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Valery Muyard: Respect and trust steers an organization
Photos courtesy of Volvo Group IndonesiaLeading the company that defines driver safety, Valery Muyard continuously adapts and at the same time puts his trust in the hands of others
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Photos courtesy of Volvo Group Indonesia
Leading the company that defines driver safety, Valery Muyard continuously adapts and at the same time puts his trust in the hands of others.
Valery Muyard, president director of Volvo Group Indonesia, has spent most of his professional life in different countries, across three continents, making him and his family open to diverse cultures. His vast experiences and involvement with people from various nations have helped him get to know and understand characters from different backgrounds. He has been with the company for 15 years, and says that Volvo's core values are the company's indispensable strength.
'The first core value of Volvo is respect for the individual. The company believes that everybody has the right to their point of view and to discuss ideas. The others are more linked to the way the company performs: safety, quality and environmental care,' he said.
Today in Indonesia, Volvo, one of the biggest heavy vehicle producers in the world, is focusing more on marketing its trucks and other heavy vehicles. But, Muyard stated that the company's core values applied across the board, so, Volvo heavy vehicles also put safety to the fore, along with quality and care about environmental issues. 'This is part of the culture in Sweden, where green technology and products are very important.'
Muyard sees Indonesian customers as very demanding, expecting quality services and very good products. 'So it is a very challenging, but promising market,' the 45-year-old French national said about the country he has been posted in since June of this year.
Communication and openness
As a leader Muyard said he reminded the staff to think about what the company's customers would want from them. 'Act how you would like to be served. If they can put themselves in the shoes of the customers, they'll know what to do,' he said.
He also believes that everyone in the company should be able the meet challenges and come up with ways to advance the company. 'It shouldn't always be me who says, 'We need to do that.' Everyone should be able to say, 'This can improve; this can be better',' he explained. For him, that is the key to steering the company in a better direction.
He further said that a leader should be able communicate a clear vision that motivates the people in the company. 'And people need to trust this vision,' he explained.
'We need also to be honest with everybody. You need to say what works and what doesn't work.' He always challenges his staff to ask questions and to express their opinions. He is also of the opinion, however, that having good vision only is not enough if the leader cannot communicate it to others and have them voice their point of view to make the vision or idea even better. 'So I'd say openness is really important,' he asserted.
Full trust
'Generally I delegate a lot,' he said about his management style. 'So we discuss what needs to be done, what actions need to be performed and how we can meet the timeframe. If they don't come back to me, things are under control,' he stated. 'But my door is always open.'
He opts for not checking up on his staff every day. 'This is the way for me to show my trust and to empower people,' he said. But at the same time Muyard said he was prepared to accept that there would be some mistakes. 'What I'd like is for us to not repeat the same mistakes. I want people to be empowered; I trust people to make a decision and take some calculated risks,' he said.
He accepts that he has needed to adapt to the different cultures of the companies or countries he has worked and lived in. He also believed that it is important for people to feel respected to ensure good results.
'My management style is not the same as the one I applied when I was in France, for example. We need to adapt. That's the most important part of my job today, and also the most challenging,' the father of two said.
Muyard said he was impressed by people who were devoted to what they were doing, like Nelson Mandela. Also he admires those who have an idea and vision, and go for it, such as Steve Jobs. Lee Kwan Yew is another personality he was impressed with, whose efforts turned Singapore into one of the most modern countries in Asia.
Asked about what tips he could share, Muyard said that one needs to do what one likes. 'Usually we don't know what we like, but we always know what we don't like,' he said. 'So, if we know that we don't like doing something, we should do a different thing,' he stated.
He also said that we should have a vision of where we will be in five to 10 years from now, and we shouldn't be afraid of doing something new and taking calculated risks.
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Birth
Born in 1970
Career Highlights
* President director of Volvo Group Indonesia (June 2015 ' present)
* General manager of Volvo East Asia, Singapore (Sept. 2013-May 2015)
* Vice president, network development & retail, Volvo Trucks & Bus Thailand (March 2011-Aug. 2013)
* Managing director RTC Bulgaria & Serbia, Renault Trucks (Oct. 2009-Feb. 2011)
* Director, distribution and retail strategy, Volvo (Jan. 2008-Oct. 2009)
* Purchasing director of Volvo Construction Equipment (Jan. 2007-Dec. 2007)
* Global purchasing commodity manager, Volvo Powertrain (2002-2007)
Education
Master's degree in Science from the University of Lyon, France.
At Ease
Sports enthusiast
Generally, I like sports ' running, swimming or cycling. On Sundays I go running with my daughters. But if I have time I also like to do more challenging sports, including skydiving and body jumping. Last year in New Zealand, my daughter and I body jumped from a 150-meter cliff. We have also dived at Bunaken. I'm lucky that my family share the same passion for sports so we can do these activities together.
Thrill seeker
I like to discover new things. One of my most thrilling experiences was when I rode a motorcycle to explore the jungles of Cambodia for a week. Of course, I cannot do this often.
