Criterion 1

Interview
I started my career path in P&G Company (Procter & Gamble)
in the US as a Brand Assistant and eventually was promoted
to Brand Manager. I then went on to Morocco as Marketing
Manager; Poland as Marketing Director; CEO of Levant; CEO of
Poland and Baltics; CEO of Western Europe Paper; and CEO of
Philippines. I later retired after 24 years and went to Coca Cola
as CEO of Nigeria, then British American Tobacco (BAT) as CEO
of Philippines, and now I am CEO of Fine Hygienic Holding
(FHH), the leading consumer paper company in MENA region.
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What challenges have you faced in your
journey towards any management position
you hold and how have you tackled them?
I believe in serendipity. Life can and does suddenly change.
And one day my path changed forever, for the better.
I had sold the large company in my hometown of Cincinnati,
Procter and Gamble, a wellness program for executives. I
would meet with them, test them, and they design a custom
fitness and diet program. I charged a nominal $100 for this
program which consisted of maybe 10 meetings with the
client over a few months period.
I was one day testing the body fat of this executive, a “Brand
Manager” and he was all nervous because he was in his
underwear whilst being tested! He was making small talk and
he says to me, “Hey as I get to know you, I think you would be
perfect in brand management. Why don’t you do what I do?”
I asked him, “What does a brand manager do?” He gave me an
explanation and I thought it sounded exciting. So I decided to
try and jump from being a contractor in teaching fitness, to a
marketing leader in brand management!
That moment changed the rest of my life. Serendipity.
He helped me apply. I took tests. I was interviewed. I made
it into final interviews. I thought I did well. But in those days,
you go home and you WAIT for a letter in the mail. 2 weeks
later it came: “Dear Jim, we loved meeting you and hearing
your impressive stories. You have done so many impressive
things….” This was paragraph one.
Paragraph two was, “However, after careful consideration, we
have come to the conclusion you are not a strong fit for P&G;
we hence wish you the best of luck in your future endeavors….”
Now, I was too naive and too foolish to know I should just
“accept this”. For me, I could fight for anything. So I went to
the library, I looked up who was head of HR in P&G, and I fired
off a nasty letter: “Dear Sir. Interviewing is not science it is art;
and your artists suck at it!”
P&G was so stunned they called me back for another round
of interviews. 3 new people. And lo and behold, at the end of
that interview, I got the job!
What is the Success Criterion from your point
of view?
And Desire is what separates the great from the rest. Desire
is what got me into P&G and gave me the career I have had.
I never give up. I FIGHT. This is why I don’t care what school
a candidate comes from; what he or she studied; who their
father is. I don’t care. All I want is people with desire. People
with a fire in their belly to succeed. Give me that I can train
the rest.
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Among these multiple positions you occupy
in different places, could you tell us how you
manage your time to keep your work flow
goes ahead?
One gets better with time management with experience and
time. It’s all about focus. Picking the few things to work on and
forgetting about the rest. There is also an element of decision
making. People who struggle to decide and spend so much
time debating mentally what to do always struggle with time
management. It’s key to focus and to make decisions and
move on.
We would like to know your views on the own
business or Start-Ups.
I started my work with large companies who would train me.
Coming out of school most people are ill-equipped to run a
business. You need to learn in real life. My advice to any young
person is to go to the companies that will train you. P&G, Coke,
FHH, J&J—learn from these masters. And then go off and put
your own money at risk and try your own thing.
What is your opinion about Student Activities
in university life generally and SPE Suez
University Student Chapter specifically?
I think student activities are important like SPE. The key is to
join these activities not for gaining titles and building one’s CV;
but to do real work and make a difference. Areas like charity
and helping the community are great learning experiences
and also personally fulfilling.
Kindly, leave your advice for senior students
and fresh-graduates so as not to be shocked
with the actual business life.
My advice is very simple. Awards and trophies are great, but
what gets people to win is the underlying element of desire.
Anything you choose to do, give it all the way 100%. Never
accept and never say, “It’s good enough”. Good enough is
neither—neither good, nor enough. The people who make it
have an inner passion and desire. And this will come out in
everything they do.
There are many learnings in my life journey. But the most
important is this—I can teach about anything in life. I can teach
people how to shoot an ad. I can teach financial analysis. I
can teach people to sell and to present and to write a good
business document. This is easy. But I cannot teach the most
important thing of all: DESIRE. Desire must come from within.
Issue 1 | March 2020
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