Leadership
YOUNG LEADER CONCEPT - THE MODERN ACCOUNTANT Author: Dean Micallef
MIXING THE OLD WITH THE NEW, THE ROLE OF THE MODERN ACCOUNTANT IS AN EVER CHANGING ONE, AND IF WE WANT TO MASTER THE MODERN CHALLENGES THAT WE FACE AS PROFESSIONAL ACCOUNTANTS WE NEED TO ENSURE WE HAVE SOLID FOUNDATIONS AND AN OPEN MIND. Looking back to the early stages of my accountancy career or rather my education, you could see that my passion for numbers and my frame of mind was something that speared me on to assess the subject further. Thorn between going into a career of architecture/ engineering versus a financial path, one of the early factors that pushed me towards the latter was my Accountancy teacher way back in secondary school. Some of us are fortunate enough to cross paths with educators that do more than just teach content and syllabus, but they look deeper to find that spark that could be developed into something brighter. Once I had chosen to pursue a career in Accountancy & Finance, various factors led me down the ACCA route followed by a Masters in Financial Services, and
throughout that journey I was even more fortunate to come across some great minds and personalities that contributed invaluably to my overall educational experience. Some lessons may be taught in the classroom, but others are taught on the job and in the most random of places in the most unexpected times. The message here is that any good professional needs mentorship, and you will find the good ones and the not so good ones, but when you know you know, so limit your exposure to those who cannot help you develop; I will always be grateful to all those who contributed towards building my passion for the profession, simultaneously developing my knowledge and understanding of what makes a true professional.
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If you want to make it in today’s day and age you need to put education before earnings, ironic coming from an accountant but an accountants foundation years are everything that could make you or break you.
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I would say that my appreciation of the underpinning fundamental concepts are what gave me the initial layers to build on from there. Once I truly grasped those core functions, it was all about building confidence and motivating myself to find solutions that others were not necessarily looking for. The tools we have at our disposal in this “intelligence” age that we are living, leaves very little excuse for anyone not wanting to look closer, dig deeper and analyse further.
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Fight inertia and complacency and feed your desire to challenge and improve.
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My willingness to change and the ability to carry out change is what makes my job interesting day after day, we need to encourage an ever-developing mind, one that continues to search for new solutions. Pursue further educational development, take part in networks and discussion groups and share experiences with fellow peers.
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