Hej, Hello, Guten Tag, Nǐn hǎo, Ahlaan Mattias
In the SBC April newsletter we got to know Mattias Ardfelt, President at SBCs corporate member, EF Corporate Solutions Middle East, EF Education First; Combining language training with cultural exchange, academic achievement and educational travel to deliver courses and programs that transform dreams into international opportunities.
HEJ SBC Member!
1. Who is Mattias Ardfelt?
I am a 44 year old Swede from Gothenburg, currently working as President for EF Corporate Solutions and Hult Ashridge Executive Education in the Middle East. For the past 25 years, I have been given opportunities to live, work and travel in different parts of the world. My family and I are currently living in Dubai, a city of multiple cultures and traditions. When time allows, you’ll find me on a golf course, playing tennis with the kids or starting the fire for our Friday BBQ.
2. You have been with EF, Education First for over 13 years. What have been some of your highlights during this period?
In 2008, I had the privilege to join EF, a highly entrepreneurial company with operations in over 55 countries around the world. Within the organization, employees are encouraged to continuously develop new skills and set goals. It feels like it was only yesterday when I walked into our London office in Chelsea to begin my journey with the company, helping to develop and manage different businesses throughout the world. The incredible experiences and interesting people I have met during these years have influenced the way I approach life.
Being part of EF’s growth in China and Hong Kong is one of many highlights in my career. It was in the late 1990s when EF established an office in Shanghai and streamlined the business in China. The major growth started about 10 years ago and the continuation of business expansion is reflected by the now 18,000 high performing employees of EF in the region. The key success has been adding talent while maintaining the core values of EF as well as the culture.
Regardless of which EF office one visits, the inclusive culture (with a local twist) echoes throughout the organization. Offering people, employees and customers the chance to grow, evolve and excel in an exciting environment is EF’s strength. EF’s growth has enabled millions of individual Chinese students as well as large Corporations to learn English.
Mattias Ardfelt, President at EF Corporate Solutions Middle East, EF Education First
Another career highlight must be the move to the Middle East where I continue to have the opportunity to work with many talented and motivated individuals at EF Corporate Solutions and Hult Ashridge Executive Education. We represent the two B2B parts of the EF and Hult group, and work hand in hand to provide our customers, typically the largest organizations and governments across the region, with solutions for the full array of their people and development challenges, from assessment solutions, to language skill training, to leadership development and executive coaching.
Ashridge House in Berkhamsted, UK
4. You have spent approximately 15 years in Asia and the Middle East, but also studied in the US, what would be some tips you would give to a young graduate today based on your journey?
The world is more connected than ever before; one must be open to learn from different cultures and take the opportunity to immerse oneself in new experiences. My advice is to step out of your comfort zone and examine the possibilities. There will be forces trying to hold you back and obstacles along the way; don’t let them hinder your growth.
With new ideas, think SCALE. Ask yourself, “Can you duplicate this idea elsewhere?” or “what makes your idea unique?” In the end, remember that you will learn through failing, but the key is to be smart enough not to repeat the same mistakes. Make new mistakes for learning purposes. Success will only come with hard work and perseverance.
3. Covid has put a lot of changes to our business strategies, what have been some of your great achievements and challenges?
The current pandemic affects many lives around the world, including friends, families, and co-workers; We must accept the impact it has on societies around the world. I believe the most challenging task is to maintain the social connection and communication internally and externally. At EF, we focus a lot of attention on maintaining the flow of communication and building greater connection with our teams and our customers, even if we can’t see each other face to face. As a result, we feel both internal and external relationships are stronger.
Beyond these connections, and talking more about how we support our clients – of course, they have all experienced huge shifts in the last year in terms of how they, in turn, support and develop their people. In particular, they have had to move overnight from face to face to online learning and have also seen an urgent need for a very different kind of compassionate and resilient set of leadership skills as well as communication and inter-cultural skills.
Our business therefore had to shift very quickly in parallel. Within two weeks, we had moved all our business online and within the first three months of the pandemic had delivered more than 1 million online classes and had an additional 350,000 students sign up to our online English School – EF English Live. On the Executive Education side, we supported our clients to move many of their programs online, and also launched brand new online faculty-led masterclasses and online Executive Coaching.
We also partnered with governments across the world to deliver learning to over a quarter of a million citizens.
In my opinion, we must embrace these virtual advances with the continuation of blended solutions which, surely, are here to stay.
5. Working at a language school, I must ask, how many languages do you speak? How have they helped you in your career?
Obviously, my mother tongue is Swedish, and you might know this, only about 10 million people speak the language. There aren’t many of us around in this world, so we are forced to learn English and one other language to avoid isolation. I speak German and understand other Nordic dialects/ languages. You would think I picked up Mandarin while living in China, unfortunately that ability never flourished, and I have had come to terms with it.
My ability to communicate in English has been fundamental to my career and doing business around the world. English is widely spoken throughout the Americas, Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East and therefore, it is critical to master the language. Most companies around the globe have the impression that their employees communicate well in English, unfortunately, that is far from the truth. Incredible ideas and solutions get lost in translation; it is a pity that they may never materialize.
Many of our corporate clients and partners are surprised with the results they receive from our free English assessments as learning gaps/potentials within the workforce are highlighted.
Call me if you’re interested to learn more!
Thank you Mattias for sharing your story and your life at EF. We wish you good luck and hopefully one day you will master Mandarin too.
Contact Details:
EF, Education First: https://www.ef.co.ae/
Hult Ashridge: https://www.hult.edu/en/executive-education/
Mattias Ardfelt (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/in/mattias-ardfelt-28a81051/