YouSaid · the spoken record

Ilham Kadri

lines on the record: 34
first: 2022-06-22
most recent: 2022-06-22
sittings or episodes: 1
sources: podcast

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“Helps me shape my pets, but sponsors are equally important, and those are the people who made bets on me, who allowed me to get to another job, to be able as a female business lady to take a job in the Kenamus Saudi Arabia against all the odds and bring finally, like at Solvay, bring the whole self. That's something I'm very passionate and vocal about it. Bring the whole self to work at Solvi, for example, the sexual orientation was a taboo. Nobody was speaking about it, right? So we put it on the table. We put code of business integrity in 2019 where there is zero tolerance for discrimination and harassment, etc. So yeah, follow your dreams, even if this means challenging the statuco and this is that if I had played by the existing Rules, I would not be here with you today, Nikolai.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Find your purpose, your why, and if you don't know it, you remember the second day, keep looking for it. And it's okay that you don't know when I was younger. I didn't know. Find your why, find your why, learn and learn and relearn, be curious, be disruptive. You are unique. Each of us is unique and find it. Don't get into the mold. I'm hiring people because I see something in their eyes which is different. IQ is a commodity, EQ, passion, will, disruption are unique in our life. Find your mantras and sponsors, you know, the difference, Nikolai, the mantras speaks to you, the sponsor speaks about you when you are not in the room and specifically for the young female or the minority in the audience, right? Throughout my career for sponsors, I have benefited from incredible mentors, from academia, professionally, personal spheres.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Be a successful person, including empathy, including patience, etc. So I think I learned a lot from that and it's essential to my life today.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“grounding and balance really always stay grounded and balanced nobody has the power to make you unhappy or angry I'm not a Buddha stage Nicola I'm not a robot neither but you know getting stronger into you know understanding the link between the thinking and the emotions right so and how you can live in your planets and each one of us has reality you have reality about me I have reality about you and hopefully there is an intersection so so that's the principle of humanity and human you know interactions all right and relationships when you you understand this I think you can be a better leader to bring others to be at their best and if your people or your kid I mean if my kid is at his best I know he will be”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, every morning at 5 45, I am on a mat doing yoga. I've been coached by my two coaches since now 15 years on the inside out principal, how I get a better person, how the energy is inside out. And it made me frankly transform my life, a better mother, better spouse, a better colleague and a leader.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Fun is important. I mean, in Morocco, coming back to Casablanca, we had a lot of fun. I mean, I was, you know, humble home, but full of love and fun with very simple things. So fun is important. Fun in the job is important. I have simple hobbies and it's reading is yoga, is playing with my 16-year-old son when he has time. He's grown up now, but we still enjoy some games together and having fun as a team, right? So now that we can meet physically, we have a love retreat. So I take my team two days without slides. Just talking about business and non-business and thinking about ourselves as individuals, as leaders, how we can do better and having fun together. So I think fun is important.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“But this is one of the best companies out there showing case that is how you can build a repeatable model. You see what I mean? Repeatable in business, repeatable in innovation, repeatable in M&A. So you make an anecdote a larger story, right? Which I love because if not, it's wasted. And that's what I try to do at Surveys. I love anecdotes, successful one, making it bigger. That's why we launch our growth platforms at Solvit.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, I mean, L'Oreal is a fabulous company with a purpose around beauty. And I was extremely honored when they reach out to me back in 2020 in the middle of the crisis and ask me to join their board. I'm learning a lot from them. I hope as much as I can, I'm impacting. The power of having a pure purpose, which is very, very clean, clear, the power of innovation, you know, that there are not only the green chemistry, but on the digital transformation, they are leading the way. The power of being an M&A machine, and they are, I mean, just amazing how many brands came through M&A and successful brands, by the way, because L'Oreal is not one brand, it's 100 brands, right? The power of, and this is important, and I think I got it.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Absolutely, absolutely. There is still the ceiling and diversity, by the way, not only gender diversity challenges around us and without determination, resilience.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Resilience is so critical to today's life, in your personal life and in your professional life as a leader. We've done a lot of mental health inside out principles education throughout the teams with our teams who loved it. Some came with their families, with their spouses and kids. Because when you build and you crab this resilience in your DNA, in your day-to-day, you know, you are less exposed to the externalities and the macros which you cannot control. You build it and it prepares you to become a better, stronger person. Yeah, I would ask her about her magic recipe, right?”