Episode 049 - Greg Hughes, President & CEO, Beam Suntory (2022)

Episode 049 - Greg Hughes, President & CEO, Beam Suntory (2022)

On this episode of the Executives' Exchange, we are thrilled to rebroadcast our interview with Greg Hughes in honor of his promotion to President & CEO of Beam Suntory! He will be stepping into this role on October 1st. Dive into this conversation between Greg and Andy Callahan, President and CEO of Hostess Brands, as they discuss the profound influence of Japanese-style Gemba on their leadership.

00:41 – Greg discusses the origins of “Gemba”  03:27 – Leading from the front—Greg & Andy discuss developing leadership skills  06:55 – Greg discusses what Gemba is not    08:40 – Four ways to scale up across a broader footprint of people  13:06 – Andy and Greg discuss the challenges of leadership during the pandemic    17:48 – Andy discusses the silver lining that provides the opportunity for something better   21:41 – Message from our sponsor, Shure    22:10 – Greg discusses implementing Gemba in the social media space   23:56 – Connecting brands with culture and employee base; the need to be empathetic & inclusive   27:07 – Building global brands while acknowledging there’s no global consumer—understanding what’s universal about brands and what’s local that’s adaptable    30:05 – What are some of the trends you see in your business?    33:55 – Gemba intersects everything you do—team, business strategy and provides the very foundation of how you think.    35:44 – The most significant challenges with Gemba    38:12 – Greg discusses how his leadership translates into building the culture you want in the organization   43:20 – Gemba enables employees to engage    48:34 – Outro

Episode Link: Beam Suntory

Guest Host: Andy Callahan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Hostess Brands

Producer: Eva Penar, Chief Content & Communications Officer, The Executives’ Club of Chicago  

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