FULL NAME : MAURICE ALKEMADE
AGE: 44
CURRENT ACTIVITIES/POSITION: VP Retail Brands and Global Sourcing, Walgreens, USA.
HOW I MET HIM
I met him when we were both working for Kraft Foods. He was the VP Sales for Kraft Foods Asia Pacific, my regional boss (the boss of my boss’ boss – do you get it?).
WHY HE IS REALLY INSPIRING TO ME
Moe is genuinely willing to help people around him get better, he will strongly encourage everyone under his team to excel in everything they do. He did not mind to get his hands dirty and go all the way with you during work. The kind of person that walk the talk. Had my best time having him as my mentor, learned a lot from him.
WHAT QUALITIES THAT OTHERS COULD LEARN FROM HIM
He never satisfied, never stop seeking for better results. He is willing to share and help you get better as well.
ANSWERS FROM HIM
The 15-questions that I asked him.
1. Tell me a brief background about you, your childhood, and what you do now.
Was born in Kingston, Ontario Canada on Aug 2nd, 1967. Moved around a lot as a kid but remember my childhood as normal. I played sports, did well in school and made the normal mistakes most kids make. I went to university, graduated with a degree in finance and economics. Worked for Kraft Foods for 15 plus years in a number of different positions. Now I work at Walgreens and am currently the VP of Retail Brands and Global Sourcing.
2. I understand that you have been working in in many parts of the world, filling in different high level positions, tell me how you get there.
I think it’s a combination of having goals, having the abilities needed to be successful in more senior roles and maybe a bit of luck as well. I am a big believer in have goals, both personal and career goals. I was always driven to achieve those goals and in most instances achieved my goals faster than anticipated. As important, you need to have the skills to handle the additional responsibilities of more senior roles. And then luck….sometimes it’s about being in the right place at the right time, have a good support team or simply having the numbers fall your way.
3. Tell me about the biggest disappointment that ever happened to you, how did you recover?
I think you have a lot of disappointments in life so to highlight one is difficult. Whether it is personal or career, I think it’s important to always put things in perspective. In every situation it’s about attitude. It’s about waking up with a smile on your face, a winning attitude and a desire to learn and improve. The real failure is not learning from those disappointments. Failure and disappointment are inevitable in life; the true character of a person is how they manage through it.
4. Tell me about your biggest dream, what you do/did to achieve it, how do you get there?
I haven’t yet achieved my biggest dream. It has to do with what I do after I’m finished working…..unfortunately a long time from now. My biggest dream is having the ability to travel the world as a healthy married man, having my wife with me and spending the money we spent a lifetime accumulating. My biggest dream is to have my wife by my side, having all my kids happy and healthy and successful.
5. What do you think Indonesia needs the most right now?
Hard question to answer in a few sentences. My experience of Indonesia was very positive. Whether through work or the many vacations I have gone on, it’s the people that I enjoyed the most. My memory was that the people I worked with worked extremely hard, wanted to learn and were always adaptable and willing to change. That’s a winning combination. So what I think is needed is patience, resilience against things that are wrong and a passion to continue to work towards change.
6. Do you have someone in particular who really inspires you? Tell us why.
I have a few but each in different ways. I get inspired by those that are willing to work hard to make a difference. The easiest thing in life is to never challenge yourself to make a difference. I admire those that try to do things differently, go the extra mile to make a difference, willing to take on the negative aspects of change for something better. I have a few people that I try to emulate that I believe have moved mountains.
7. What is the definition of SUCCESS for you?
Success to me is having the ability to give my family opportunities that I never had. Success is about having an amazing marriage, having a job that I enjoy and having my kids around. Surprisingly it’s not about the accumulation of wealth.
8. If you have the luxury to have one superhero power, what would you pick?
I’d want the ability to fly. I can’t imagine a better gift than the freedom to soar the earth above the clouds and see the world.
