The mindful President from Argentina
Alfa Laval is active in the areas of Energy, Marine, and Food & Water, offering its expertise, products, and service to a wide range of industries in some 100 countries. Alfa Laval was founded in 1883 by Gustaf de Laval and Oscar Lamm with Head Quarters in Lund, Sweden.
We had the honour of getting to know Mr Hicke who joined the UAE office only a couple of months ago.
Hej SBC Member,
Who is Sergio Hicke?
My name is Sergio Hicke, Cluster President for Alfa Laval India, Middle East & SE Africa as well as Managing Director for Alfa Laval Middle East, Southern and Eastern Africa. I was born in Argentina in 1968 and I graduated in Industrial Engineering from the Universidad Católica of Argentina, with an MBA in Strategic Management & Marketing. I have been part of the Alfa Laval Group since 1995, where I have had the privilege of building my career in multiple leadership positions.
When I am not with my family or working, I like to play water sports, learn new things, travel, practice yoga and meditate. I enjoy being around and learning from people.
You have been working for Alfa Laval for more than 25 years. What are some of the benefits and challenges you find working for a Swedish Company?
During 25 years many things happened, I was not only working for Alfa Laval, but I was also very close to the Swedish community during my Managing Director period in Argentina, where I was the President of the Argentinean Swedish Chamber of Commerce and also during my period in Italy, as MD of Alfa Laval Adriatic, where I was also President of Assosvezia, the Swedish - Italian chamber of commerce. I have been able to learn and appreciate more about the Swedish Culture and the Swedish society but also about other Swedish companies.
There are many benefits that I can recall but the most important one is that I was able to develop almost my whole professional career in a serious, honest, innovative, inclusive, diverse and open-minded organization. I feel the balance between what I give to the company and what the company gives back - it was all the time well in balance. I was able to develop my entrepreneurship skills in a big company, I was able also to travel around the world, and to live different experiences that helped me to mature in my leadership style and management competences.
Sergio Hicke, Cluster President for Alfa Laval India, Middle East & SE Africa as well as Managing Director for Alfa Laval Middle East, Southern and Eastern Africa
What are some of the proud initiatives you have driven during these years?
I feel proud and grateful at the same time of all the initiatives I was involved in during these years, because they were done together with great people and with a true purpose of doing good for the people, for the customers and for the planet, even though in some of them I failed in the intent.
But what I feel most proud of is seeing people that have been working with me in a team growing to different positions in the organizations, and people growing into high performers and seeing their satisfaction and happiness at work.
You are also a Yoga, Nidra and Meditation Instructor. How do you use these skills in your day-to-day work?
I started to meditate many years ago after a doctor recommended me to do the MBSR - Mindfulness Stress Reduction Program. I very quickly enjoyed the benefits of meditation; after four months the stress level went down, I slept better every night, and I started eating better. I learned to treat and observe myself better and be more focused, and these things had positive effects on others as well in the daily life.
I understood that we have to listen much more to our own body, and the signals it is giving us all the time. To listen to it when is tired and needs a rest, when it is needing some exercise, movement or something else. Understanding your body and mind is about listening, and the continuous practice of meditation helps you to develop listening skills, and this goes directly to the daily life, where I believe I’m a better listener than before, not only at work, but in every aspect of life.
I learned Yoga Asanas later in Rishikesh in India during a retreat and I fell in love with it. Then I did the teachers’ training in an Indian Ashram in Milano, Italy, and there I understood better what Yoga means. Yoga is a beautiful practice, it helps you to treat yourself better and others with respect, to breath better, to concentrate, to meditate and to make your body flexible, ready for long journeys.
Do you have any great Swedish pro-verbs, sentences, traditions you have learnt and been part of during the years?
I have to say that one thing I failed is to learn some more of language in these 25 years, but from the traditions point of view, I liked and enjoyed all the Santa Lucia Celebrations we were doing in Italy a lot, with the big gala dinner with the well-served Swedish smorgasbord together with snaps and different types of herrings. I love them, especially because between Sweden and Italy and Santa Lucia there’s a big connection on the story itself, so we were organizing quite a big event, with the Chorus coming from Sweden and also one time we had the honour to host Crown princess Victoria.
And the other tradition I would like to mention the Mid-Summer celebration, with the positive energy that is created for this event, with the flowers, the good drinks and foods associated as well.
with daughter Zoel
Thank you Sergio for your time and good luck with your new role. We are sure you will continue to inspire many colleague and people around you.
LinkedIn Sergio Hicke
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