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
Thank you to our podcast sponsor, Shure Incorporated.
For nearly 100 years, Shure Incorporated has developed best-in-class audio products that provide high-quality performance, reliability and value. Headquartered in Niles, Illinois, our history of innovation and expertise in acoustics, wireless technology, and more enables us to deliver seamless, transparent audio experiences to a global audience. Our diverse product line includes world-class wired and wireless microphones, networked audio systems and signal processors, conferencing and discussion systems, software, a loudspeaker, and award-winning earphones and headphones.