9. What is one thing that you want to learn now?
How to slow down. I’m driven and although I mention my family and wife a lot, it’s the ability to start “smelling the roses” as the saying goes. I have traveled around the world far too often and never do I take an extra day to see my surroundings. It’s always about quickly get in and out and off to the next thing. My solution is to take my wife on my bigger trips now that our kids are older. Now I have a reason to slow down.
10. What do you do in your leisure time?
I play a lot of tennis, I work out a lot and I hang out with my wife a kids. Leisure time to me is about relaxing, enjoying family and doing a few things that I love doing
11. Tell me the best place that you ever been to, why?
I’m not sure I have found it yet…..that’s the beauty of life. But I guess I can say that the fondest memory of a vacation was staying at the Four Seasons in Bali a few years ago with my wife for the New Years. Hard to describe the trip but it was one of those times when time stood still for a while and it was an amazing time together. I will always remember the fireworks all around the area, over the water, it went on forever.
12. Name 3 wishes that you wanted the most.
The best book I have ever read was Shanteram (might have spelled it incorrectly). It’s not a business book, not a self-help book, it’s actually a true story of a thief that escapes an Australian prison and ends up in the slums of India. After the first 50 pages it grabs you and you simply can’t put it down. What’s most amazing is the author had to write the book a few times because his original copies were either destroyed or stolen. It’s well worth all 1000 pages
14. What is the next invention that you would love to see?
I really have no idea. Maybe something to do with travel, faster planes???
15. How do you set your personal goals in life?
I think it starts with where you are in life, what your values are and what is needed. What I mean by that is when I was just starting out I had a young family so the goals were about survival and establishing a strong foundation for my family to depend on. Now my kids are older so my goals have changed, probably more selfish towards my own wants.
In the end you set goals that you believe to can achieve and will ultimately make you happy in life. Some people chose goals that involve only themselves, others always include others as part of their success. I’m absolutely the second scenario; I can’t imagine finishing the race alone.
AGE: 44
CURRENT ACTIVITIES/POSITION: VP Retail Brands and Global Sourcing, Walgreens, USA.
HOW I MET HIM
I met him when we were both working for Kraft Foods. He was the VP Sales for Kraft Foods Asia Pacific, my regional boss (the boss of my boss’ boss – do you get it?).
WHY HE IS REALLY INSPIRING TO ME
Moe is genuinely willing to help people around him get better, he will strongly encourage everyone under his team to excel in everything they do. He did not mind to get his hands dirty and go all the way with you during work. The kind of person that walk the talk. Had my best time having him as my mentor, learned a lot from him.
WHAT QUALITIES THAT OTHERS COULD LEARN FROM HIM
He never satisfied, never stop seeking for better results. He is willing to share and help you get better as well.
ANSWERS FROM HIM
The 15-questions that I asked him.
1. Tell me a brief background about you, your childhood, and what you do now.
Was born in Kingston, Ontario Canada on Aug 2nd, 1967. Moved around a lot as a kid but remember my childhood as normal. I played sports, did well in school and made the normal mistakes most kids make. I went to university, graduated with a degree in finance and economics. Worked for Kraft Foods for 15 plus years in a number of different positions. Now I work at Walgreens and am currently the VP of Retail Brands and Global Sourcing.
2. I understand that you have been working in in many parts of the world, filling in different high level positions, tell me how you get there.
I think it’s a combination of having goals, having the abilities needed to be successful in more senior roles and maybe a bit of luck as well. I am a big believer in have goals, both personal and career goals. I was always driven to achieve those goals and in most instances achieved my goals faster than anticipated. As important, you need to have the skills to handle the additional responsibilities of more senior roles. And then luck….sometimes it’s about being in the right place at the right time, have a good support team or simply having the numbers fall your way.
