A note to EY Millennials and Gen Z Colleagues

In Jan of this year, I made a decision to take a career break in order to assist my 14 year old with a medical condition she has been bravely dealing with for the past 3 years. So, 30 April or 15 May 2020, will be my last day at EY. But this is not the point of this post.

As any smug Gen X person, when I re-joined EY, I told myself, that I was re-joining the firm to reach out to the young people in the profession. To encourage them, teach them what I had learned during my time at SAICA. About the importance of our profession. About our purpose. About the value we add to society, the economy and the financial markets. Well, I am not sure if I taught any of my young EY colleagues anything, but I know that you guys have taught me so much.

In the midst of all the negative news and sometimes negligent comments about our profession – I found myself observing the positive and energetic young people in the firm and asking – how do they do it? Where do they find the energy? How are they able to show such incredible commitment? How do they continue putting in long hours and working on weekends, while delivering high quality work and also studying, writing and passing exams? How do they manage to filter out the negative public messages and continue, to publicly celebrate their achievements? What is it that they know about our profession that we, grown-ups, seem to have forgotten? So, what was the answer to my questions?

As a child, growing up in the township in Butterworth – the former Transkei (ask your parents), me and my siblings used to watch a lot of Kung-Fu movies. So forgive me, I am relying on memory here. I think it was Bruce Lee who said “Most people are so focused on the finger, that they miss the miracle that the finger is pointing to”. As I reflected on this, I concluded that, maybe while it is fitting to focus our energies on the crisis that we find ourselves in, it is not the sole focus we should have, we might be missing out on something more magical. This crisis is a finger that is pointing to a miracle. I concluded that you, the young people, understand that you are the miracle this crisis is pointing us to – hence you continue to work so diligently.

So young EY colleagues, continue to build a better working world, by filtering out conversations that do not serve you, your firm or your profession. Because we, EY people, know the importance of allowing quality conversations into our spaces. We know that, the conversations we allow into our spaces inform the thoughts and conversations in our heads. So, the better the conversations we allow into our spaces, the better the thoughts and conversations in our heads. The better the thoughts and conversations in our heads, the better the questions we ask. The better the questions, the better the answers. The better the answers, the better the world works.

So this post is to say thank you for the profound lessons learned. Your positive energy has carried me through, these tough months, and I thank you. I can, after spending time with you, confidently say “I am hopeful, I am optimistic, I am definitely positive, the future of our profession is in excellent hands”.