Full Name: Renier van Rooyen

Position: Group business systems executive at Multotec

Main Activity of the Company: Multotec is a supplier of mineral processing equipment

Date and Place of Birth: October 10, 1971, Pretoria

Schools and Tertiary Education: BEng (Civil), University of Pretoria (UP), 1993; Certificate in Project Management, UP, 2006; Senior Leadership Development, Gordon Institute of Business Science, 2013

First Job: Site agent at a construction company

Career History Prior to Current Position: Site agent, projects engineer, manager: projects, commercial manager, business systems manager: projects, enterprise architecture manager, manager: JDE

Size of First Pay Packet: R5 000 a month

First Job with Present Group: Project engineer, in 1998

Value of Assets under Your Control: R50-million

Number of People under Your Leadership: 40

Management Style: This depends on the situation; for projects I tend to adopt a coaching and persuasive style, and for internal teams I prefer a transformational, collaborative and coaching style

Personal Best Achievement: Completing my engineering degree cum laude (at that time, only 19% of engineering students completed their engineering qualification in four years) and completing the Sani2c Mountain Bike Race (270 km over three days)

Professional Best Achievement: I am proud of having been involved in various projects in my career. In my current role (while not an achievement), I would say my team at Multotec is a blessing

Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Life: Former Springbok rugby player Pierre Spies – he was my mentor as a young man and taught me to find my identity in the Bible as God’s word

Person Who Has Had the Biggest Influence on Your Career: Johan Engelbrecht from Multotec, a visionary and brilliant engineer who motivated me to anticipate customer needs, and to get out of my comfort zone

Person You Would Most Like to Meet: Microsoft founder Bill Gates

Businessperson Who Has Impressed You Most: Entrepreneurs and small organisations that started from nothing and have grown into successful enterprises

Philosophy of Life: Apply and exploit the strengths that you were given and be the best version of yourself. For me, in terms of the Strengths Finder framework, I would say that I am a maximiser – someone who takes something good and makes it great

Biggest Ever Opportunity: My current role at Multotec and being part of a great team to build the Multotec of the future

Biggest Ever Disappointment: The property market decline around 2008. I owned a couple of properties at the time

Hope for the Future: That, as South African and global citizens, we refrain from constantly pointing fingers at others and the systems in place but, instead, embody the ultimate change we wish to see

Favourite TV Programme: Spy or action movies; my favourite are the Bourne films

Favourite Food/Drink: Well-prepared fish like sole, kingklip or salmon, paired with a good chardonnay wine, followed by tiramisu for dessert and a quality flat white coffee (double expresso)

Favourite Music: 80s tracks and Afrikaans music

Favourite Sport: Formula 1 (to watch), mountain biking (to participate in), and tennis (to play with my family). A daily 5 km to 6 km run keeps the blood pressure and the ‘jelly in my belly’ under control

Favourite Website: YouTube – it is a ‘know-how’ resource on tap, especially if you are a DIY mechanic or handyman

Hobbies: Specialised car maintenance or home projects

Pets: A Golden Retriever named Pablo Adonis

Miscellaneous Dislikes: Conflict (at home, with friends or family, or at work), people who complain and are negative, deep-sea fishing, and playing Forza on XBOX

Favourite Other South African Company: Engineering companies such as Bell and Sasol, which are on top of their game and have survived despite the South African political context

Favourite Foreign Company: Microsoft

Married: To Karina Harmse, since September 20, 2003

Children: Ryno, 17; Nina, 14; Heinrich, 12