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Nikolai, they were asking us, you can do it with the big muscles. Well, I mean, in quarter two, 2022, I was a chief mask officer, not executive officer anymore. I mean, we were all looking after, you know, security of our employees, how we're not going to distract and stop our manufacturing. I ran out of masks. So I asked people help, you know, really people help. The unions remember that, you know, that I said, guys, let's focus on this. We need help because we close three manufacturing assets, Nicola. Never happened in the history of this business, mainly due to aviation, civil aviation, etc. So I truly believe leaders who do not have emotional intelligence and empathy are not going to thrive and succeed.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“you know during covet 19 for example you know i i couldn't i couldn't allow myself to look at the mirror restructure follow people without doing something about my own salary for example nikolai so so i cut it by 15 and by the way by doing this all my top 30 leaders followed me we created the solve a solidarity fund which people told me this is charity is a us stuff is not europe european thing so i said let's start it and then i asked shareholders for those who want to forfeit part of their dividend and and the fund collected 15 million euro in six weeks nicolai so i think um you know you you have just to you know walk the talk right role model your own beliefs but also vulnerability is key and it's a strength not a weakness i mean in the old days”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“People describe it as an iron fist in a velvet glove. I believe in care and dare, the end, the power of the end. That's actually, if I can make some publicity for my own podcast, which I would love to welcome you, it's the power of the end. In many companies, I had to transform. They were doing this or this while I believe you can do both. You care and you dare. You do it with your kids, with your family, do it with your people in any organization. As a leader, you have to make tough decisions while still showing that scaling and that emotional intelligence and empathy. Empathy is so critical”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Really great conversations. I think from the financials to non-financials, rights is important. And early enough, you guys, you have been very open about what you like and what you don't like, which was equally important. For example, we were labeled and you told me that we were buying high and silly low, which stuck with me the discipline in M&A, you know, how you can create value, transparency in non-financials, because we were saying sustainability is important for us, but we were not aligned with Paris Accords, which we did now, you know, we were not very transparent on the non-financials. Now we are making it as a yearly disclosure or even sometimes on a quarterly basis I share with the investors where we stand. So I think those early insights are so critical, Nikolai.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“My variable pay and the whole variable compensation for the company now is raised to 15% is linked to Solvi1 Planet. So we listen to our investors. We also benchmark with others, all right, what they like and what they don't like. And in the split, for example, scenario since the announcement, I met the top 30 shareholders and asked them what they think, you know, what do they need, you know, and non-shareholders, because we want also churn and we want to attract other shareholders. So that conversation, that dialogue, and frankly face to face make a big difference is so critical. What took us here will not bring us there.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“where feedback is a gift. I mean, that's what I learned in my career, Nikolai, and you cannot be blind and not listen to people's views and insights. Everybody is giving issues. Today I got some insights from my conversations. We need investors. I mean, you put your money on us. So we owe you obviously as a management team, as a CEO, we are the stewards and the guardian of the temple and we defend our strategies and you watch us every quarter every year and you say are they delivering on their promise and that's why it's a track record and the resume. So those are facts that we need a continuous dialogue. Frankly, I met more investors during the COVID and 19 and the confinements than before because virtually I could connect more easily and more frequently. For me, it was important that we impact the pocket to change the behavior. So we tested my”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Waste wood, non recuperable wastewood, and we had to build an ecosystem around the plants to collect that wood and bring it to the plants and use it to decal. In France, the same Danbal, we are exiting coal. I needed someone to help me. Here it's Veolia, who is using your bin. Trash actually will be the largest boiler in Europe and in France using trash people trash industrial trash to replace coal, which is fascinating. So I need an infrastructure. We cannot do it alone. And this is true for the whole industry, the chemical industry, right? That's number one challenge. Number two, and I repeat it to the regulators specifically in Europe, we cannot do it all at the same time. There is green deal, there is the fit for 55, there is the digital transition, the chemical structure.