Thoughts on Korean Business by Don Southerton

In last week’s commentary, I shared my recent Branding In Asia interview.  www.brandinginasia/don-southerton-interview Topics ranged from Korea’s changing corporate culture to upmarket trends with Korean automakers Hyundai, Kia, and their new stand-alone luxury brand Genesis.  What drew much attention was the profile’s mention of my 40+ years of Korean martial arts experience, the Tae Kwon Do Hall of Fame, and more so my years at the United States Military Academy (USMA) at West Point. From 1983 to 1991, I served as the Cadet martial arts instructor and USMA Karate Team coach.    Don Southerton (center) w/ USMA West Point Cadet  Army Karate Team 1989-1990.  Over the years, I remained in contact with a few of the former cadets. More recently via Facebook and Linkedin, I have been re-united with many more… This had been rewarding on several levels including how they served their country in peace time and conflict as well as how th...

Much of my client work supporting Korea-facing business involves mentoring Marketing, Creative and Media leadership and teams. This has ranged from on-boarding new Chief Marketing Officers and Chief Creatives to CEOs and COOs of new Agencies of Record (AOR) as well as ongoing support across their teams. In fact, I have interacted with most of the top “A-list” Ad, Digital, Media and Marketing groups and their organizations. I have come to find branding especially fascinating and peaking my interest. More so, the Korean and Asian approach to the market in contrast to the West. One resource I’d like to share and that stands out is Branding In Asia . They provide a wealth of information for the industry into Asia’s diverse and widely varied tastes. In particular, Branding in Asia explores exciting new ideas and creative concepts exploding from the mind of Asia. Please subscribe. It is only timely, that I was just asked to share some thoughts in their magazine. I’ve included t...

“Where were you a year ago?”-- A comment after a recent international level leadership mentoring getaway.   Sadly, I hear it often and it can range from understanding workplace protocols to miscommunications between the Korean and Western teams. That begs the question on when is the best time to ensure new western leadership and teams receive an immersion in Korean workplace norms, practices, expectations and mindset? Immediate, a few days into the new job, or after they are on the job and caught up with all the urgent matters? Having provided mentoring and coaching to a number of CEOs, COOs, VPs of Marketing, Sales, and Service, as well as teams, how company and leadership view timing has varied. Many top leaders recognize from their own experience that with immediate mentoring and coaching the new employee will better tackle the issues and challenges set before them.  In the best cases, I am onsite Day One…. Why? Failing to have a grasp f...

“My teams and I are ever on the phone with Korea!” It’s something a week does not go by without hearing. … it’s someone I know so well personally . With the shift to ever-increasing daily interactions with Korean HQs via web and phone conferences, western teams need even deeper practical insights into the Culture along with new skill sets. In particular, the Executive Coordinator/ Advisor model had its limitations...but the Koreans assigned as expatriates did learn local norms and adapt over time. This mean the Coordinators molded to local operations with a lessening need for many in the local teams to become skilled in Korea workplace norms. In contrast, Korea-based teams follow deeply imbedded HQ and company norms. They are not likely to model or adapt to their overseas subsidiaries. This now means strong skills in managing the relationship and understanding the Korean workplace “in’s and out’s” and “do’s and don’t” as well as effective communication take on a new height...