Do what it takes to maintain the public’s trust in the profession

Tuesday, 28 October 2014 00:33 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Speech delivered at the annual ACCA prize winners’ awards ceremony at The Kingsbury Colombo by Commercial Bank of Ceylon former Chairman Dinesh Weerakkody:

Good evening to you all, I am honoured to be with you today at your graduation ceremony. ACCA is one of the finest accounting bodies in the world. Unlike you, you may have realised by now that I am not a graduate from ACCA. But I am a graduate of an equally good global accounting body,CIMA, so like you I took exams, began at the bottom, faced many challenges, but with hard work, and some good luck, I became the youngest professional to head both the Employees Trust Fund Board of Sri Lanka and Commercial Bank of Ceylon.

Therefore, today I want to talk about three simple lessons that can help you do better than me. Frankly, very often young professionals lack a deep understanding about how they should plan their next steps after they graduate. Try to look at it this way: before you start building a house, you have to gather the right materials and lay a solid foundation; if you build a beautiful-looking house from the wrong materials it can easily be blown down, so at the end of the day the whole structure is useless. Then there’s the Bible story of the house built on sand rather than rock. It makes a similar point: if you don’t have the right foundation – regardless of the quality of the building materials – the house is equally useless. In a sense, they need to be built from the right ‘materials’ and they need a solid ‘foundation’; otherwise they won’t be very good. What I’m getting at here is that with ACCA, you have now a solid foundation and a strong building to build a great career. However, ACCA alone won’t get you far. You need to do much more. So lesson number one: Build a career based on your passion. The only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. When you do great work, opportunities will follow you and you will be recognised with more responsibility. Lesson two: Commit to continuous learning. In order to excel in your work, in your life, or as a leader, you need to commit to continuous learning. Many leaders know this, but many more are missing the opportunities for powerful learning that could really help them get ahead, on their aspirations. Lesson three: Behave and act like a professional. Professionals, are those working in acknowledged professions, they have specialist knowledge and skill. Therefore, do what it takes to maintainthe public’s trust in the profession, encouraging the public to continue seeking your services. Also organisations that you some day will lead don’t think but they shape how we think. Therefore constantly build the right culture for your organisation; if built right, your organisation’s culture will outlast you. Therefore, friends to summarise; Lesson 1: Do your best work Lesson 2: Commit to upgrading your skills and competencies Lesson 3: Behave and act like a professional and win the trust Finally, as you embark on your new journey away from exams and graduation ceremonies into the world of business, recognise that your personal success is magnified when you help others. Therefore along with committing to your own goals and values, commit to helping others to reach their full potential. As you turn choices into commitments, I hope you have relatives and close friends who celebrate your successes and support you in your failures. Today, most of you don’t have your bosses in the room, but family and friends. Remember that these are the people who have and can continue to help you both in good and bad times. Congratulations to you all. Thank you all very much.