It Takes an Insider

 It takes an Insider

Don Southerton

Working from South Korea over the past two weeks, we saw not only tightened COVID 2.5 level restrictions to curtail the spike in virus cases, plus two typhoons. Still despite the rain, companies advised employees to limit contact with anyone outside work, and others were asked to work from home, projects moved forward. 

 

One take away from the trip was a conversation with a longtime colleague. They stressed a past hard lesson learned when they began operations in the US. It’s also key to any business entry whether in Korea or America—"it takes an insider.” 

 

For my Korean colleague, he noted that selecting a local representative was a huge challenge. In fact, his Korean firm saw little progress even after they picked a local partner—someone on paper who, when interviewed, was seemingly well connected—skilled, but not a true insider in that business sector. 

 

A few days later in a private lunch with the management of a company, the same conversation came up—the need to select an insider to oversee their US sales in the tech sector. 

 

In both cases, they referred to me as a trusted “insider”—someone well connected, current, and well versed in a number of business areas as well as Korea. To better define an insider, I was once reminded that staying current and relevant is critical. It also can mean that someone out of a sector for as little as 6 months may be seen as having lost touch. In fast paced sectors like Autonomous, Mobility, and AI, that timeline can be cut to as little as 3 months.

 

All said, I am very fortunate to be able to reach out as needed to those “in the know,” in Korea, America and globally. Firms rely on insiders for quick answers, especially when a request comes from the highest levels of their companies.

 

In the best cases, this allows the fast tracking of projects. And, I can also be drawn upon when helping to reboot stalled and troubled projects, too. 

 

Here as always. To my fellow Insiders, many thanks, too.

Don