This working life
This working life
Denzil talks about his working life and experiences.
What lessons did you get on working life from your parents and family?
My father was in local government civil service. He was a self-improver and a huge networker who could communicate at all levels. He had a lot of grit and perseverance. He was also a super organiser and a great record keeper.
My mother was a stay-at-home mum. She wanted to be a schoolteacher and was offered a teaching job a few months after her marriage to my father. But she chose to have me and became a stay-at-home mum instead, missing out on her career aspirations.
Working in service and education was in our family DNA. My grandpa, my mother’s father, was in education and was a school principal.
How did your dad’s childhood affect the work he did?
My father’s father died when my father was fifteen years old. It was his mother who became a shopkeeper and single-handedly raised him. My father continued his studies at great odds and hardship, helping his mother at the shop after school. My father’s teen years were during WW2, a hard time to grow up with scarcities and sacrifices. Despite those humble beginnings, he worked hard and studied English at night classes to enter government service in his early twenties.
And then?
Once my father entered the workforce and made it, he looked after his mother well. He married my mum, a school principal’s daughter, when principals were considered nobility. My father took great trouble to provide his children with wisdom and open-mindedness. He never spoke of his struggles and hardships as a child with his children.
He was a natural at his workplace and could mix with anyone from ministers to labourers. He treated everyone equally. I learned emotional intelligence from him.
What was your childhood like, particularly in school and higher education?
I was sent to private Catholic colleges in junior and high school. In high school, I became very good at English. Art, creativity, and reading became my hobbies. Although I was among the youngest in my class, I was well-liked. I was sent to a private university to study accounting at sixteen, although I dropped out when I started working.
What was your first job like?
My father knew that I was getting waylaid at that private university, being an underage student where everyone was over twenty and rich. So, he set me up on a career path in telecommunication, initially as an apprentice. Those memories are captured in a separate story for those interested. At eighteen, I started working very young, the youngest at my workplace.
Then what happened?
Two years into that job, I got a once-in-a-life opportunity to go to Dubai to work in a hotel as a telex operator in their front office. I left my plum job in telecommunication in Sri Lanka, breaking my employer's contract and leaving immediately. In Dubai, as a youngster, I had the time of my life in that hotel.
What happened four months later?
Four months into that job, I got another break with Standard Chartered Bank, a premium British bank. Again, the pay and perks were great. I started a long career in that bank in Dubai just four months after I arrived in the desert city.
Tell us more about life in the bank in Dubai.
I started as a telex operator in the bank. Within a few short years, I was shortlisted to be part of the team that introduced computing to the bank. It was a tremendous career-changing opportunity. I was sent for training at IBM. I wanted to figure out the code behind the customer systems. I learnt to look under the hood, the logic and the programs. My manager saw my potential and promoted me to a supervisor and, within a short while, to a young officer. I became responsible for the entire country’s systems. Progressions continued. I became responsible for multiple countries in the whole region of the Middle East. My career trajectory took off, promotion over promotion, many overseas travels and suddenly, I was a star manager for about thirty young tech professionals. Dubai was booming, and the bank was expanding. Growth opportunities were there for me to jump on. Some twelve years later, after I started with the bank, I earned six times my starting salary. With a reasonable size workforce under my wing, I learned to be a people leader who cared for his crew.
Then why did you leave Dubai?
I was making great money and living in affluence; I had three little kids. I wanted them to grow up in a free country with plenty of opportunities. It was not enough for me to have a great job, status and perks; my kids mattered most. Their well-being and their future were crucial to me. Perhaps it was my father’s influence. Going back to Sri Lanka with its civil and social problems was out of the question. So, I left a burgeoning career and a comfortable lifestyle in Dubai and migrated to Australia with my young family. Financial incentivisation did not work for me. Money is not everything.
It was a brave decision. Everybody in Dubai thought I was mad. I took a risk when I left Sri Lanka as a youngster with just $10 in my pocket. So, with my upbringing and nerve, I had a lot of self-belief. My mission now was to provide a haven for my kids to grow up freely and realise their dreams. So, I was driven by that core mission.
Let us pause here for a minute. Tell us more about your mother’s influence on you.
