Welcome back to “The Voices Behind the Words: Member Spotlight” – our interview series shining a light on the diverse stories and experiences of our members.
Our next interview is with Geert Vanderhaeghe, General Manager at Lexitech:
- Please can you share three interesting facts about your company?
We sit in the historic heart of Brussels, with our 5400 diplomats, 42 international organisations and 108 languages, so “multilingual” comes quite naturally to us.
The general manager was trained in Latin and ancient Greek, but he is no native speaker so that does not help the business…
There are no cars at Lexitech: public transport, (electric) bicycles or the odd motorcycle, yes, but cars are ‘verboten’. Hopefully the planet will thank us for this!
- What aspect of your company do you believe sets it apart from others in the industry?
Lexitech is an ‘oldtimer’ in the industry, we were founded in 1976, catering (at that time) to the European Economic Community, already headquartered in Brussels, and with nine members at that time. There are entire centuries of experience present at Lexitech!
We have seen the business evolve over this long period, which gives perspective to some of the disruption we see today. Not that we are entirely philosophical about things, but perspective helps.
- How have you seen your work and role evolve over the years?
I have been in the business less than ten years so I am still some sort of a newbie. The biggest change was probably in sales and marketing with technology replacing the classical sales approach and, indeed, some wining and dining. So that change is not entirely beneficial…
- What’s the most interesting or unusual client request you’ve ever received?
For quite a few years, we have dealt with some military secrets. At first, we thought this would bring some ‘James Bond’ lifestyle to the shop but this did not work out for now. Joking aside, this is a very interesting challenge from a number of perspectives with clients who are as professional as they can possibly be. In spite of the complexities, we love the work (and the clients)!
- If you could translate or interpret for any historical figure, who would it be and why?
I have always been in awe of the sheer intellectual power but also of the deep humanity of Leo Tolstoy. I am as horrified as so many others by what his country stands for today, but those familiar with Tolstoy’s writings, in particular his essays, know how strongly he advocated nonviolence and how he inspired leaders like Mahatma Ghandi and Martin Luther King.
- If you could change one thing about the language industry today, what would it be?
Somehow, the industry (and that includes Lexitech) is not capable enough to show the value we bring. Not only do we translate, we bring a whole lot of international expertise to the clients, who typically need to look better abroad than in the home market, as they will often be contenders rather than leaders in the international markets. Maybe we focus too much on the technicality of our profession (which in itself gets challenged by technology, at least in the eyes of some clients) but the expertise on the discrete local markets which our networks bring risks getting snowed under.
Company name: Lexitech
Company website: www.lexitech.eu
Name: Geert Vanderhaeghe
Job title: General Manager
