Episode
Wolfgang Angyal — President of Riedel Japan
- Published
- Apr 3, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 4617
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://japanstopbusinessinterviews.libsyn.com/wolfgang-angyal-president-of-riedel-japan
Actions
POST https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/japan-s-top-business-interviews-podcast-by-dale-carnegie-training-tokyo-japan-294627/episodes/wolfgang-angyal-president-of-riedel-japan/transcription-requests
Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode.GET https://stenobird.com/podcast/japan-s-top-business-interviews-podcast-by-dale-carnegie-training-tokyo-japan-294627/wolfgang-angyal-president-of-riedel-japan.md
Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource.
Summary
"Trust is really the only currency that is the beginning and the end of pretty much every human relation." "You give trust first, before you get trust." "I want to make sure that the least empowered person in the room can have a great idea and the best idea will win." "You need to be the fuel for their sparks." "If you give them permission and you will never punish them for honesty." Brief Bio Wolfgang Angyal is President of Riedel Japan and one of the rare foreign executives who has built a long leadership career in Japan from the ground up. Originally from Austria and trained in the hospitality industry, he first came to Japan in 1985 as part of Austria's delegation to the Skill Olympics, where he won a gold medal in hotel and restaurant service. That early success left him with a strong affinity for Japan, shaped by childhood exposure to judo and an early fascination with Japanese values such as humility, respect and discipline. After returning to Japan in 1988 to teach at a hospitality school in Osaka, he experienced the kind of early cross-cultural mistakes that many foreign professionals make, later describing himself as an elephant in a porcelain shop. He then moved into sales, promotion and business development, first with Riedel's importer in Japan, then within a large Japanese corporate distribution environment, and later across Asia-Pacific from Sydney, where he helped expand the brand into multiple markets. In 2000, he returned to Japan to establish Riedel's wholly owned local operation, beginning with a JETRO rental office and one secretary. Over time, he built the business, integrated acquisitions, developed talent, and led Riedel Japan into one of the company's most important markets. His career arc reflects adaptability, patient localisation, and a deep…