Q+A | Patrick Olney

Q: How do you spend your weekends?

A: Sometimes I travel for work but I try, whenever possible, to keep my weekends free so I can spend time with my wife and my three children. I have three daughters aged 7, 13 and 16. I think it is so important to spend quality time with your family but you need to set aside that time.

What are your hobbies?

I love to play music, in particular the piano and guitar. I take guitar lessons with my eldest daughter, Katie. It is great to spend that time together. I find playing music very enjoyable and, most of all, relaxing. You can't think about anything else other than the music for that period of time. I've learnt classical guitar and I am now learning electric guitar.

Besides that I like to go mountain biking with friends. We often go for 30-kilometer bike rides into the forests in Brussels. And when I'm not traveling for work, I enjoy traveling for leisure with my family.

What is the saying that you like the most? Why? What is your motto?

It's difficult to quantify a specific saying but one book that has influenced me the most is The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey. He says that there are no shortcuts in business. If you want to be trusted, you need to be trustworthy. If you want to be liked, you need to like others. It is all about leading by example. So if I have any motto it would be that there are no shortcuts for the reputation you build up in business. You earn the reputation that you have.

What is your idea of perfect happiness?

Happiness, for me, is appreciating the simple things in life. It is not about wealth or power. It is about enjoying the simple pleasures that life can bring. For example, it could be having a barbecue with my family and enjoying a beautiful sunset in the backyard or fishing with my father in a peaceful setting. Happiness to me is a state of mind, a moment in time that is not defined by one specific criterion.

What do you value the most in your friends?

I would say loyalty and steadfastness. I value my friends greatly and I have very good friends who have been with me through thick and thin. When you live an international life with lots of travel, often involving moving to different countries, your friends are those that have stuck by you wherever you are in the world.

What do you consider to be your greatest achievement?

I would say my children are my greatest achievement. They are all turning out rather wonderful and (whether that is mine and my wife's influence or not) it is great to watch them develop and grow into their own identities. My eldest daughter, now in her teenage years, is really starting to form her own mind and make her own decisions. It is a real joy to see that. She reminds me a lot of myself at that age.

If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I would increase the amount of time that I can spend with my wife and children. I have a very busy work schedule that involves a lot of international travel and that I enjoy greatly. But it does lessen the time I can spend with my family and, if I could change that, I would.

What is your most treasured possession?

I think it is quite dangerous to treasure possessions. I feel quite strongly that you should treasure the people in your life rather than material objects. Any possessions that I do cherish, I do so because they have sentimental value connected to the people in my life. For example I have an original set of Sir Walter Scott novels that belonged to my grandfather that mean a lot to me. I also have a set of World War I letters from my great uncles to their wives and mothers that again have sentimental value.

What kind of "green" lifestyle do you have?

At Volvo CE, environmental care is one of the three core values of the company and I try to live by that value as much as possible, not only in my work but in my personal life too.

I am very conscious about saving energy and, as a family, we try to walk or cycle as much as possible rather than to take the car. We also do our best to recycle and to limit waste.

There are always ways to be more environmentally friendly and often it is the small things, like turning off lights when you're not in a room, that make the biggest difference over time. My eldest daughter even tells me off if I leave the tap running for too long when I'm brushing my teeth!

Name places in China that have impressed you the most that you have not visited but want to explore? What was your favorite journey?

I love going to Shanghai and Linyi. I travel there a lot for work. I also took my wife there on one occasion and we had the opportunity to explore some of the sights together. That was very memorable. I would like to spend more time touring in Beijing. I have never seen the Great Wall, so I would like to see that. I would also like to go to some of the more rural areas of China, the less touristy places, and I am already planning a trip to Inner Mongolia.

What's the best way to break the ice with a Chinese businessman you've met for the first time?

I think that it is very important to respect different cultures, traditions and customs. So, in any meeting, you must first honor any formalities. However, equally important thereafter, is to relax and to be yourself. I have met many Chinese businessmen and I have always found our meetings to be very warm, sociable and courteous.

What kind of experience has shaped your thoughts the most?

I would say working and living internationally has helped to shape my thinking. It is a very positive experience because you become more culturally aware and tolerant of different people's thinking and behavior. You also experience things that you wouldn't necessarily get to experience had you remained in your home country. I think it has also had a positive impact on my family. Not only has it made our family unit tighter but it has enriched my children's learning, helping to give them a more rounded view of the world.

What is the book you are reading now? What is your favorite book?

I'm interested in science and biology so I really like Darwin's Dangerous Idea by Daniel Dennett, which reviews Darwin's theories about evolution and the impact they had on the world. I do like crime novels too, especially Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane, which features Boston private investigators searching for a missing child.

Who is your icon? Which living person do you most admire?

I have a lot of admiration for the UK's monarch Queen Elizabeth II. She embodies dignity, tradition and humility. Despite lots of changes in society, governments and her own family, she has set a good example throughout 60 years of service. At the other end of the social scale, I also greatly admire the personal strength of Mahatma Gandhi, who showed the power of one man's ability to change the lives of millions of people in a peaceful way.

What is your greatest fear?

I'm a bit frightened of heights. I hate those glass elevators you get in hotels and don't trust all those rusted bolts on fairground Ferris wheels. That said, I get forced to go on all of them and, worse, to keep my children happy.

China Daily