Embracing Education, New Tech, and the Treasury Community with Keith Lynch

Foreign I joined the committee five years ago and I was asked to join the committee first of all and it was an absolute delight for me to do so. It's a real, there's a real mix of individuals on the committee and it was an opportunity for me to infuse myself even more in the treasury community. And I have to admit one of the things that I had lacked midway early to midway through my career was my networking capabilities. And it was something that I would recommend for young and up and coming treasurers to do. Network a bit more, get themselves a mentor, do all of those things that get you out there. I didn't do that up until midway through my career and I thought this is a good opportunity for me to bring maybe some influence to the treasury community in Dublin, bring some value and also for me to learn as well and me to network as well. You know, that was the area that I had lacked and it was a two way approach. The IACT hopefully have learned from me and I've learned from the iact. So I've been there five years or so, as I said, present this year. We've rolled out a number of initiatives. We set up a mentoring program two years ago, three years ago actually to encourage up and coming treasurers to get themselves a mentor. We form that relationship and that bond and that has proved ever so successful over the last two to three years. The aim behind that is ultimately to reinforce the treasury knowledge, the treasury hope that is in Ireland at this point and those up and coming treasures will become the big hitters. If I was starting my career again or even midway through the career, I would definitely get myself a mentor. If it's a mentor for one year, if it's a mentor that's informally formed throughout your career, it's definitely something that can form a good sounding board. I think that was something that I didn't have in the front end of my career. I definitely did have a mentor and I still do have a mentor that I can pick up the phone to. An ex boss of mine. I think it's just a must have and it gives you a good steer. If you're ever in any sort of difficulty or wondering what direction to take, do I go left or do I go right? You can pick up the phone and unlock that. That's one piece of advice. Networking we touched upon. Get out there, understand who's out there, speak to people, get phone numbers, engage with those individuals. They're great sounding boards as well. Beyond your mentoring relationship, get yourself out there as well, get comfortable with speaking again. That was something I wasn't comfortable with many, many years ago. I brought myself, I put myself in uncomfortable circumstances in my early years to break that mold and to speak at events and to speak whether it be an internal event, whether it be an external event. I wanted to push the boundaries. I didn't want to be that person that regretted not doing it. Push yourself out there. If you're uncomfortable doing something, get yourself into position and do it, because you'll regret it when the years go past. The treasury community in Ireland is a great community to me. I'd like it to this kind of village feel. You can go down the road and knock on the door and ask for an opinion. You can pick up the phone to another treasurer quite easily as a good sounding board. And I've done that over the years. I've often picked up the phone, you know, over my days at Doosan, to understand and trying to utilize that sounding board to the best of my abilities. And I know for a fact that that's how a number of treasurers and treasury people operate.