Two things struck me when I interviewed Dominique Lee, General Manager at COOK Medical Korea, for our ‘View from the Top’ series. First, it was clear that he lived and breathed the industry he worked in. Second, he believed strongly that people want to, and can, embrace change—no matter how much it sometimes appears that the opposite is true.

For Dominique, it seems to me that he has grasped the true essence of leadership—he focuses on motivating others by helping them interpret the company culture and strategic direction in a way that’s meaningful for them. And, as the first non-expatriate leader of the organization, he has great optimism about the power of organizations to absorb and reflect that cultures they operate within.

It seems to me that this is a leader who recognizes that sometimes we all need a bit of luck in business and in our careers, but who also knows that it will come to nothing if we don’t back it up with an awful lot of hard work.

Here’s a little more of what we talked about:

As the first non-expatriate leader of the organization, what are some of the qualities the company identified in you?

Cook medical, still privately owned, has a unique corporate culture and an organizational structure that is very flat. The quality the company was looking for was someone who would be able to understand the local and the unique corporate culture, in order to benefit from this diversity.

As usual, there is no secret behind it. Just hard work and some luck. My previous experience in another global company and 20 years’ life experience in Germany might have been an additional argument for the company.

How have things changed after you took the helm?

Things are not ‘implanted’—they are interpreted also from the local point of view. As the company is an organic structure, local amino acids will be built into the corporate DNA helix as we move forward and evolve.

How do you inspire your staff to stay motivated and committed to the strategic direction?

I conduct frequent individual talks through our mentoring system. If the strategic direction has no meaning and is not binding for the individual, every motivation will fail.

See the full interview with Dominique here.


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Photo Credit - Flickr®User - Krystian Schneidewind