Author name: ronniepeiris_uatadmin

AKD’s challenge: Increasing national productivity in improving standard of living

Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) has been elected as the ninth Executive President of Sri Lanka. The ‘election’ dust has settled, and it is time for all the competing candidates and their supporters to unite wherever, whenever, and however possible in the best interest of our motherland.  In their campaigns, the candidates spoke little on the […]

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Humility, empathy and authenticity key between RW defeat and AKD victory

The recently concluded Presidential elections in Sri Lanka provided us many lessons in leadership. The key differentiator, in my view, was that Ranil Wickremesinghe (RW) portrayed himself as a ‘master’ of people while Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) projected himself as a ‘servant’ of the people, a servant on the lines of ‘servant leadership’ as propounded

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Tolerance of failure: Essential in innovating and risk-taking

An organisation’s attitude towards failure has a significant bearing, amongst others, on its drive for innovation, improvement through continuous learning, penchant for risk-taking and the willingness of its employees to delegate. Throughout our childhood and adult life, whether it be in our academics or in our sports or in our personal and social lives, we

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Political parties good for democracy; but not cults, fiefdoms and extremists

The heading in the Daily Mirror of 18 March 2024, “Public Trust in Parliament and Political Parties Reaches All Time Low”, begs the question of the appropriateness, and efficacy, of political parties in democratic Sri Lanka. Further, the lack of consensus among political parties in most matters heightens these concerns. The overuse of partisan party

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Professional accountants: Best equipped and placed in fighting bribery and corruption

Professional Accountants often struggle in deciding whether their overriding loyalty is to the employer, client, boss, profession, the public or self. Adding to this, most organisations believe that a professional accountant employed by them must always act in their best interest over and above any other stakeholder. This is flawed thinking because the maintenance of

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Curiosity never killed the cat in a culture of ‘question’ and ‘challenge’

We have all had the experience of a dreary boss who, with his/her stifling, and controlling behaviour, routinely shot down our, and our team’s, progressive ideas in an environment where all that mattered to the boss was to get the job done by the stipulated timeline and in line with the prevailing rules and procedure. 

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Electing the next President; our Hercules to clean the Augean stables

Barring the unthinkable, Sri Lanka will soon elect its ninth Executive President and election gossip is increasingly taking centre stage at business and social gatherings. The period running up to the election is, as we all know, the time which gives rise to self-made political strategists and election pundits with some of them claiming to

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Fear-based leadership; an extreme last resort, not a sustainable panacea

“State chief accountants will be held liable for excessive expenses” was a headline which caught my eye when I opened the Sunday Times of 7 January 2024. ‘Excessive Expenditure’ was defined as any expenditure that is not in the 2024 Budget or Annual Plan. Whilst I agree that the organs of the Sri Lankan Government

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Reluctance to delegate – a block to leadership development

In my short career as a Leadership Coach since retiring from John Keells Holdings PLC (JKH) in December 2017, I have coached, and mentored, 89 “C” suite executives and based on my observations, I would state, unhesitatingly, that the acute reluctance of leaders to delegate is the foremost factor impeding their leadership development. This reluctance

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Over-governance and excessive regulation; like buying a bazooka to kill a cockroach

Using a bazooka to kill a cockroach is how I describe the ‘over-the-top’ requirements mandated by regulators, accounting ombudsmen and statutory auditors etc. on governance, the over-designed practices and models promoted by governance experts in equipping organisations to deliver compliance and the superfluous measures proposed by gurus to the corporate that wish to portray squeaky

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