a contract role, providing expertise on Japan to the German executive team, but when the German CEO became the CEO of the entire company, Dr. Legewie became Officer Head of Communications, overseeing 100 people in customer relations and PR.

Dr. Legewie calls this experience leading a large team so early on in his leadership career to be “crazy.” He reflects that this position was mainly building “cultural [bridges] in both directions” by convincing both the Japanese employees of Mitsubishi Motors and the German headquarters to work cooperatively. He recalls some of his early leadership challenge was being the middle person between the Mitsubishi Motors employees and German headquarters, as well as communicating and understanding English speaking employees who on the surface seemed to have a westernized way of working, but was in fact, resistant to change. When convincing people of various backgrounds to buy into the same direction of the company, Dr. Legewie says: “I found it very important to put on paper to visualize things that we are attempting, which is not necessarily a change. It's just the next step. Sometimes it was a big change, 180 degrees, but some were just the next step, but to make sure that people [understood] it, you had to put it on paper and go through it and invest time to explain it. [Additionally,] ask why are we doing this? Japanese people are smart if they understand the background. But very often, especially if it's implemented from the outside, the background is not convincing at first sight…but if you explain [the] reason, then there is a complete different level of buy in. So two steps first understand and then buy in. That would be my simple way.”

While working at Daimler, Dr. Legewie seized the opportunity to maximize his leadership and communications experience to start a Tokyo office for his current company, Kekst CNC. He admits recruiting his team initially was a challenge, but by staying patient and investing in training, the organization has successfully built a team of highly skilled, bilingual consultants. Dr. Legewie says his employees are drawn to the company because of the global culture and flat hierarchical structure, which is appealing to those who have international experience as well as women who are prominent in the PR and Communications industry. Dr. Legewie adds that the organization encourages people to gain experience outside of Kekst CNC in other companies by working in-house, and then returning as a more experienced consultant.

On working and leading in Japan, Dr. Legewie points out that he has noticed Japanese workers tend to be fact and figure driven. He explains: “So you need to have frameworks and rules. And I go back to [explain] why is this, but then for the engagement this is only as a starting point. Engagement goes beyond. We want people to act on their own decisions. They should be proactive. And for this, you need to encourage and kick it off with some guidance in the beginning and tell people to take a risk...And then very visibly and openly reflect on this in group meetings and praise a person who has taken a risk or who has been proactive and do this in a way [that is] visible to others. And then people start to believe in you. And then you give this ownership and this responsibility.” Dr. Legewie takes the same structured approach in delegation as well, clearly communicating to his staff what he expects and providing an explanation of how this delegation will benefit everyone, making the process more efficient. Additionally, when encouraging his team to be innovative, Dr. Legewie finds that some of the best ideas are born when he is not involved too much. He encourages brainstorming sessions amongst his staff without being a part of it, and then asks for a verbal summary.

On gaining trust, Dr. Legewie maintains open communication with his team and tries to be transparent as much as possible, sharing statistics and information from headquarters to the local office, including the profit and loss reports. Dr. Legewie explains: “And we are also very transparent on a global scale about our revenues to our employees. And here in Japan, I go one step further, even in, as you said being not only open about what I think we as a company is going and should go, but also the real facts, the figures. And this is of course trust-building because I know from many Japanese companies…people don't have an idea of the big picture.”

On his advice to newcomers leading in Japan, Dr. Legewie recommends to “try to find out and not based on English language skills, but on other qualities who are the people in your team, whether it's 5,000 or five, who are the people in your team who get your story and have some commitment to the company.” He adds these are the people who you want to partner with and seek advice. He advises that even if the other party does not speak English, by preparing something in advance and clearly communicating in a concise manner and giving them a chance to reflect, it is possible to make the connection. Dr. Legewie additionally recommends seeking advice from foreigners who have been living in Japan in similar situations, and to learn from those experiences. Lastly, Dr. Legewie advises to learn a few basic Japanese phrases. To those moving to Japan or curious about living in Japan, Dr. Legewie says: “Come here. It's a great country. I have talked over my study years to many, many expats who have been here...And the people say it is still a hidden gem. People don't know how great life here in Japan is…And so my advice is just do it, whether it's in the late twenties in your career or at a later point it's definitely rewarding and you might end up here longer than you thought.”