Sharing Beers With: Jesper Sabroe

With the 6th piece, I’m taking this series to the home-turf in Finance. Tune in for an inspirational look into the mind of the Carlsberg Finance VP that embraces a coaching leadership style and absolutely loves our industry - meet Jesper Sabroe ??

Meet Jesper Sabroe:

Jesper is Vice President of Finance with responsibility for Central & Eastern Europe in Carlsberg. He is a N?rresundby native (the right side of Limfjorden I’ve heard) and someone that enjoys life to the fullest through his passion for food, beer and… other alcoholic beverages (more on that later ??).

This passion has unfolded in friendships with some of Copenhagen’s fine dining chefs and apparently, they often have nights where they experiment with new dishes that play well with Jesper’s beer and wine cellar – count me in! 

Jesper was an integral part in hiring Stefan, Mareike and myself as Finance Graduates in 2019. Back then, I was instantly amazed by his charismatic personality and his special way of eliciting enthusiasm in the colleagues around him – I hope this piece will echo some of those inspiring characteristics Jesper holds!

5 quick questions:

Every now and then, I will meet with a colleague over a couple of beers and ask them 5 casual questions. With this, I hope to show the world some of the awesome personalities I meet every day in the hallways at Carlsberg.

1. What’s your beer of choice?

I like Grimbergen Blonde, which I think is a fantastic beer. It especially goes well with my favourite lunch cuisine Sm?rrebr?d (Danish open-faced sandwiches). But if I’m sitting on a sunny terrace with friends or watching football then I’m a big fan of Tuborg Classic. It’s nicely malted and strikes a good balance with the acidity. 

2. When and why did you join Carlsberg?

I joined Carlsberg back in 2017 as VP of Group Finance. My motivation for joining Carlsberg was twofold. I enjoy to work with extremely talented people, and to work with very complex challenges – and in Carlsberg I get both in abundance! 

On the people part, I not only get motivated by our leadership team and our CFO, Heine Dalsgaard, but certainly also by the many talents that seek to work for Carlsberg. And they are all just some of the most talented I’ve seen in Denmark. While studying for an EMBA at IMD, there was a saying that if you’re the smartest person in the room then you’re in the wrong room – and that’s not an issue here at Carlsberg!

In terms of complexity, Carlsberg holds incredible challenges through the multifaceted nature of the beer and beverage industry. There are so many different product offerings, sales channels and routes to market. And every market has its own uniqueness, traditions and historic brands – I really strive with that complexity. 

I saw that the people coming in through the Graduate Program and the student assistants were extraordinary capable and talented

3. What’s one of the coolest projects you’ve been involved in during your time at Carlsberg?

I’ve been fortunate to be involved in very good projects during my time at Carlsberg including the internally built business intelligence system, ONO (One Number Once), as well as standardizing record-to-report processes.

But the closest to my heart at this moment is the establishment of the new Central- and Eastern Europe region. We have spent the last 6 months preparing, kicking-off and now implementing a new region with new ways of working, performance management and sharing of best practices. I’ve really enjoyed getting to know all these good colleagues and markets, and the collective effort to find ways to be an even better version of ourselves.

4. Can you recommend a book/podcast/movie that has influenced your life and career?

The last two years I’ve contributed to Josefine Campbell’s book called “Are You Clear or Are You Hooked?”. It’s about being mentally prepared and positive about taking on the challenges you experience in the world. 

Josefine talks about making sure that you are open-minded when you meet challenges and that you don’t get hooked into a negative spiral when meeting obstacles. A good example is when someone seems to work against you, then you should always consider the other persons angle – this person probably didn’t wake up with the intention of annoying me, so it’s important to understand where the other person is coming from before making up your own mind.

I enjoy this book and it really resonates with me. It’s all about turning challenges into positive energy rather than negative energy! Josefine involved me in the editing and gave me the opportunity to write the forewords because the ideas in the book fit well with my leadership philosophy. 

5. You drove the expansion of Carlsberg’s Finance Graduate Program and were involved in hiring me as a graduate back in 2019 – what’s your take on Graduates and the Graduate program?

Yes! When I joined Group Finance in 2017, we assessed the finance strategy and the good organisation around it. I saw that the people coming in through the Graduate Program and the student assistants were extraordinary capable and talented. 

Carlsberg is located close to Copenhagen’s universities and is a beer company with products that are all about happy moments and fun. So, within my first month, I thought: Are we utilizing this to the fullest? My conclusion was no. Therefore, we expanded the program at Central Office by 50% and to other European countries. As soon as Covid-19 allows it, we will hopefully soon expand the program to China and Russia, where our location and brands also appeal to the bright university graduates.

The Graduate Program not only gives Graduates plenty of opportunities, responsibility and international experience, but also serves Carlsberg well by cultivating young talents with “green blood” and diverse backgrounds. We get very talented people that get a multifunction view on Carlsberg, which is very valuable.

Bonus question

Although you work for a brewery, you are quite the wine enthusiast – can you share a bit on your passion for wine?

Haha sure! Since the age of 17, I’ve spent all my pocket money on wine. A friend turned into a great chef and he gave me the opportunity to try amazing food and wines although I was on a student budget.

It quickly evolved into a long-lasting passion for wine. For a long time, I practiced wine tasting twice a week and entered competitions– which eventually culminated in a sixth place at the Danish championships three years ago and a coaching role for the Danish national wine tasting team.

But today I’m more relaxed about my wine passion and mostly focus on pairing it with good food. I enjoy inviting friends over who shares my passion for wine and food. They are some of Copenhagen’s best chefs and we love to push ourselves and get creative with new dishes paired with wines from my cellar. And with my new passion for beers, we have now included beers into the food pairings – there are lots of very good pairing opportunities with beer. My current favourite is a stout beer with desserts like chocolate cake.

Cheers ??

Stay tuned for the next post in the series!