EMEA Recruitment Podcast - Episode #63 – Try to Think More Abstract - Adri Simamora

Oct 15, 2020

We were proud to welcome Adri Simamora, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Nordics at Sandoz and Country CFO Denmark at Novartis, to the EMEA Recruitment podcast. 

“Hopefully, the world will become better with this pipeline of new leaders.”

Indonesian-born Adri has lived in the Netherlands since 2013. He tells our Founder, Paul Toms, about the values he’s drawn to in the country: being independent and open-minded, and consensus-based decision making. It’s something he finds particularly important in the current world.

Adri explains the value in broadening your point of view and ensuring that each party – be that in government, society or business – supports an idea. 

Looking towards the future, Adri understands that the Finance function is changing. He told us about how Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Business Intelligence (BI) & Data will transform the Finance & Accountancy role. If you’re a Finance professional, it may be wise to listen to Adri’s advice on moving from technical aspects of the job to more abstract thinking in the future. 

His focus on playing your strength and stretch is also a helpful piece of advice for all business professionals out there – be sure to take this on board. 

Adri is confident that the pipeline of new leaders will make the world a better place, in tandem with a more interconnected world. In fact, having personal exposure internationally is something that he believes will help future leaders have “a more balanced view of business, a more balanced view of society and, hopefully, equip them to become a better leader”. 

Although he doesn’t have much downtime, Adri told Paul about how he clears his mind and relaxes after a long day in the office. 

He also offers up the best piece of advice he’s ever been given and reveals his two dream podcast guests – I think we can all agree that that would be an interesting episode! 

Use the helpful timestamps below to listen to advice from CFO Adri Simamora: 

• 01:28 - What Adri loves about being in the Netherlands/consensus decision making
• 03:00 - How the consensus model of decision making works
• 05:30 - How Adri manages time/importance of prioritising and stretching yourself/playing to strengths
• 08:40 - Adri’s biggest influencers and what he’s learnt from them
• 12:20 - Future of Finance function/BI & Data/abstract thinking
• 15:35 - Biggest challenges in finding talent/importance of culture fit 
• 19:35 - How Adri retains the best talent/exposure to other parts of business & enriching knowledge
• 23:00 - How hyper-connectedness improves the world
• 24:45 – Downtime: How sports help Adri clear his mind
• 27:00 - The best piece of advice Adri was ever given
• 30:00 - Who would read Adri’s life story?
• 32:50 - Adri’s ideal podcast guests and what would he ask them
• 36:15 - How to connect with Adri

 

Please share this episode of the EMEA Recruitment podcast with any Finance professionals that you think would benefit from Adri’s advice.

 

If you’d like to reach out to Adri, connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/adrisimamora/

 

The EMEA Recruitment podcast is hosted by the Founder of EMEA, Paul Toms, and Executive Recruiter and Senior Consultant, Jenny Callum.

To find out more about EMEA Recruitment, visit: https://emearecruitment.eu

Follow EMEA Recruitment on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/company/emea-recruitment-limited/

Or connect with Paul on LinkedIn at: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paultoms/

Or Jenny here: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jennycallumemea

 

If you have any questions or topics you would like EMEA Recruitment to cover in our podcast in the future, please send us a message on LinkedIn and we will look to help as much as possible.

 

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