3. Tell me about the biggest disappointment that ever happened to you, how did you recover?
I think you have a lot of disappointments in life so to highlight one is difficult. Whether it is personal or career, I think it’s important to always put things in perspective. In every situation it’s about attitude. It’s about waking up with a smile on your face, a winning attitude and a desire to learn and improve. The real failure is not learning from those disappointments. Failure and disappointment are inevitable in life; the true character of a person is how they manage through it.
4. Tell me about your biggest dream, what you do/did to achieve it, how do you get there?
I haven’t yet achieved my biggest dream. It has to do with what I do after I’m finished working…..unfortunately a long time from now. My biggest dream is having the ability to travel the world as a healthy married man, having my wife with me and spending the money we spent a lifetime accumulating. My biggest dream is to have my wife by my side, having all my kids happy and healthy and successful.
5. What do you think Indonesia needs the most right now?
Hard question to answer in a few sentences. My experience of Indonesia was very positive. Whether through work or the many vacations I have gone on, it’s the people that I enjoyed the most. My memory was that the people I worked with worked extremely hard, wanted to learn and were always adaptable and willing to change. That’s a winning combination. So what I think is needed is patience, resilience against things that are wrong and a passion to continue to work towards change.
6. Do you have someone in particular who really inspires you? Tell us why.
I have a few but each in different ways. I get inspired by those that are willing to work hard to make a difference. The easiest thing in life is to never challenge yourself to make a difference. I admire those that try to do things differently, go the extra mile to make a difference, willing to take on the negative aspects of change for something better. I have a few people that I try to emulate that I believe have moved mountains.
7. What is the definition of SUCCESS for you?
Success to me is having the ability to give my family opportunities that I never had. Success is about having an amazing marriage, having a job that I enjoy and having my kids around. Surprisingly it’s not about the accumulation of wealth.
8. If you have the luxury to have one superhero power, what would you pick?
I’d want the ability to fly. I can’t imagine a better gift than the freedom to soar the earth above the clouds and see the world.
9. What is one thing that you want to learn now?
How to slow down. I’m driven and although I mention my family and wife a lot, it’s the ability to start “smelling the roses” as the saying goes. I have traveled around the world far too often and never do I take an extra day to see my surroundings. It’s always about quickly get in and out and off to the next thing. My solution is to take my wife on my bigger trips now that our kids are older. Now I have a reason to slow down.
10. What do you do in your leisure time?
I play a lot of tennis, I work out a lot and I hang out with my wife a kids. Leisure time to me is about relaxing, enjoying family and doing a few things that I love doing
11. Tell me the best place that you ever been to, why?
I’m not sure I have found it yet…..that’s the beauty of life. But I guess I can say that the fondest memory of a vacation was staying at the Four Seasons in Bali a few years ago with my wife for the New Years. Hard to describe the trip but it was one of those times when time stood still for a while and it was an amazing time together. I will always remember the fireworks all around the area, over the water, it went on forever.
12. Name 3 wishes that you wanted the most.
- Health for my wife and kids
- Success for my kids
- The ability to retire early and enjoy life with my wife
The best book I have ever read was Shanteram (might have spelled it incorrectly). It’s not a business book, not a self-help book, it’s actually a true story of a thief that escapes an Australian prison and ends up in the slums of India. After the first 50 pages it grabs you and you simply can’t put it down. What’s most amazing is the author had to write the book a few times because his original copies were either destroyed or stolen. It’s well worth all 1000 pages
14. What is the next invention that you would love to see?
I really have no idea. Maybe something to do with travel, faster planes???
15. How do you set your personal goals in life?
I think it starts with where you are in life, what your values are and what is needed. What I mean by that is when I was just starting out I had a young family so the goals were about survival and establishing a strong foundation for my family to depend on. Now my kids are older so my goals have changed, probably more selfish towards my own wants.
In the end you set goals that you believe to can achieve and will ultimately make you happy in life. Some people chose goals that involve only themselves, others always include others as part of their success. I’m absolutely the second scenario; I can’t imagine finishing the race alone.
