Our Potentials

METRO Potentials Batch 11

Beatriz Cunha | Portugal

What is your personal highlight of your MP journey?

The importance of communication inside of a multinational company. Most countries have the same pain points in their everyday business and different solutions are created to resolve them. Exploring synergies and working as one team will lead to better and more sustainable solutions. Our international assignment is a way bridge the gap: we work together within a different country to find solutions which can be scaled up.

What is your biggest learning from your MP participation?

The sharing that it is constantly happening during our journey, from having meetings with senior leaders whom we can ask our questions, to meeting people with various backgrounds and from different countries. We share our journeys with each other and grow personally and professionally together. Being able to talk with someone who has the same struggles as you is a valuable asset of the program as you can relate to and help each other out.

Beatriz Cunha, Batch 11

Louis-Arthur Baarré | France

What is your personal highlight of your MP journey?

It’s definitely the successful implementation of a new strategy that has improved the efficiency and performance of the department cellar and spirit of the headquarter store. As well as building a strong, motivated team. I would like to express my gratitude to many supportive people in the store, the store manager and a mentor who provided invaluable advice and support throughout the program.

What is your biggest learning from your MP participation?

My career path has taught me to adapt to rapid change and uncertainty in a dynamic, customer-focused business environment, while building my leadership skills by taking ownership of initiatives and leading teams. This blend of adaptability and leadership has proved essential to facing challenges and keeping customers happy.

Louis-Arthur Baarré, Batch 11

Vanesa Fritz | Slovakia

What is your personal highlight of your MP journey?

The chance to gain insights into each key part of the company. The way the program was designed ensures fast adaptation while joining a new team every few months/weeks. Also, it is building a strong base for my next position in the company, as I already know many people.

What is your biggest learning from your MP participation?

First, I realized I must keep an open mind no matter what. Even when I become the most senior and experienced person in the team, I will still have something to learn from other people. It is important to listen to people and stay humble. My second biggest learning is that disagreeing with someone else's opinions doesn't necessarily mean that one of us must be wrong.

Vanesa Fritz, Batch 11

Uxue Vadillo | Spain

What is your personal highlight of your MP journey?

It is gaining clarity about the type of professional I want to be and the values I want to project. What is also crucial is to understand how important people are. At the end of the day, they are the ones who make the difference in our business.

What is your biggest learning from your MP participation?

The importance of adaptability and resilience. Navigating dynamic environments, embracing change, and staying agile were my key learnings. From a personal perspective, I have also experienced the importance of working with passion to make an impact for you, the business, and the customers.

Uxue Vadillo, Batch 11

METRO Potentials Batch 10

Berta Paredero | France, Batch 10

What is your personal highlight of your MP journey?

My personal highlight of my MP journey was the Christmas period. Several elements made this moment extraordinary: the frenetic activity, the numerous exchanges with our customers, the determination of the teams, and the commercial animations, which made our store vibrate.

What is your biggest learning from your MP participation?

My biggest learning is the importance of working with passion. We have the chance to work in a challenging, dynamic and creative sector and we need to put intensity in every action and exchange, whether it is with our clients or our teams!

Berta Paredero, France, Batch 10

Susana Liu | Spain, Batch 10

I am continually impressed by how each of my co-workers are able to inspire me to do my best, in order to provide a satisfactory and effective experience to our customers and do different challenging things every day.

Susana Liu, Spain, Batch 10

Kaan Kutsal | Turkey, Batch 10

What is your personal highlight of your MP journey?

Adaptation will become second nature. You will see and experience wholesale business in its purest form.

What is your biggest learning from your MP participation?

That there is always something to learn and always something to improve. You will never get bored (or unoccupied) being a MP.

Kaan Kutsal, Turkey, Batch 10

Victor Lapieza | Spain, Batch 10

My biggest learning:

We are part of a multinational team, in which when the product is delivered to its final customer, it has passed through thousands of hands. We must stay close to the teams, take care of them and motivate them. We are a company of people who work for people.

Victor Lapieza, Spain, Batch 10

Kasim Rauf | Pakistan, Batch 10

What is your personal highlight of your MP journey?

Sitting together at lunch on a beautiful afternoon in Düsseldorf, the instructors for METRO Potentials shared some valuable insights and timeless wisecracks which I will carry with me forever.

What is your biggest learning from your MP participation?

A good team which is determined to achieve something can jump over all sorts of hurdles together and enjoy the process as well, similarly we as Potentials can achieve everything we want to.

Kasim Rauf, Pakistan, Batch 10

METRO Potentials Alumnus

Lasse Spethmann | Germany, Batch 9

Be prepared to become part of a community full of inspiring colleagues driven by their passion, willingness to continuously leave their comfort zone and challenge each other as well as the status quo! Ownership, accountability and a "getting it done" mentality will enable you to get responsibilities quickly so that you can create a real impact for our clients.

Lasse Spethmann, Germany

Benoit Hervio | France, Batch 9

What is your personal highlight of your MP journey?

My personal highlight has been working with our fresh produce experts who are passionate about working from early morning to deliver the product to our customers.

What is your biggest learning from your MP participation?

MP is made up of daily learning, but my biggest learning has been to know what my professional values are and what kind of manager I want to be.

Benoit Hervio, France, Batch 9

Hina Mall | Pakistan, batch 9

What is your personal highlight of your MP journey?

It’s a great chance to work and network with people across Metro countries and getting a global perspectives which builds up your vision regarding work and yourself.

Hina Mall, Pakistan, batch 9

Nidhi Agarwal | India, Batch 9

What is your personal highlight of your MP journey?

To be able to experience store, head office and another country in less than 2 years in my career.

What is your biggest learning from your MP participation?

It is all about the courage to take on the opportunity and then sky is the limit.

Nidhi Agarwal, India, Batch 9

Lalit Aggarwal | India | Batch 1 (Alumnus)

What is your best outcome of the MP Programme?

Other than a cozy bunch of friends across different countries and a rich international exposure, the programme has really rewarded my ‘curiosity’ by allowing me to do various roles across functions and geographies. It has been fundamental in the way how I see, interact & work with the people, and how comprehensively I understand our Food/Wholesale business - which is key to have a holistic view while finding the best possible solutions to serve our customers.

It’s because of the programme that I have my own version of the famous quote by Steve Jobs: “Stay Curious, Stay Kind!”

Lalit Aggarwal | India | Batch - 1

Joao Pedro Carvalho | Portugal | Batch 1 (Alumnus)

How has the programme accelerated your career?

METRO Potentials was a fantastic platform to accelerate the career because

  • the programme gave me early experience and training in several domains of the company and it allowed me to have a very holistic understanding of our business
  • the programme gave me tremendous exposure to leadership and access to mentorship which was pivotal for me to grow & mature as a professional, following examples and advice from the most seasoned executives in the company
  • the programme helped me build a very broad and international network which is a huge asset for accelerated development
Joao Pedro Carvaho | Portugal | Batch 1