Can you read in English?

(Si no puede leer en inglés publicaré la traducción más adelante. Pero te dejaré con la inquietud de saber de que se trató).

And for that matter can you speak and write in English? Because if not, you are in a huge disadvantage as a manager in our present global economy.

More than 20 years ago, I had the chance to be a candidate for a position as a Manager along with 3 or 4 more persons. At that time, we were evaluated thoroughly, at the end I was chosen to fill in the position. Some of the other candidates had between 15-30 years of experience, I had a lot more less.

There were 2 main differences between the candidates and I. They had a lot of technical expertise, but I had been prepared, trained and specialized by the company that we worked for in one fundamental topic: Management, that is Quality Management, Personnel Management and Resources Management. The other aspect was the English language. It was a prerequisite for the Management position. The other candidates had a basic knowledge of English but not the one required to perform Customer Service and Business Negotiation on an international level.

If you can also speak the English language at least in a comfortable way. You will be able to perform to a higher level than others. If you can write it decently, then you are practically well equipped to perform in our global economy.

I believe that every manager should be able, at least, to read in English. This will allow him to access a wealth of information and knowledge available in the internet, digital media and paper publications.

I can do it. Half or more of my personal library is in English. A lot of Business Thinkers write in English. A lot of videos and interviews are in English.

I once met a company who had businesses in Canada, the US and Mexico. They had to manage technical documents in English and the personal did not spoke the language. They had serious quality problems.

On another occasion I visited a company who was a top level automotive supplier, here in Mexico. I met the workshop supervisor, he did not finished his secondary education. Nevertheless, he was completely capable of reading technical material in English and was highly motivated for being able to comply to the highest level.

So, how is your English? And if it is not good, what are you doing about it? The situation will not fix itself. And if you are a General Manager, do your middle managers speak English? What are you doing about it? What will you do about it if they don’t?