The Ascentador Questionnaire has its origins in the 19th century parlor game popularized by French writer and philosopher, Marcel Proust. This updated instrument is designed to evoke insights from senior executives to the benefit of our readers and contacts around the world.
Albert Baladi
In this edition, Albert Baladi, an experienced chief executive and well-known internationalist, shares his answers and reveals how great opportunity and achievement can be born from challenging, even war-torn beginnings.
Mr. Albert Baladi is a global executive with a record of success at premier consumer companies, including PepsiCo, Yum! Brands, Procter & Gamble, and Beam Suntory, where he was President & CEO from 2019-2023. With a bold, thoughtful approach to leadership, he has effectively worked with a variety of stakeholders to shape and lead company mission and vision, to transform business strategies and outcomes, and to make businesses grow across both developed and emerging geographies. His executive career has been marked by his commitment to leaving a positive legacy, mentoring world-class teams, and fostering collaborative, mission-aligned cultures. We are honored by his inaugural participation in The Questionnaire and believe his answers are both revealing and inspiring.
The Ascentador Questionnaire
1. What core value has been most central to your success?
Courage, Adaptability, Resilience, Inclusivity, Reliability.
2.What qualities do you prize most highly in your colleagues?
Trustworthiness, Reliability, Honesty.
3. For what attribute or achievement do you most often hear praise?
Leading teams, taking people with me.
4. For what attribute or decision do you most often fault yourself?
Landing my points not as intended, speaking too quickly.
5. Who are your real-life role models?
I think immediately of my maternal grandfather, who was my first example of a multi-cultural, principled, intelligent person who made a life for himself despite enormous geo-political difficulties and in some ways charted my course 60 years before I walked it myself. In addition, I would mention my former boss and mentor early in my career at P&G, who instilled in me a sense of experimentation and a willingness to make mistakes or even fail in pursuit of ultimate success.
6. What words or phrases do you most overuse?
“How about…?”
7. For what fault in others do you have the least tolerance?
Disingenuity.
8. What was the most important experience of your formative years?
Growing up during the civil war in Lebanon during my teens taught me about both being adaptable in the face of shifting circumstances and the importance of a community coming together to solve a crisis.
9. What was the first job you ever held and what did it teach you?
My first job was Assistant Brand Manager at Procter & Gamble in charge of the French Caribbean islands. Given the entrepreneurial nature of the role and with an empowering manager, I learned to trust myself and to learn from mistakes without fear of retribution.
10.Is your work more challenging now or when you were first starting out?
Given the complexities, pace of change, and globalization, things are much more challenging now (big time!) but that has been accompanied by a much greater emphasis on ongoing professional development such that leaders are able to meet the moment.
11.In what area of business have you had the greatest impact?
Setting a transformative vision and taking the organization on the journey, delivering improved outcomes for the people, brands and business.
12.What has been the most significant setback or obstacle you have had to face?
Growing through the civil war in Lebanon in the 70s and early 80s was quite rough and quite raw and I was among the lucky ones who came out of it unscathed, but also more strongly grounded in my values than ever before.
13.What are your main passions outside your professional life?
Sports, music, family.
14.What ambitions do you have that are, as yet, unfulfilled?
Professionally, owning my own business. Personally, playing an instrument and performing in a band.
15.What role, if any, has “luck” played in your career?
I believe that luck comes to those who are prepared. In that respect, luck has played an important role in my career, starting with how I landed my first job at P&G, all the way to the many challenges and opportunities that presented themselves during my career.
16.What experience have you had with “failure”?
I learned through my failures that how we do things is just as, if not more, important than what we do. Having a great idea is only part of the equation. Taking people along, persuading them, giving them time to understand and to buy in, are all essential if that great idea is to be effective.
17.How has your underlying source of motivation changed over time?
To succeed at first, I had to be a hard-charging individual contributor. Over time, I learned the vital importance of working through people, empowering them and thinking WE over ME.
18.Do you have any hopes regarding your “legacy”?
Professionally, I’ve always started my roles with the end in mind, so aware about the legacy I wanted to leave. My hope is that I will have left things in better shape and delivered better outcomes for the people and the business. The same principle applies to my personal life.
19.If some are born great, some achieve greatness, and others have greatness thrust upon them, which are you?
I have learned to become a leader, and to rise to the occasion, through necessity and by following the influence of great mentors throughout my life.
20.What motto or slogan best captures your current state of mind?
Grateful and hopeful. After an incredible 5 years at BSI where, as at many other junctures in my career, I was given opportunities and time to prove myself, to win trust, and to lead, how can I be anything but grateful? As I enter my next chapter - - in which I expect to have the luxury of ordering my own time to a greater extent - - I am full of hope and optimism as well.