Lifetime of Achievement: Jesper Brodin

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Jesper Brodin, CEO of IKEA
IKEA is powered by executives like CEO Jesper Brodin feeling privileged, setting a good example – and having fun

“Have fun” is not your average piece of advice from a CEO at a huge multinational company.

But Jesper Brodin is not really your average CEO.

A one-company man for 28 years, Jesper has been the CEO of Ingka Group | IKEA since September 2017. And his style is as modern and laid back as the furniture that appears in so many of our homes.

Climbing the IKEA ladder

Jesper was born in Gothenburg, Sweden, and holds a Master’s degree in Industrial Engineering from Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden. 

He joined IKEA in 1995 as the company's Purchase Manager in Pakistan. In 1997, he became Range and Supply Manager in Southeast Asia.

In 1999, he became the assistant to Ingvar Kamprad and Anders Dahlvig, CEO of IKEA Group at the time.

The globetrotting resumed in 2008, when Jesper moved to China to become Regional Purchase Manager before becoming Supply Chain Manager of IKEA in Sweden three years later. 

Another promotion followed – as CEO of IKEA Range & Supply, Jesper was responsible for the development of the product range and supply chain of the IKEA Brand.

Finally, he succeeded Peter Agnefjäll as CEO of Ingka Group in September 2017.

Values to live your life by

A reliable method of taking Jesper’s professional pulse is by quoting back some of his quotes – many of which are listed on his LinkedIn profile.

They include:

  • I am a person who believes in the power of people making things better
  • I am proud to be part of an amazing IKEA community with passionate people who want to create a better everyday life for the many people
  • I am passionate about having the opportunity to contribute to a people and planet positive development in a world that needs optimists, ready to act.

Then there are the values that he says that he tries to live by:

  • Lead in reality – by placing the office desk where people are, you will be fast
  • To be responsible is a privilege
  • Find the right question and the answer will present itself. Having big ears helps
  • Make it happen. It’s only by doing, you change the world. Nothing is as fast and effective as a good example
  • Clarity comes if you look for it – take the first step
  • Fear of making mistakes is the enemy to development. Don’t ask for permission, ask for forgiveness
  • The team beats the solo player every day. One plus one will be three when people with great intentions come together
  • Have fun. It’s an incredible source of courage. And if it didn’t work, you at least had fun.

Stronger together

Jesper is a big proponent of the power of togetherness.

He says: “During the years, I have had the opportunity to discover the world and at the same time my own strengths and many weaknesses.

“I have learned to love and believe in value based leadership. And the true power of togetherness.

“The power is where the people are. Believe in yourself, your strengths and don’t forget to rely on other people’s strengths – we are truly stronger together.”

The origins of Ingka Group

Ingka Group is a name that is far less familiar than IKEA.

Ingka is named after Ingvar Kamprad, the Swedish billionaire who founded IKEA. Ingka is a holding company based in the Netherlands, which controls 367 of IKEA’s 464 stores. 

In July 2023, IKEA celebrated its 80th anniversary, having been founded in a small Swedish town in 1943. The brand now attracts around 700 million annual customer visits. 

IKEA’s business model is to provide high-quality furniture at affordable prices and, as a result, its wide variety of products can be found in tens of millions of homes across the world.

A vision for sustainability

In keeping with the mood music that is playing in many boardrooms, Jesper’s vision for Ingka Group is one of sustainable development.

He is a member of the World Economic Forum and advocates for wider climate commitments across the global retail sector.

IKEA’s sustainability targets include:

  • Offering 50% plant-based meals in its restaurants by 2025
  • Only sourcing renewable or recycled materials by 2030
  • Phasing out plastic packaging by 2028
  • Becoming ‘climate positive’ by 2030, by reducing its greenhouse gas emissions more than the company’s supply chain emits, without relying on carbon offsetting. 

Jesper says that the company is also being more sustainable by changing the way its furniture is built:

“We are now replacing fittings with smart click-solutions, instead of screws, which has an immense impact from a sustainability point of view, because we are using fewer materials.”

He adds that, from the outset of his time with IKEA, employees “were taught that wasting resources was a sin”. 

He says: “So if you look at our tradition and history, long before anybody could spell sustainability, it was about reducing air in the packages, filling up the containers, making a flatpack.

“The only way IKEA can be successful in the future is to be in a hurry to get sustainable. We need to get smarter on how we use energy and materials across the whole value chain. And that’s the only way we will be able to be affordable.”

To see the full interview in the magazine, READ HERE.

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