Jānis Bergs

MBA Alumnus, Class 1999
VP Global Sales & Marketing | SAF Tehnika

What are your success habits?

I think that the most important success habit is to allocate enough time to prepare for meetings, prioritize my tasks and formulate my goals.

What is the best advice you have ever received?

‘And how should we behave during this Apocalypse? We should be unusually kind to one another, certainly. But we should also stop being so serious. Jokes help a lot. And get a dog, if you don’t already have one.’
Kurt Vonnegut ‘The Idea Killers’ essay, 1984

What are you most proud of?

I try to be honest and keep my promises even when it is against my short-term interests. It always pays off in the long term.

What is something people would be surprised to know about you?

If they would know it, it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore.

What have you always wanted to try, but have never found the time to actually do it?

Learning to play piano or some other musical instrument has always been on my mind but unfortunately, I never had the time and strong commitment needed to fulfill this wish.

What is your current challenge or goal?

It’s always around losing some weight and achieving better results in business or improving the quality of my environment.

What are your hobbies or activities to relax?

Squash, hiking in the mountains and movies.

How do you push through your worst times?

Long-distance running has been a great help in the past to cope with stress and clear the mind.

What books do you read currently and which would you suggest to us?

Currently I am reading the book “Velvet Was The Night” by Silvia Moreno-Garcia. It is a well-written book in noir covering 1970s, Mexico City and the political and criminal struggles of that time. For business students I can recommend reading the classics: “The Effective Executive” by Peter Drucker. One can read it many times and always discover some new angle.

What mobile apps do you use in your everyday life and would suggest them to us?

Evernote for note keeping and personal task lists, “New York Times” and “WSJ” for news and opinions.

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