Advice for Youths: Stay intellectually curious with a commercial bias, and importantly, embrace what you enjoy

In celebration of World Youth Skills Day, I was asked to share reflections from my own early career and the lessons I’ve learnt that have shaped me professionally – which hopefully resonates with some of you as you navigate your own path.

I was trained as an engineer and following the privilege to serve in Armed Forces briefly, I started looking for a job. This turned out to be the time?when?banks were hiring more “quantitative" backgrounds,?with the advent of a new thing in markets called derivatives and structured products. I built an early (decent) reputation as a structuring specialist, and?today, I realize?that while I did join the good old banking industry, it was in a field that was then, new,?and?therefore unknown and a bit scary for conventional bankers. It was?an exhilarating, “never a dull moment" kind of space, which made me fall in love with the industry, including my quasi addiction to chasing deals at the time,?and later,?client & partner relationships. Over time, I became increasingly conscious of the critical role financial services play in societies.

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One thing that has stuck throughout is a sense of?“intellectual curiosity with a commercial bias”. Had I only mentioned?“intellectual curiosity”, I might have stayed or reverted to academia, but the?“commercial bias”?qualifier implies the search for business opportunities with all the curiosity?and open mindedness I could muster. I had to learn to make space for it, meeting unexpected people in business, making time for paths that might lead nowhere, notwithstanding ongoing pressure to perform and ultimately earn returns,?which always kept me honest. I think this was no different in my early jobs than it is today at SC Ventures by Standard Chartered (with a few differences in perspective obviously!) An important element of this is that I have found it enjoyable.?In a competitive environment, it is easier to succeed at something we enjoy doing?- the balance of intellectual curiosity and commercial instincts hits the mark for me.

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I?would like to thank?a number of ex-bosses,?whose influence and inspiration was transformational for me: Mike Rees, Michael Cohrs, Anshu Jain, Jorge Calderon, Walter Berchtold to name a few - I did steal a few pages from your books!?But in this context, I would single out one of them, who had transitioned from being an investment banker to an entrepreneur in financial services and whose pioneering mindset inspired me to "venture" over the years: Timothy Lyons ?who (importantly, as a serial entrepreneur)?recently co-founded VIRITECH , a startup developing hydrogen powertrains for the automotive industry and beyond.

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Looking back,?I feel privileged to have kept it that interesting for over 30 years now. I’m looking forward to partnering with, guiding, and learning from the next generation of young professionals as we work to build a prosperous and more sustainable world for all.?My advice for today’s youths:

• Develop your?intellectual curiosity with a commercial bias - and an emphasis on enjoyment. I wouldn't recommend doing something because it's "cool" or you think it's expected from you in order to do something else - it's pretty hard to compete and perform at things we don't actually enjoy.
• Take intellectual curiosity a step further and make lifelong?learning and reskilling a real mission. The one aspect that I think is genuinely different for the next generation of professionals is that we "seniors" studied something and kept applying it for 20+ years - almost an entire career. I think this world has evolved in the sense that I expect the shelf life of any acquired skills?today?to last for about 5 years, beyond which the pace of change is such that these skills may well have become obsolete.?For those thinking ahead, check out 欧洲工商管理学院 (INSEAD) , which I have been supporting over the years.

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#Upskilling #LifeLongLearning #Curiosity #Commercial #Enjoyment #WorldYouthSkillsDay #RewiringtheDNAinbanking