Today I'm just a few months short of the 10 year anniversary of my decision to go and study Arabic full time way back in August 2006. This was one of the most significant decisions of my life and one that I'm still proud of to this day. More life change is coming, maybe it's taken a little longer than I anticipated but then again, 2 kids and getting married does tend to occupy your time :)
I was reading more about the CEO of the company where I work. I asked him a question during the web-based "Ask the CEO" session recently and I was pleased to later see he responded to my question. That got me thinking more about this man's background. At the age of 56 he has some very impressive achievements and I admire how well he interacts with people while also being very intelligent.
Now, why am I talk about the BHP Billiton CEO on a language blog? Well, because Andrew actually credits part of his success to science and his mastery of languages. He speaks 5 languages. So next time someone asks you (or me) why bother learning another language, remember the positive influence mastery of foreign languages has had for Andrew.
https://www.lingq.com/forum/1/18252/?jump_to=1#post-127752
He is regarded as a man with high IQ and has achieved great things in the field of Science / Geology / Petroleum which comes through his Science degree. Secondly he is well regarded, and was possibly appointed as CEO because of his tremendous Emotional Intelligence (EQ) which by all accounts including mine far exceeds the EQ of Marius Kloppers. Marius had a problem with employees having their own bin under their desk or displaying more than one family photo and he didn't want people to heat up "smelly" food. Anyhow, I wonder how much Andrew's knowledge of 5 languages helped him to improve his EQ. From a scientific point of view, understanding the language of people from many different nations must do wonders to improve one's ability to understand people better.
I was reading more about the CEO of the company where I work. I asked him a question during the web-based "Ask the CEO" session recently and I was pleased to later see he responded to my question. That got me thinking more about this man's background. At the age of 56 he has some very impressive achievements and I admire how well he interacts with people while also being very intelligent.
Now, why am I talk about the BHP Billiton CEO on a language blog? Well, because Andrew actually credits part of his success to science and his mastery of languages. He speaks 5 languages. So next time someone asks you (or me) why bother learning another language, remember the positive influence mastery of foreign languages has had for Andrew.
https://www.lingq.com/forum/1/18252/?jump_to=1#post-127752
Some interesting quotes regarding new BHP Billiton CEO, Andrew Mackenzie, in the press this week. Apart from a science Phd, he also speaks 5 languages, and credits this with his success in business.
"Besides English he speaks four other languages (Norwegian, French, German, Spanish) plus a smattering of Russian, and likes to think that the business world is an applied version of the "huge intellectual effort" that goes into understanding science and learning languages."
"Scottish scientist turned industry captain now leads BHP
A scientist turned captain of industry, Andrew Mackenzie, 56, once named his science and language skills – he speaks five – as his “secret weapons”."
"Mackenzie... used the time to master Spanish -- his fifth language -- to help him conduct contract talks in South America as soon as he started."
"All the business stuff - accounting, etc. - is so easy in comparison; my science and language skills are my secret weapons”.
He is regarded as a man with high IQ and has achieved great things in the field of Science / Geology / Petroleum which comes through his Science degree. Secondly he is well regarded, and was possibly appointed as CEO because of his tremendous Emotional Intelligence (EQ) which by all accounts including mine far exceeds the EQ of Marius Kloppers. Marius had a problem with employees having their own bin under their desk or displaying more than one family photo and he didn't want people to heat up "smelly" food. Anyhow, I wonder how much Andrew's knowledge of 5 languages helped him to improve his EQ. From a scientific point of view, understanding the language of people from many different nations must do wonders to improve one's ability to understand people better.