Topical and tropical conversations and celebrations at the ACT’s inaugural Ones to Watch event
A new book by developmental psychology and philosophy professor, Alison Gopnik, has hit the self-help shelves with something of a subversive thud. Unsettling reverberations have been felt as they jitter through the chattering classes. Well intentioned ‘pushy parents’ – pushing out offspring into an increasingly competitive, cut-throat and uncertain world – are told that actually the most valuable modes of learning are the ones which give children the freedom to innovate, create and survive so as to overcome adversity and make good out of unpredictability. Drawing on the study of human evolution and her own scientific research into learning, Gopnik’s book, The Gardener and The Carpenter, points to the need to nurture but not construct. The carpenter crafts her inanimate wears from existing designs and measurements, with a pre-conceived outcome in mind. The gardener tends to her plants providing the right amount of water, good soil and adequate light but rarely fails to be more or less surprised by the results.
Now we are adults. And we, along with our employers, are the masters of our own continued learning. Perhaps it is helpful to consider affording ourselves and our teams the same freedoms in that process. To be our own gardeners, cultivating our own professional development in ways which continue to surprise but, even more crucially at this time, ways which set us up for overcoming adversity and uncertainty.
So what could have been more fitting than to have held Wednesday night’s celebratory drinks in one of the City’s most beautiful and impressive gardens? Hosted in the Barbican Conservatory, the ACT’s inaugural Ones to Watch networking evening, sponsored by Thomson Reuters, was an imaginatively curated occasion. Stilt-walking peacocks and carnivalesque women shimmied through exotic plants and belly danced amongst the tree-tops. Meanwhile, a Brazilian band pulsed melodic bosa nova through the sultry air – at one point the barefooted singer even put her stilettoes to excellent percussive use! And treasurers, supping on their caipirinhas, enjoyed catch-ups, congratulations and introductions.
In many ways Ones to Watch (which is now in its 4th year of publication, but 1st year of ceremonial celebration) speaks precisely to the open ended process of development that takes place at the hands of Gopnik’s gardeners. It is an accolade which recognises that what constitutes success, flourishing and professional attainment is something that is forever in flux, eternally evolving. We can celebrate promise. We can recognise potential. We can nurture talent. And we can support ambition. But what today and tomorrow’s leading treasurers do with all of that potential is within their gift and will very much depend on the creative and informed agility of response to unforeseen events in rocky times. Nobody knows this better or feels it more keenly than the treasurer.
As Colin Tyler put it in his welcome speech:
…do not think this is the peak of your career profile….It is just one of many opportunities to be recognised by the only Chartered body for the treasury profession. We look forward to celebrating your many future milestones; perhaps as a future prize winner; recognition through a profile in The Treasurer magazine; as a member of an award winning treasury team at our Deals of the Year Awards dinner; or even through your election to our governing ACT Council or by becoming an active member of one of our influential working groups…all the time rubbing shoulders with ‘City bigwigs’. After all you’re one of the City’s most qualified, credible and sought-after financial professionals.
We can and will go on recognising all of your successes. But it’s you who will go on to define them. And that’s the exciting thing. That’s the gardener’s way.
Mitko Iankov of sponsor, Thomson Reuters, who gave out several of the evening’s awards, delivered a graceful nod to this too – to raising new generations not cast in the image of their seniors and predecessors. But rather as their own model of leaders and treasurers with their own challenges and opportunities forging their own paths. He said:
It’s events like this that remind us that it’s time to start handing over the baton to those that come after us and make way for the new people, with the new ideas. Every generation speaks about the extreme change and disruption it’s subjected to: from steam to electricity, from land to air, from analogue to digital. I do think, however, this generation holds the bragging rights for disruptive and transformational.
As the brutalist concrete surroundings in which the conservatory is cocooned, once voted the ugliest building in London, is now home to listed, celebrated and adored architecture. So too are the blessings of change not always smooth in their arrival. Disruption is something we try to view positively – sounds edgy right? – but the grim, unsettling undertones belie the ambivalent terminology. I would be lying if I did not acknowledge the bitter-sweet tones in yesterday’s chit chat. Celebratory – of course. Interesting – always. Wary of concerning trends – inescapably. Politics, regulation, revenue, job security, and geographic location… everything is up for question and so the tasks at hand are serious and demanding.
Along with yesterday’s awards came a great deal of exchange of ideas and observations. As I listened to students, members and our wider treasury community it was clear that the ones to watch are the ones who watch. As one chap said as he leaned against a luscious palm:
Exam results and letters behind my names are imperative. It’s not just necessary for climbing the career ladder, it’s now necessary even simply for staying put on it. But to me it’s much more interesting that what I’m learning is giving me the knowledge and the tools to respond well to an extremely imperfect world.
