Episode #104: Joe Latteri, Managing Director, Customer Success, Meltwater Japan

Joe Latteri is currently the Managing Director for Customer Success with Meltwater Japan. Meltwater is a global company and originally started in Oslo, Norway. Meltwater was founded by a tech entrepreneur named Jorn Lyseggen, who currently oversees the global board. They are a global leader in media intelligence and social media analytics. They work with close to 30,000 companies around the world including 800 clients and about 50 employees in Japan. Mr. Latteri’s history was quite unique and with Japan started when he was 6 years old, his parents encouraged him to pick a language and he opted to do a Japanese immersion program in elementary school. Mr. Latteri went to an English-speaking Middle School, but he tried to keep up his Japanese and although he was a business major, he took a minor in Japanese at University to keep up with some of his language skills. His plan was to work in the US and was hired in Sales at Meltwater in the US, but he started working in London and then later moved to Singapore and he had more success in Singapore and that was when he started to research Japan and he spoke Japanese. Mr. Latteri launched the team in Japan in 2008 with 3 other team members. Initially he thought he would be in Japan for a year or two but there was a lot of potential in Japan, so he kept getting drawn back to Japan.

Mr. Latteri says that something that drives engagement is finding the best fit and that would mean finding someone who has the same core values that the company has. Fun is the first core value of Meltwater Japan. He says that he believes that is a very important core value, fun can mean going to Karaoke after work or it can mean having a pleasant customer meeting and he emphasizes that since the employees spend so much time at work, they need to be having fun while they are doing it. Enjoying the personal development that comes from work, the thrill of doing the job or trying to be the very best also provides enjoyment and satisfaction for some people.

Advice for someone that is new to Japan from overseas is to try and understand the team and be patient. Mr. Latteri says to try and understand the staff and the influencers within the team. Mr. Latteri says that usual way of doing things is engrained into people’s way of doing things and the staff really needs to understand that you are here for a long time with them. He also suggests being humble and be open. He suggests being humble and open to new ideas, hear their staff out and try and implement their ideas. Approaching the staff as people is always a good approach and embrace Japanese culture. People pay close attention to little things, if you are open to learning about Japan, if you attempt to speak and learn the language, if you attempt to eat using chopsticks, these things are noticed and will go a long way. Embracing Japan will get you a more positive response as the people think you are open to learning about Japan and you like Japan and people are more willing to trust and like you. If you are coming to Japan, it is important to be genuine and work to build that trust. If you really want to have long-term success, being genuine and consistent builds a lot more integrity and trust and builds stronger relationship. Owning your mistakes and being humble are core tenants of leadership, especially in Japan.