Unilever CEO: Indonesian Students We Need Your Help!

Last week, we were invited to be guests at the Unilever x Limitless Campus event featuring talks from Paul Polman, Unilever’s Global CEO, Fajar Anugrah, Certified Coach and Facilitator and Rene Suhardono, Founder of Limitless Campus – all presenting unique ideas on how young people can play a role in creating a better world. In addition to having the opportunity to learn from these amazing speakers, we were also offered a special tour of Unilever’s incredible new office. It was a no-brainer for us to say yes, we’ll be there.

Within a couple days from announcement, the event was completely sold out to 300 ambitious fresh graduates and aspiring professionals.

Right when it began, we were greeted by Didi Mudita, the super friendly and energetic MC. We were taught a couple of exercises, including this one, to keep us energized and excited.

The talk was opened by Fajar Anugrah, Certified Coach and Facilitator. Right from the start, our minds were challenged when he asked us, “if you could build a better world, what would you do?”

From one idea to the next, we found ourselves diving deeper into the four core topics that Unilever and Limitless Campus share a strong passion for: water sanitation, sustainable cities, health and well-being, and responsible consumption and production. Few of the ideas discussed were the initiative to save up food wastes from restaurants, opening “warung sehat” in universities, and increasing the quality of water to unreached villages.

Our second talk was lead by Rene Suhardono, Founder of Limitless Campus, where he talked about fighting for relevance in the emerging future.

He addresses a very important topic to us as millennials, “am I still relevant?”. In today’s society where technologies are growing faster than ever, we wonder if we’ll ever be replaced by technology. To answer that, Rene brought up the three rules he swears by: compasses over maps, sorry over permission, resilience over strength.

Compasses over maps. Find direction, not destination. It is easy nowadays to find out how to reach our destination on our phone maps. But sometimes, what if the destination is unclear? To make an impact, it is important to know who we are first so we can choose the direction that will lead us to our destination.

Sorry over permission. He referenced a very famous quote, “just do it!”. He emphasized how important it is for millennials to experience many things and, most importantly, experience failure. To stay relevant, it’s pointless for us to do what has already been done. As millennials, we should challenge ourselves to anticipate the trend and go for it instead of asking for permission.

Resilience over strength. Related to the second point, we need to have the willingness to try, fail, and keep trying until we finally make it.

“Don’t give up when you feel like giving up.” — Rene Suhardono

We were slowly brought to an end when Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever Global, led us to his talk regarding the challenges we’re facing in the world.

Some of the challenges mentioned are the lack of global government’s capability to face global challenges and the issues of access and sustainability. As one of the biggest FMCG company in the world, Unilever takes part in facing the global issues with the Unilever Sustainable Living Plan.

Through Unilever, they are teaching individuals on health and well-being through the products they are producing. Some of them being “Cuci Tangan Bersama Lifebouy”, “Celebration of World Oral Day with Pepsodent”, “Gain Self-esteem with Dove”.

He closed with a message to us all:

“To be a good leader, we have to put respect to one another and to ourselves. Invest in one another and think intergenerationally. By becoming a better leader, we can create a better world.”

We also managed to get a quick selfie with the CEO himself.

In case it couldn’t get any better, we were given a sneak peek of Unilever’s amazing new office space.

We would like to thank Unilever Indonesia and Irma Erinda, Leadership and Organizational Development Manager, for inviting us to be the first ones to go in and virtual tour the office before the media covers it. We are absolutely stunned by the look of it.

We were also shown around the second floor where the pharmacy, clinic, meeting rooms, and some of the office space are located.

There were much more that we didn’t see. Including the entertainment room, library, basketball field, and chefmanship for Unilever Food Solution.

We honestly cannot thank the Unilever team especially Marshella Winadi for the invitation and her generosity for the office tour and Willy Saelan for the warm welcome to the new office space.

It was safe to say that everyone in the event left behind their old mindset and leaving with a brand-new thinking and awareness.

We also leave with a huge smile on our faces.