Mike Richards explains why treasury professionals need to keep developing their skills and learning throughout their careers. He draws on insights from industry leaders and shares how mentors and coaches shaped his own path in the field.
Foreign skills development qualifications. They're a key differentiator for anyone working in Treasury. I get quizzed by candidates, especially those perhaps in the earlier stages of their treasury careers. How important are qualifications? Simply answer question with a question. How successful do you want to be in Treasury? I know in some professions a specific qualification may be needed or not needed in treasury or finance. It's key, it's vital. I was talking to Sarah Jane hall, the global treasurer of GlaxoSmithKline, the pharmaceutical group, a couple of weeks ago on the podcast, and I said to. Well, I asked her about it. I said, what do you think, Sarah Jane? He said, mike, the more qualifications you have, the better if you want to become a group treasurer, as she is pretty small company, only footsie five. She said not only this quote, but then for her, she felt that qualifications are a real differentiator, a rubber stamp of the level of expertise for a candidate, if you like. When she's hiring two different people, she's got two really great strong candidates, really loves them, but one's got more qualifications. Which one should you choose? More qualified one, potentially they might edge it, but in most cases you'll choose that. And the why? Because they put in the hardest work, they've achieved more. So continuous learning, it's no good gaining a qualification, sitting back thinking, that's it, I'm done. Those job offers are going to come flooding in. Far from it. The focus for you then needs to be on staying ahead of change. There's no excuse not to, based on how much information that is accessible nowadays. Go on to this one. IBM, crazy stat. But that's the accessibility and how you process all that knowledge that keeps coming at you. If you don't evolve your skills and knowledge base. And we're talking about. You guys are talking about blockchain all day, but all this knowledge being thrown at you. This is what they're talking about. You come to amazing conferences like this, put on by the lovely Ann Martin, but I spend, for instance, a huge amount of time on LinkedIn, not just trying to find people, but actually reading articles about treasury, latest developments, posts from treasurers, staying up to date on the challenges you guys are facing and what's happening in the industry. I spend hours listening to podcasts, key influencers in marketing, but also in Treasury. I've got to say, my kids absolutely love a long car journey with me nowadays when I say to them, oh, podcast time, guys. You can probably hear the groan all the way over here in Vienna, but the information at the end of the day is literally on your phone straight away, and it's an incredible resource for you and the growth of yourselves as treasury professionals. So investing in a mentor or coach, let's just separate them out for a moment, talk about the differences. So a mentor is someone who's a proven track record in their field. They might work with you as an individual to provide support and advice, either on a topic or guidance throughout your career. A coach, on the other hand, has been trained as specifically that they're a coach. They're hired to address a specific challenge you might be facing and opposed, as opposed to the relationship with a mentor mentee that's going to span decades or can often span decades. The difference is key, and you need to work out what relationship suits you best. A lot of these people, you know, a lot of you guys in the room are going, oh, I'm not quite so sure, but actually, I'm later on in my career. It doesn't matter. It does, obviously, early stages of your career, that's when they could be in the greatest demand, because you're beginning, you're wanting guidance, you need the right direction, you want career boost. Boosting your confidence, if you like, can be as important in the middle stages, refining your skills, expanding your networks, and staying on track with that career plan we talked about and being the driver of your own career. They can also challenge your norm, particularly at the latter stages of your career, and give you new perspectives. You need someone to challenge you. So I was speaking last week to Karen van der Drische, the assistant treasurer or VP treasury at Avnet in Brussels, on the podcast, and we talked. We got into a conversation about the value she's found from having a mentor. She gave me some great feedback as she was doing it. I was like, great, I'm writing this down for next week. She said, for her, having a mentor has been a safe place to share her ideas. It's an environment where she's been able to voice her concerns without it having a negative impact and without being judged. She found it was her place to be human in some ways, and it helps her understand how to coach other people. And she was able to try out and rehearse presentations, for instance, a bit like this, without the fear of looking stupid on a personal level. I wouldn't be where I am now without the help of some different coaches and mentors. Most recently, I've been using a coach. We knew that our business needed a different approach to social media. It was lovely, actually. David mentioned earlier, he said he actually did some great photography for us at the Vienna conference a couple of years ago, and he said, you've just taken over LinkedIn. I was like, yeah, we use an agency. I'm not doing it all the time. But we knew that we needed a fresh approach. So in order to stay ahead of the competition, we've got a podcast, Treasury Career Corner. Feel free to sign up. And it's really great fun because I talk to treasurers about how they've achieved career success to help you guys. We talked about following them on LinkedIn, but it actually brings it to life. Now I'll use Chris Ducker as an example. He's a great social media guy. He does an entrepreneur newpreneur summit. But then we had to felt after a year, I'd actually grown past that. He was really more of a the coach and I needed a mentor. So I recently reconnected with my business school mentor, Paul Barrow, who offers me a different insight. He's much more business focused market, you know, less marketing, but more business strategy. So it's well worth thinking about how you go through those transitions. So it's an evolution, but decide what works best for you guys. That's why I'm doing this for you, to get you to think about how you need to focus on your own personal investments. Got a few nodding heads there already. People are going, oh, yeah, maybe think about, you know, just doing that one.
