60: Jean-Philippe Oulevey, Director, Greenwings Japan

<p>Jean-Phillpe Oulevey takes us through his leadership journey in Japan, starting off from dusting shelves in retail stores to climbing Japan’s career ladder and becoming the head of a global flower importing and distribution business. Mr. Oulevey originally studied in the United States where he was exposed to Japanese culture. After working in the finance industry for a while in the states, Mr. Oulevey moved to Japan where he first worked for a luxury goods company. He then moved onto a Japanese trading company and climbed the traditional ranks, becoming kacho in charge of purchasing at a fairly young age. After working for four years, Mr. Oulevey moved back to the US for an MBA and was rehired by the same company. Mr. Oulevey worked as an international Sales Manager, working with Sony Ericsson, liaising between their assembly lines in France and offices across Europe. Mr. Oulevey then took the offer to lead his current company, Greenwings, where he manages a growing team of around 30 employees.</p> <p> </p> <p>Regarding his first few years of leadership experience, Mr. Oulevey recalls: “I was very young. So when you're young, everything's exciting, and maybe I didn't realize all the politics that could have gone behind the scene, I was just really focused back then on my job and delivering.” Mr. Oulevey does point out that not speaking fluent Japanese at the time was a challenge with communication. However, he brought other strengths such as IT to the company to better the working environment, which helped him build trust with his colleagues. Additionally, Mr. Oulevey explains because he grew through the ranks to become kacho, he had already built the interpersonal relationships with his team and back up from other leaders, making it easier for him to gain credibility.</p> <p> </p> <p>Transitioning into a management role at Greenwings was, according to Mr. Oulevey, a much more challenging task. Although the business of Greenwings had a solid customer database, there was much friction between the headquarters a