April 13, 2026

Eric Liu: Utilizing a Philosophy of Leadership Grounded in Listening, Learning & Action

By: John Kerr

Eric Liu’s path to leading LEDVANCE Canada doesn’t begin with lighting but with a Christmas Eve food delivery run in suburban Toronto. One evening, as he sat down for dinner with his family, a client from the Asian food distribution company he helped establish in Canada called in a panic: they were out of rice, and the restaurant couldn’t open. Without hesitation, Liu got up from the table, loaded his car, and made the delivery himself.

That customer went on to become one of the company’s most loyal and profitable accounts and remains in a close relationship with the company to this day. For Liu, the moment reinforced a principle that still defines his leadership: if customers trust you, the business will follow.

Today, that philosophy sits at the core of Liu’s mandate as the newly appointed CEO of LEDVANCE Canada. He is easygoing and warm in conversation, but beneath that is a disciplined operator known for building and scaling businesses across multiple markets.

After building a business for Mitsubishi in China, earning an MBA in the United States, helping launch an Asian food distribution business in Canada and then spending over two decades in automation and sensors with Omron and multiple LEDVANCE country organizations across Asia, Liu now brings that experience to Canada with a clear focus on strengthening the business locally.

In our conversation, he is clear about his priorities: profitable growth and building on the business’s foundation in Canada; long-term, trust-based relationships with distributors, contractors, and designers; and sharper focus on discipline and execution within the organization.

Liu’s story unfolds in authentic, inspiring chapters, especially for anyone invested in the industry. There is no bravado in the way he describes joining Mitsubishi Corporation in the early 1990s, as China was transforming its economy; instead, he talks about a country with “a fast-changing environment that required constant learning, flexibility, and execution,” and the privilege of learning to build something almost from scratch.

Driven by a desire to broaden his global perspective, he pursued an MBA in the United States. He left what was then one of the world’s largest trading companies to study at Lawrence Technological University, driven by a desire to better understand business and how the world works. Listening to Liu speak, it’s clear that his curiosity and thirst for knowledge are genuine.

After his MBA, Liu came to Canada to help establish and build the Canadian operation of a Japanese-Asian food distribution company. He and one colleague from Tokyo were tasked with establishing the operation. In the early days, profitability was far from assured, and many of the products were still unfamiliar to Canadian consumers. Within a year, the business was profitable. That experience reinforced a core tenet he returns to repeatedly: trust is built through action, not slogans. He speaks about that period with gratitude, particularly for the customers who placed their trust in the business early on.

The next chapter was Omron, a Japanese global expert in factory automation and electrical components. Over 20 years, Liu became a specialist in components and sensors, eventually, through his leadership, rising to the role of global general manager for new business.

He talks about this experience in practical, human terms: factories, engineers, customer visits, and on-site problem-solving. That technical depth, he says, is directly relevant to where lighting is headed, and a perspective he now brings to the Canadian market.

The transition from traditional lighting to LED began decades ago, but the next phase is defined by health, safety, comfort, and human-centric environments that demand intelligent solutions. Lighting alone cannot do this; it must be combined with sensors. For lighting designers and contractors focused on controls and integration, that is an important signal: the new head of LEDVANCE Canada understands the language of controls and integration, not just fixtures and wattages.

Liu joined LEDVANCE in 2024 and quickly built a successful business presence in Japan, reopening the market and establishing a profitable operation within a year. Drawing on the strength of the OSRAM brand, deep market knowledge, and a focused team, he committed to a consistent approach: do the homework, listen to customers, build trust, and execute.

He then built on this success, leading multiple LEDVANCE businesses across Asia, further strengthening his experience in building and scaling operations across six diverse markets.

In early 2026, Liu was approached about leading the Canadian business. What ultimately drew him to the role was the opportunity to contribute to a market he knows personally and cares deeply about. A Canadian citizen since his early thirties, he sees this as both a professional and personal return.

“As a Canadian, I want to contribute,” Liu says. He sees Canada as an evolving market and believes LEDVANCE is well-positioned, with the scale, technology, and flexibility to support Canadian customers and grow the business.

Liu sees a clear opportunity to strengthen performance in Canada. His first priority is profitable growth, supported by LEDVANCE’s global scale, strong technology platform, and vertically integrated capabilities. He believes the business has untapped potential and is focused on unlocking it through disciplined execution and closer alignment with market needs. That vertical integration, he notes, has not yet been fully explored in Canada, and he looks forward to unlocking this potential.

The second priority is customer relationships. Liu is explicit that he is not chasing short-term returns, but building long-term, trust-based partnerships, echoing lessons from his early days in Toronto.

In his view, the Canadian lighting and electrical market comprises three critical groups: distributors, who need reliable supply and ease of doing business; contractors, who prioritize practical, efficient on-site solutions; and engineers, specifiers and designers, who require strong, responsive technical support. Understanding and serving each of these audiences is essential if LEDVANCE is to be more than just another vendor.

The third priority is stronger discipline and execution within the organization. Liu is focused on building the capabilities needed to better support customers across Canada, including strengthening local responsiveness and expanding technical and engineering support. He is also focused on ensuring the team is equipped to support each of these audiences effectively.

Central to all of this is Liu’s commitment to being in the market. “The answers are on the customer side, not in the office,” he says. Within days of arriving, he began visiting customers, contractors and partners across the country, mapping out a three-week rotation across Eastern, Western, and Central Canada. In more than three decades, he says, he has never had a customer visit that yielded nothing.

Each interaction provides insight that he brings back to his team. It is a philosophy of leadership grounded in listening, learning, and action.

Liu is also focused on aligning LEDVANCE’s offering more closely with the specific needs of the Canadian market. In his review, he sees an exciting opportunity to expand solutions that better reflect local requirements and ensure the company’s global strengths translate effectively in the Canadian market. Change, in his view, is a tool to better connect capability with customer need.

What emerges is a leader defined by decisiveness, business acumen, and a clear bias for action. Liu is focused on bringing LEDVANCE’s global capabilities to Canada in a way that reflects the realities of this market and the needs of those who operate within it.

He will judge success not only by growth, but by whether customers see LEDVANCE as a partner that listens, responds, and builds for the long term.

For more information on LEDVANCE lighting solutions HERE