Episode #260: Chris Mohler, CEO Gap Asia
Japan's Top Business Interviews
“You can ask four thousand people to adjust to you, or you can adjust to them.”
“If we want the stores to be successful, they need to feel heard—because their success is our success.”
“When I tried to dictate ideas top-down, the organization kind of choked on it.”
“Servant leadership means pushing popcorn carts, steaming clothes, and knowing everyone’s name.”
“In Japan, things take longer to get moving, but when they do, they execute beautifully.”
Previously Chris was CEO Gap China; CFO Gap Asia; CFO Gap China; Senior Director Of finance The Nature’s Bounty Co.; Procter & Gamble Global Grooming (Gillette) Senior Finance Director; Finance Director CVS Customer team; Finance Director Innovation Portfolio; Finance Associate Director, Supply Chain/Logistics; Global Oral Care, Finance Group Manager FP&A; Senior Cost Analyst Supply Chain & Sarbanes Oxley Consultant; Control Analyst Internal Audit; Market Analyst Prague Stock Exchange; Economic Analyst Cekia Capita; Information Agency. He has a BS in Finance from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business and an MBA from Loyola University Maryland.
Chris exemplifies a flexible, people-centred leadership style shaped by diverse experiences across consumer goods, private equity, and global retail. He views leadership as a balance between strategic clarity and hands-on engagement, shaped by his foundational training at Procter & Gamble, intense operational rigor in private equity, and the fast-paced responsiveness required in China. However, it is in Japan where his adaptability and emotional intelligence have most fully matured.
Chris believes in deeply understanding the customer before driving innovation—a principle ingrained during his P&G days. In both China and Japan, he introduced more structured innovation cycles, ensuring that products and experiences are tailored to a well-defined customer persona. While in China he could drive initiatives top-down with urgency, in Japan he quickly recognized the need for more bottom-up engagement, realizing that imposed ideas often met silent resistance. Instead, he focused on seeding ideas with trusted team members, allowing ownership and momentum to build organically.
Servant leadership is central to Chris’s philosophy. He leads visibly from the front—working in stores monthly, performing basic tasks alongside staff, and reinforcing that success is shared. This symbolic participation builds trust and credibility across his 150-store organization. He also insists his leadership team do the same, embedding a culture of humility and visibility.
Post-COVID, Chris identified and revitalized atrophied systems around employee development. He reinstated learning, mentorship, and career progression programs, recognizing that employees across all cultures crave growth and personal investment. He also emphasizes structured team building and regular in-person engagement, despite operating in a hybrid work environment. By setting expectations for in-office presence and making time in the office meaningful—with one-on-ones, development events, and volunteering—he balances flexibility with cultural cohesion.
Trust, for Chris, is not assumed but earned through small, consistent actions—knowing names, listening attentively, acknowledging wins, and giving regular recognition through newsletters, meetings, and store visits. He is acutely aware of cultural dynamics in Japan and chooses to adapt his style, knowing that a soft, relational approach fosters followership more effectively than authoritative direction.
Chris also champions inclusive values in a culturally resonant way. Whether it’s supporting women in leadership, valuing age diversity, or promoting community volunteering, he localizes global values for the Japanese context. His efforts extend to embedding pride initiatives and community outreach in business-as-usual operations, reinforcing that culture isn’t separate from business—it is business.
Ultimately, Chris’s leadership is anchored in clarity of purpose, authentic connection with people, and cultural fluency. He doesn’t impose change but cultivates the conditions for it. In his words and actions, leadership is not about control—it’s about enabling others to thrive. That mindset, combined with strategic discipline and personal humility, allows him to lead across borders, industries, and cultures with impact.