Mahela “at the crease” with Standard Chartered

Tuesday, 7 April 2015 01:10 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

Standard Chartered Chief Executive Officer Jim McCabe hosted Mahela Jayawardene, legend and Lankan national treasure, to a candid conversation at the bank’s premises last week. In the session entitled ‘Jim at the Crease’ in celebration of Mahela’s career and experience, the recently-retired national cricketer revealed insights into his career, leadership style, the game and the team.

Participating staff were given the opportunity at ask questions and interact with Mahela, in this unique internal engagement and staff development program. Earlier in the day Mahela had visited the Sun FM Studio to go on air on the morning show sponsored by the bank, and listeners were given the unique opportunity to not only ask questions from the icon, but also to walk away with autographed memorabilia. Mahela, commenting on Standard Chartered’s Seeing is Believing initiative, said: “I am delighted to be associated with Seeing is Believing and want to thank everyone who contributed to the cause. I hope people will continue to contribute to both raising awareness for curable blindness as well as financially.”

Later on in the day, the bank hosted clients to lunch with Mahela, and in a more intimate setting, he spoke of career aspirations and life after cricket. Once more, the event was an opportunity to raise funds and awareness for Seeing is Believing, with an auction of mementoes. Funds collected will all be credited to the bank’s special account and will be matched dollar for dollar by Standard Chartered. Sustainability is integrated into the way in which the bank carries out its business, and the bank will continue to engage in meaningful agendas with Mahela to enhance and elevate the impact of its CSR initiatives. McCabe, commenting on the session, said: “Mahela is an insightful speaker, and we all took so much away from the interaction. He is an inspiration and we greatly appreciated his generosity and warmth in taking the time off to spend with our staff and clients.” Last year Mahela, cricketing legend and national icon for sportsmanship, signed on to endorse Standard Chartered, and since then he has lent his voice and image rights on occasion to enhance the bank’s corporate social responsibility activities and business development, with an especial focus on the curable blindness agenda – Seeing is Believing.