254 Guillaume Hansali- Country Head Keywords Studios

254 Guillaume Hansali- Country Head Keywords Studios

Author: Dr. Greg Story June 28, 2025 Duration: 1:36:16
  • "Trust, for me, is the ability to predict someone's behaviour—consistency builds that predictability."
  • "Excellence isn't the outcome—it's the rigour of the process, even when the result is uncertain."
  • "You can't sell yourself forever; you have to build trust in the company, not just the founder."
  • "Being vulnerable as a leader unlocks trust—it gives others permission to be real too."
  • "Culture is just norms and heuristics—you shape it by consistently rewarding the right behaviours."

Previously Guillaume was the Founder and Managing Director of Wizcorp; Web Development Consultant Helmut; System Engineer, Consultant Lapyx System.

He has a Master of Science in Computer Science from Francois Rabelais University

Guillaume approaches leadership as a dynamic journey shaped by intuition, experimentation, and personal growth. His early experience of founding a startup in Japan, with no funding and little knowledge of business basics, forged a deep resilience and humility. Over time, he transitioned from instinct-driven decisions to more intentional leadership, grounded in reflection and learning. He discovered that leadership at different company sizes requires entirely different approaches—whereas in a small team the leader is the culture, in larger organisations it's about embedding values and structures that scale.

At the heart of his leadership philosophy is trust, which he defines as the ability to predict behaviour. He believes consistency—especially in mood and decisions—fosters trust. Vulnerability plays a critical role too. Initially reluctant to show weakness, he gradually realized that openly admitting what he didn't know allowed his team to connect more deeply with him, and gave them permission to do the same. This emotional openness, he observed, significantly strengthens engagement and authenticity.

Guillaume emphasizes the importance of separating the self from the business. Early in his career, he equated client service with personal commitment, sometimes undermining internal cohesion. He later recognized the need to build institutional trust in the company, not just in himself. This meant creating repeatable processes, articulating core values, and ensuring every team member could represent the company with consistency and integrity.

He also champions a culture of structured creativity, particularly in high-risk industries like gaming. He views "fun" as an emergent property that can't be predicted or engineered, but must be tested rigorously. Prototypes, constraints, and deliberate iteration are key to fostering innovation while managing risk. Organizational learning, in his view, should focus less on replicating past outcomes and more on documenting and improving the decision-making process.

Leading in Japan, Guillaume sees language and cultural fluency not as optional, but essential for trust and influence. He stresses the need to deeply understand local norms and communicate in ways that resonate. For multicultural teams, he believes the leader's job is to define shared behavioural expectations clearly, without relying on implicit cultural assumptions. Ultimately, Guillaume sees leadership as a journey of self-awareness, consistent example, intentional culture-shaping, and the courage to learn publicly.

 


Hosted by Dr. Greg Story, Japan's Top Business Interviews Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan offers a direct line to the experiences and strategies of executives operating within one of the world's most distinct economies. Each conversation moves beyond theory, focusing on the practical realities of management and leadership as told by those doing the work. You'll hear from a diverse roster of guests, from seasoned leaders at large corporations to innovative founders of growing ventures, all sharing their firsthand accounts of navigating Japan's unique business culture. This podcast provides valuable context on everything from building effective teams and driving organizational change to understanding the nuances of negotiation and customer relations in this market. Whether you're currently leading a team in Japan, planning to expand your business there, or simply curious about how professional success is achieved in a different cultural framework, these interviews deliver grounded insights. Tune in for authentic discussions that cut through the clichés, offering a clearer picture of what it truly takes to succeed. The depth and variety of perspectives make this series a consistently useful resource for anyone engaged with the business landscape in Japan.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

Japan's Top Business Interviews Podcast By Dale Carnegie Training Tokyo Japan
Podcast Episodes
284 Grant Torrens — Managing Director, Hays Japan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:04:14
"First thing I'd say is do it… just throw yourself into it." "Spend the first ninety days getting to know the people… listening… before acting." "Communication here is more high context… there's a lot of reading between…
283 Beat Kraehenmann — Managing Director, Levitronix Japan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 53:56
"Don't be the loud foreigner who just says we do this and this and this." "It's okay to make mistakes if you identify them, if you learn from them in the future." "If you have an open mind, just listen first." "You canno…
282 Joerg Bauer — Representative Director, Heidelberg Japan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 59:29
"If we can sell it in Japan, we can sell it also in other countries." "The first thing I believe is honesty, especially in difficult situations." "The word "musukashi" is not allowed anymore in our company." "When an eng…
281 Shu Kimura — Founder, Boulangerie Maison Kayser Japan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:07
"The purpose of my business is not only bake and sell, because we are introducing… culture or food habits of France to the Japanese people." "Japanese people don't buy baguettes because they don't know how to eat it." "A…
280 Mika Matsuo - Former CHRO, AIG Japan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:07:42
"I listen and I also am always very transparent." "Who cares about what people think about me?" "If my boss, my future boss, thinks that I'm capable, I must be." "Leadership is really defining where we're going, whether…
279 Tomo Kamiya, President PTC Japan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:05
"I think curiosity is very important. When you're curious about something, you listen." "You have to be at the forefront, not the back. You can't, hide behind and say, 'hey, you know, guys solve it', right?" "When they t…
277 Armel Cahierre — Founder & President, B4F (Brands for France) [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:18:52
"If you trust people, your life is very nice." "The bringing people together with one common objective needs to be carefully thought out and defining the processes very carefully needs to be thought out and don't imagine…
276 Vincent Mathieu - CEO of Carl Zeiss Japan [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:05
"Leadership is staying ahead of change without losing authenticity". "Trust is the real currency of sales, teams, and Japan's business culture". "Zeiss's foundation model is a rare advantage: patient capital reinvested i…
275 Joanne Lin - Senior Director, APAC, Deckers Brands [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:05:02
"Come as you are works in Japan when leaders are also willing to read the air and meet people where they are". "Japan isn't as risk-averse as people think; it is uncertainty avoidance and consensus norms like nemawashi a…