CEOInterviews.AIHello Bertil – A Conversation with EF's Founder, Bertil Hult

M

Ming Chen0:13

Hello Bertil. I'm Ming Chen from EF Hong Kong. EF staff from around the world have sent questions for you. Today, we've selected a few to ask you. Okay. What was the original ambition behind starting EF?

B

Bertil Hult0:29

I didn't have much choice. I wasn't good at school, so I didn't think that any company would hire me. I'm certainly not handy, so the only option I really had was to start my own company.

M

Ming Chen0:44

In 1965, when you took the first group of students from Sweden to the UK, did you ever dream that EF would get this big?

B

Bertil Hult0:53

I knew English would be the language of the future. I was convinced of that. But no, of course I didn't think EF would become a global company. This was just a way for me to support myself.

M

Ming Chen1:07

What was your biggest worry starting out?

B

Bertil Hult1:11

Like every young entrepreneur, I suppose, I was worried about meeting the monthly payroll. All of a sudden, you understand that you are responsible for the livelihood of many other people, not just yourself.

M

Ming Chen1:28

What was the big turning point — when you knew EF had made it?

B

Bertil Hult1:32

That was probably in the very late 1960s when we opened in Germany. Germany is a much bigger market and the concept worked. Then, we thought we could perhaps also go to an even bigger country like Japan, which had started to use English as their computer language, rather than Japanese characters. That was the first time. Perhaps the second time was when my sons started to work in the company in the 1990s and 2000s. We had to be a real company now, not just a way for me to support myself and my family. So that was it.

M

Ming Chen2:26

What do you think were the biggest factors that helped EF grow from a small Swedish company to a global enterprise?

B

Bertil Hult2:35

I think it's so important that you're focused and I think we've always been very focused and have understood what we're doing. It helps when you have a fully scalable product or service, which we had and still have. The most important thing, though, is that you find great people in each country you open. We have been lucky. We've always had fantastic people in every country we've opened in.

M

Ming Chen3:05

What was the biggest challenge EF ever faced?

B

Bertil Hult3:10

That was probably the oil crisis in 1973-74. A lot of things were sort of falling apart. The flight prices were tripling or quadrupling. We knew we had to raise our price and probably get fewer customers, so that was really difficult. What we did was that we went through every department. The company wasn't so big then. Everybody who worked in a department who wasn't absolutely needed was asked to work in sales, and that actually worked. We could keep our volume of sales and we took big market share, so we actually came out better. But I was really worried, especially in 1974.

M

Ming Chen4:06

What do you see as your greatest EF success?

B

Bertil Hult4:09

That we've found the right people to grow the business. By far, that's the most important one.

M

Ming Chen4:17

What do you consider your biggest failure?

B

Bertil Hult4:20

I actually think that you should not compromise, that you should really carry through what you believe in. But, sometimes, I think I have been too stubborn and too unwilling to compromise. I think that's been a big failure and we've lost some good people because of that and I do regret that.

M

Ming Chen4:47

The next group of questions are about EF today. Okay. What is the secret to EF's success?

B

Bertil Hult4:58

As I said before, I think it's so important that you stay focused, so you don't start to do things that aren't necessary. You really have to stay focused. And then you have to be lean. For many reasons, but one is, of course, so you can move quickly and grab opportunities. So you have to stay focused and be lean. Those are probably the most important things.

M

Ming Chen5:23

How does EF stay focused?

B

Bertil Hult5:25

The staying-focused thing is really important. I think it is that you really understand what you're doing and also really understand what it leads to. Often, you have to say 'no' to ideas, even if they're very good ideas, if they don't lead to what you want to achieve, or lead to your goal. I think that is what staying focused is.

M

Ming Chen5:54

Which core value resonates with you the most?

B

Bertil Hult5:59

I think all core values are very important. It's probably 'attention to details.' It is so important that you think through every detail in the chain of what you want to do to achieve your goal. If you haven't thought through every detail, you will probably make a mistake somewhere. It's attention to details in every step of the way. I think that's probably the most important.

M

Ming Chen6:35

Do you encourage everybody to be an entrepreneur?

B

Bertil Hult6:38

The main thing, I think, is that the company has entrepreneurial spirit and, also, that there is a high enough ceiling for those who actually are entrepreneurs to develop their ideas. The entrepreneurial spirit is, I think, that you take responsibility. If something falls, you're ready to grab it instead of letting it crash on the floor. You can do that everywhere, so that is, to me, the entrepreneurial spirit. But entrepreneurs? A few of us are entrepreneurs and are extremely valuable and important for any company and certainly for EF. My job is to see to it that the ceiling, as I said before, is high enough so that they can develop their ideas.

M

Ming Chen7:31

What qualities of the original EF team do you recognize when you step into an EF office or school?

B

Bertil Hult7:39

When I travel around the world, and walk into any EF office or any EF school, I feel the vibration, the energy that is there. It's always been like that and it's just wonderful to see how lively each office or each school is. That's great.

M

Ming Chen8:05

The next set of questions is about our future. Okay. What do you think will be the biggest challenge for EF moving forward?

B

Bertil Hult8:16

That's a tough question. Of course, there are going to be many challenges. One is to maintain a flat organization. When you grow, it gets harder, of course, but if you maintain a flat organization, you can keep the bureaucracy to a minimum. It's really important to keep the bureaucracy to a minimum. Another challenge, of course, when you grow, is to keep the entrepreneurial spirit in the company and I think it's important that we do that. I'm not sure that these are the two most important challenges, but they are both very important.

M

Ming Chen8:57

How do you see EF 50 years from now?

B

Bertil Hult9:00

50 years from now? You must be kidding. I won't be around then. I think we have... Let's put it this way: The world is always changing, and our company been changing all these years we've been in existence. Now with my three oldest sons working in the company along with some of the most amazing people I've ever come across, I think the future looks very good, so I'm very positive.

M

Ming Chen9:37

The next group of questions are about you, Bertil. Okay. Hmmm. Okay, we'll try it. How did you learn to trust your instincts, regardless of what other people were telling you?

B

Bertil Hult9:54

I'm not sure if I really believe in trusting instincts. I like to see numbers and see that everything makes sense. I go through every detail and see that the numbers make sense, and make a decision when I have all that. If you can't get any numbers then, of course, you have to trust your instincts, but in most cases, you can actually have the numbers before you make your decision. I'm not a person who just trusts my instincts.

M

Ming Chen10:29

What are the most important lessons that you have tried to pass onto your sons?

B

Bertil Hult10:35

It's probably that I hope they can live a balanced life. To have balance in your life is so important. Of course, it's very different from person to person. It has to be a balanced life from their viewpoint. I hope that everybody who works at EF can find a balanced life. I think that's so important.

M

Ming Chen11:04

What keeps you balanced?

B

Bertil Hult11:06

To wake up every morning next to my lovely wife Lisbeth. I've done that for 40 years and I hope I can do that for many more years.

M

Ming Chen11:18

What is one piece of advice you'd give to someone joining EF today?

B

Bertil Hult11:23

One piece? You should never be afraid to ask questions. No question is too dumb to ask. Don't pretend to understand things if you don't. Just keep on asking until you understand. May I say a second one? It's that you should have fun. You should have fun when you work here. That is so important to have – to really look forward to going to work and having fun.

M

Ming Chen11:52

Thank you, Bertil, for answering our questions today.

B

Bertil Hult11:55

Thank you, Ming, and thanks to everybody who sent in their questions. Thank you!