Young Professionals you’ve done it again!!! Providing stellar networking and insight opportunities for underrepresented communities and encouraging us to learn discipline, rise above challenges and be open-minded.
Today I attended “Black Leaders of The Future” event and firstly I’d like to say thank you to representatives from PwC, Fidelity International, Bloomberg, Fragomen, Bird & Bird, Legal & General, Farrer & Co, National Grid and TLT LLP.
There were many wonderful and friendly speakers on the panels, an opportunity to Q&A not only with these professionals, but like-minded peers as well. An invaluable experience. Despite all the endless excitement and the extensive information I received today, I have managed to narrow this jam-packed event into 3 of my key takeaways/quotes.
“Think Big, Start Small, Move Fast,”
It’s extremely important to have ambitions, but I cannot stress enough how much MORE important it is to be realistic about your goals, and manage them well - hence, start small. There are certain aims that are the end-goal, or are quite far down along the line with many different points in between that you need to reach. To build yourself up to the main goal, you need to set smaller goals that will get you there - and who knows? Along the way you might find that your end goal has changed.
This is where takeaway two comes in.
“The jobs of tomorrow probably don’t exist today,”
I discussed with members of pWc on their journey here and was surprised to learn that some, initially didn’t even see themselves in finance not to mention a “Big Four” firm. This is because society, technology and businesses are constantly developing, pushing forward and changing - rapidly. New sectors are emerging, new careers are available. The perfect career for you might not even be around yet. This is why it’s vital to be open-minded. There’s no harm in having specific and clear goals but adaptability and confidence to step out of your comfort zone is important. If you’re too narrow-minded, many great opportunities will pass you because you’re too set on one specific thing that you might not even achieve.
“Failure is a key part of life,”
In sectors like finance that are demanding, competitive and challenging. This is a truth that many refuse to accept. But failure is a key part of life, and that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I enjoyed the panels discussion of this, and everyone had different experiences and views to bring to the table - but it was unanimously agreed that failure is always going to be part of life, so our next steps are to address this, and work on responding to it in a productive and healthy manner.
Dan M. Thank you for this opportunity!