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The infrastructure, infrastructure and infrastructure, I'm not a survey needs renewables, needs infrastructure to be able to decarbonize its assets. So I give you an example, Nikolai. In Germany, I already invested an approved one plant exiting coal using biomass. And the biomass we found there was”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“EV electrical vehicles and hybrids and cleaning home, I mean, greenhouse gas emissions when I joined the company, our trajectory was above Paris accords, right? So I challenged a team in 2019 SBTI, which is a science-based target initiative to follow the one and a half and degree curve and be neutral. And I raised the carbon pricing inside the company to 50. Now it's 100 euro per ton. And as you know, there is no carbon pricing on all continents but in Europe. And frankly, again, proud of the non-financial achievement the team put together 40 project now for decarbonization our assets and our manufacturing. We did double Paris since 2019. Double Paris every year. So, you know, it's amazing, and we pledge and we are committing to neutrality latest by 2050 in the company.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, you know, you often hear the chemical or the industry, and the chemical industry is part of the problem in terms of use of greenhouse gas emissions, Nikolai. But I believe that we are even more so parts of the solution. The chemical industry being the mother of all industries, there is no EV, batteries or hybrid cars without chemistry. Green hydrogen is another one, circular solution. So where essential to enable the shift to a more sustainable future for our kids and their kids. So that's what I meant.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Strategy co-created with the team, do a competencies analysis, what we have, what we don't have, and be very crisp about the strategic and what we do and what we are not going to do and really educate. I'm serial blogger with my teams, you know, so I really, if I get something in my day-to-day in Paris, I'm on a roadshow and I heard few things which are really exciting. I would just send this back to the survey team, right?”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“When I came to Solvit, it was in March 2019. Obviously, they've chosen me and I've chosen them. I loved what I could see outside the company in terms of transformation program. The only mandates I got from the board, believe it or not, is to unleash the potential of Solvay. So that's very broad. So my first, I always practice Nikolai my first hundred days are really precious because I make a big tour. Actually, I travel twice around the world and I was lucky it was prior to COVID in 2019 and listened, listen to employees, listen to the unions, listen to clients, listen to investors. Met you guys or three times and really get this due diligence done like I would buy the company or sell it. You see what I mean? I really do that and it's very precious. And then, you know, I start working on the”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Chocolates and birthday cakes with our natural venin to give them flavor. So yeah, we are invisible, but part of several sectors. So that solved it today and still transforming since I joined the company.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Solvay, it's 160 year old company, have been transforming from day one. I think our founder, Ernest Solvay, used to say, you know, from science will derive the progress of mankind. He invented the process of soda ash. This goes to your double, triple glazing. So he really imagined this industrial process which made us a first multinational after the First World War. And then through acquisitions and organic growth, the company transformed a lot. Today our first customer 10 years ago used to be the glazing customers. Today is Boeing, Airbus defense industry, smartphone, smart devices, intelligent devices makers, semiconductors. We are under the hood application invisible, but there is no battery with us. We are in your”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Make it do they listen to customers? Are they customers obsessed, not only intimate? Do they speak with their mind and the heart? So the culture is as important because if not, you are in transactional relationships and that's not what make companies great. So I think those are my three pillars.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, I mean, strategy is about having clear paths for your business and based on a purpose. Someone, I think, is Twain who saved the best days in a life is the day you are born and the day you know why. So when I come to any business, I ask why we are in business, why our customers, they buy from us and they stick with us. So at Sorva, even if it's 160 years old company, it was a great pleasure to repurpose the company back in 2019 and we launched a new purpose with values and mission and everything else. And then you need to have a clear strategy what you are going to do and more importantly what you are not going to do, you know. So that's as important as what you are going to do and have a structure which is going to execute against it. If not, it's going to stay as a concept paper. And the culture is everything else. It's what you smell in the air is how your people think is the mindset. Are they curious? Do they fail early and do they celebrate early failures and are determined to”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I think it's like any industry, I believe. The key in any business is to have a vision about a vision of success and have an ambition for your business. I think at Solvi, for example, we didn't have bold ambitions. And my grandma used to tell me, ambitions need to scare you, raise the bar, you know. So that's important to have that vision and then to have a plan to execute against it with the right resources around you. So I learned to be resourceful as an individual when I was young, but also later and today as a leader, right? It's not one woman show, it's one team show and you need to have better people with you, good captains around you to make it a success. So vision in any business, I always say it's strategy, structure and culture. Those are my three pillars, Nikolai. Strategy, structure, and culture.