My mother was a super organiser, probably a relic from her days as a young girl when she started running her parents’ home at eight when her mother became gravely sick. With my mother, there would be no nonsense. She budgeted to the last Rupee, was a great record keeper, and her wardrobe was super organised. I learnt the art of straight talking from her. She was not one to waste her time on useless tasks and jabber.
Back to you, tell us about your early days in Australia.
I moved to Sydney. I started contracting in the technology industry. Within three months, I got an offer from the Sydney office of Standard Chartered Bank, where I previously worked in Dubai. So leaving that contract role, I joined the Bank. It was a great move that allowed me to build a home and settle my family in Sydney.
I made a name for myself in the bank in Australia. Soon, my career trajectory took off again; The bank was relatively small within Australia. But this time, I had responsibilities for an area in technology for the bank’s network in Asia based in Sydney. It involved much travel to many countries in Asia and the head office in London, often flying in for the weekend to Sydney to be with my young family. The money and perks were good, but I often missed my children’s milestones. It was not sustainable. I nearly missed one of my kid's first days in school. Then I realised that the whole reason I came to Australia was for my kids, and the job, while good for me professionally, did not allow me to be with my kids as I wished.
And then?
After five years with Standard Chartered Bank in Sydney, I quit that job and joined another bank, this time a start-up. It was backed by the financial services giant AMP. My role was very different to the ones I did before. This was the golden era of the dot.com boom. I worked with a great team to set up their internet and voice banking systems. I worked for seven years with AMP Bank, with occasional travel to New Zealand, where I had responsibilities for online channels.
And then?
By then, my kids were teenagers. Two of my kids were in university, and my third just got enrolled in his university. My expenses were massive for them. So, I decided to quit AMP and look for contractor roles to give me a more significant cash flow for their accommodation, vehicles, and other expenses. Unleashing my four kids to the best of opportunities in Australia was one of my core goals at that stage.
I also decided that from then onwards, I would only work for the top four banks in Australia. Fortunately, I got an excellent contractor role at Westpac Bank, the second-biggest bank in Australia and one of the top twenty banks globally.
And then?
Until my elder three kids graduated, I contracted in three of the top four banks in Australia. Westpac Bank, National Australia Bank, Commonwealth Bank. This went on for a few years. Then, while I was at Commonwealth Bank, just one month into a new role, Westpac contacted me again and offered me a fantastic position I could not refuse.
This time, my second time with Westpac, I worked there for nearly ten years, initially as a contractor and later as a full-time employee. Around the same time, my three elder kids graduated and settled well into their early careers. My life goal with my kids was achieved, and I felt fulfilled.
In Westpac, I did several significant roles, seven diverse roles in technology management, enjoying and building a brand for myself. I also worked for their wealth management arm for about two years. The last years in Westpac were on digital technologies working primarily with Amazon and creative agencies.
My experiences in financial services in Australia showed me that if you wish and want something in life, you can have it. But, of course, one needs the desire to begin with. So I worked in the top financials here; those institutions are in the top twenty banks in the world.
You accomplished your dream of working in top-tier financials in Australia, so what are you doing now?
Nearly three years ago, I was on the move again. I did a massive turnaround. Yet again! I left technology and joined the consumer side of technology. This time I joined the NSW government in their customer technology area in their Transport department. I work with a fantastic bunch of creative crews in this role. We are making it easier for the eleven million NSW residents to use multi-mode transport and mobility as a service. We are game-changing, working on the next big thing and using the latest technologies. I thoroughly enjoy my role in the twilight years of my career, serving my fellow citizens and using my core strengths, creativity and adventure.
Tell us in a few words about your working life.
I started working at eighteen with a Telco, long before I had facial hair. I became a lifelong learner, using curiosity as an asset to nurture. I have done diverse things: pivoting to vastly different roles in banks, wealth management and citizen digital services. I work best at scale in large enterprises. I met many amazing people in my work on many continents and countries, learning about cultural diversity and inclusion. I became a natural networker and a leader. I made many friends who still keep in touch with me. I developed my emotional intelligence. My work life has made me a better human being. It has helped me to be an excellent mentor to many, including my four adult children, who have chosen great careers.
What were your learnings from your career?
Leadership is human.
Management is structural.
Careers are accidents.
Leadership is not being in charge.
Leadership is taking care of the people in your charge.
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