These 5 Global Business Leaders Speak Multiple Languages. Should You? Knowing several languages is an advantage in communication, focus and global influence.

By Ofer Shoshan Edited by Dan Bova

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Mark Zuckerberg | Facebook

Back in your high school foreign language class, you may have been thinking, "Why do I need this anyway?" Sure, you can get by without a second language -- especially if English, the world's lingua franca, is your native tongue -- but chances are you're putting yourself at a disadvantage, especially in the business world.

America's most successful businesspeople are becoming increasingly multilingual, and that's no coincidence. The vast majority of studies on bilingualism show that knowing a second language improves the brain's executive function. In other words, it gives you a heightened ability to monitor your environment which can help you stay focused and quickly switch between tasks, not to mention the advantages it gives you in communicating in our ever shrinking global commercial community.

Related: The 6 Top Languages Global-Minded CEOs Should Know

Bill Gates admitted that he regrets never having learned a foreign language. Here are five top business leaders whose multilingual talents might make you want to reconsider learning another language.

1. Mark Zukerberg, Founder and CEO of Facebook: English and Chinese

Zuckerberg's remarkable grasp of Chinese during his Q&A at Tsinghua University in Beijing impressed many around the world, including his Mandarin speaking in-laws. But he was also likely courting the more than 1.3 billion Chinese citizens who could become potential Facebook users if and when Beijing drop its ban on the world's most popular social media site.

2. Michael Bloomberg, CEO of Bloomberg L.P.: English and Spanish

Michael Bloomberg's knowledge of Spanish stole the spotlight when, as mayor of New York City, his language skills helped save the day for New York's Hispanic community during super storm Sandy. From a business point of view, knowledge of Spanish, especially in the U.S., is increasingly turning out to be not just an advantage, but a necessity. The buying power of the Latino community in the U.S. is now estimated at $1.5 trillion and growing.

3. Leo Apotheker, former CEO at SAP, Hewlett Packard: German, Dutch, French, English and Hebrew

Leo Apotheker is fluent in five languages, which no doubt helped him while manning the helm of German software multinational SAP. It was also cited as a reason he was chosen to be CEO of Hewlett Packard, with its extraordinary worldwide reach.

Related: How Duolingo Mastered the Fickle Language of Startup Success

4. Paul Bulcke, CEO, Nestle: Dutch, French, English, Spanish, Portuguese, German

With a mastery of six languages, Paul Bulcke is perhaps the perfect CEO for such a giant company with such an international scope. Nestlé operates 450 factories in 86 countries, employing 340,000 workers from more than 90 different nations. Bulcke is quoted on Nestle's website stating, "Being multilingual creates a stronger connection with peers, employees, and consumers, which is critical for a business like ours." Bulcke is a true global citizen for a truly global company.

5. Tidjane Thiam, Chief Executive, Credit Suisse: French, German and English

This French-Ivorian businessman's command of French, German and English also served him well at a host of other positions at leading international firms, including partner at McKinsey and chief executive at Prudential, earning him a spot on the World Economic Forum's list of 100 Global Leaders of Tomorrow.

So if you're looking to move ahead and lead in today's dynamic, global business world, learning a foreign language may just be the key.

Related: Language learning app LingosMio reached 70K subscribers within 6 months of its launch

Ofer Shoshan

CEO of One Hour Translation

Ofer Shoshan is the CEO of One Hour Translation (OHT), the worlds largest online translation agency. Shoshan is an experienced CEO and founder of numerous startups around the world. Prior to OHT, he was the founder and CEO of Qlusters, a leading open-source system-management-solution provider, and the founder and CEO of Coretech (acquired by Pyrotec), a company that developed a life-saving cardiological device. Shoshan  is a member of the board of the MIT Enterprise forum and teaches entrepreneurship in several universities.

Want to be an Entrepreneur Leadership Network contributor? Apply now to join.

Editor's Pick

Business News

JPMorgan Shuts Down Internal Message Board Comments After Employees React to Return-to-Office Mandate

Employees were given the option to leave comments about the RTO mandate with their first and last names on display — and they did not hold back.

Business Ideas

70 Small Business Ideas to Start in 2025

We put together a list of the best, most profitable small business ideas for entrepreneurs to pursue in 2025.

Business News

Zillow Predicts These 10 Places Will Have the Hottest Housing Markets in 2025

Zillow predicted that the hottest housing market of 2025 will be Buffalo, New York. Here's why.

Business News

'Masculine Energy Is Good': Mark Zuckerberg Tells Joe Rogan He Thinks Companies Need More Aggression

On the most recent episode of "The Joe Rogan Experience," Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg said corporate culture has become "neutered."

Starting a Business

Starting From Scratch

Here's what you need to know before you launch your big-time food product.

Business News

'More Soul-Crushing Than Ever': Popular Hiring Platform Finds Around 20% of Its Postings Were 'Ghost Jobs'

Is that job listing too good to be true? There's a one-in-five chance that it might be.