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Water, of course I used to watch her, Nikolai, when I was young, so water and potable water. That's why, by the way, when I was in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, my nickname was the water lady. I was working for Dow Chemical at that time and I was leading the downstream investments in their venture with Aramco called Sadara. And I built the first where I justified and approved by the board and built the first reverses plants for water desalination or filtrating, cleaning gray water in the kingdom of Saudi Arabia, not based with fossil fuel. So using green energy already. And that was between 2010 and 2013. So it's ahead of time. So yeah, water is the red line, the Fil Rouge, as we say in French.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Chemistry, I call it the risk of making it sound feminine, is the mother of all industries, right, Nikolai. There is no circularity, there is no bio-based materials, there is no low carbon economy net zero, or quite simply no progress of humanity without chemistry is one of those sciences like physics, mathematics, you know, which are really fundamental to human progress. And it's just amazing what you can achieve with the power of chemistry. So I did throughout research, my own research, but what our researchers are doing today, I mean, I really became aware through my professional career about the crucial role of science and innovation in general at the service of humanity, knowing what took us here, look at green hydrogen. The simple chemistry I learned at school to electrolyze water.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Yeah, because, you know, it's not about just IQ and reading and being literate. It's about emotional intelligence, Nikolai. In Africa, we always learn from the wisdom of the oldest and the older people, all right? So yeah, she gave me the name Ilham, which means inspiration in Arabic to be inspired all my life by others. So that's her wisdom and her wish for me. And I was lucky. I got a lot of impressive teachers who taught me to stay curious, to go beyond. She taught me to never be totally satisfied. And yeah, that was the opening up to the rest of the world.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“I mean, that's education key, being greedy with the resources. I still do it as a sea of solvit today and in my professional life because again, I didn't have the luxury to waste. So it stayed with me. And when I take a shower every morning, it's a miracle of life, right? That's how I see it. The second education, learn and learn and relearn. That's 17 years of my life has shapes probably all my the rest of my life as a mother, as a wife, as a leader, right? And I was fascinated by science, by technology. I loved books. I really, and thanks to this grandma, she really invited me to enrich my life and the little resources we have through education and reading and learning and learning, she would say it and relearning.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“The world who live in poverty or in less favorable circumstances. For me, education brings freedom of choice, independence, finding a job. I'm free to marry who I want, which I did. And it brings health, prosperity. It's life transforming. So that's the basis of my casablanca.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“And this lesson stayed with me throughout my entire career, as you can imagine, Nikolai. My grandmother was my first role model. Couldn't read. You know, she was illiterate and she inspired me about following my education. She used to tell me about these Moroccan sayings, you know, saying that girls have to exit in their lives. One that leads from their father's home to their husband's home. So we were all asked to aim for good marriage rights and be a good wife and mother. And the second one that leads to their grave, and she used to tell me this is not sexy, isn't it? She encouraged me to find my third and own exit, which I found in education and education for me, Nikolai, you know, just unlocked that many doors and still today and opens up so many possibilities. And this is, by the way, very true for everyone, but especially for the millions around.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source
“Well, listen, it's interesting. First of all, it's my home city and my heart speaks when you hear that name. It means the White's house, Casablanca in Spanish. And, you know, it's not obviously everybody knows the movie, the Casablanca, but nothing was, you know, it's a myth, by the way, because the movie was filmed in Hollywood studio, not in Ril Casablanca, but all the streets in my city was full of the movies and we were all dreaming about the American dream and Hollywood. Listen, I was raised by my grandmother in a humble yet loving home in the beautiful city. And in fact, when I think about it, the most precious resources in my home were, you know, running water, potable water and electricity because we didn't have luxury to waste and we received electricity before even running water.”
2022-06-22 · In Good Company with Nicolai Tangen · Ilham Kadri CEO of Solvay · IDENTIFIED FROM THE TRANSCRIPT · source