How well do you know Jeff Miller?
Halliburton CEO Jeff Miller has earned a number of titles over the years — rodeo cowboy, Spanish speaker, world traveler, marathon runner, husband and father.
A native of the rural Dallas suburb of Celina, Miller grew up working on horse farms and earned a rodeo scholarship to McNeese State University in Louisiana. Specializing in calf-roping, Miller competed in professional rodeo circuit events in the 1980s that included the Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo.
Graduating with a degree in agriculture and business in 1986, Miller became a certified public accountant and worked at Arthur Andersen for several years before joining Halliburton in 1997. The oilfield service company sent Miller all over the world including stints living and working in oil-producing regions of the world such as Venezuela, Indonesia and Angola.
It was in Venezuela where Miller learned Spanish. With the help of a private tutor, Miller became proficient enough to hold business conversations and discuss technical terms with his South American counterparts. Miller told the Houston Chronicle that he’s a “little rusty” these days but always enjoys an opportunity to dive back into the language.
In his spare time, Miller enjoys running, saying it gives him a “great sense of accomplishment.” The Halliburton CEO has run in the Chevron Houston Marathon several times. His best finish time is 4 hours and 12 minutes. Keeping an eclectic playlist, Miller likes to listen to music when he runs. Early morning meetings mean that he mostly trains during the evening. He sees a lot of parallels between running and business.
“What I get more out if is that there is such a clear cause and effect,” Miller said. “A lot of what we do in our business is cause and effect – if you do certain things, you’ll get certain outputs. When I think about Halliburton, we’re very committed to value propositions. There are clearly five different things that we’re working on all the time, and when we do those, we get that outcome.”