ADDRESS BY DYAN SENEVIRATNE CEO/IPM AT BREAKFAST FUNCTION JAN 01st 2013

ADDRESS BY DYAN SENEVIRATNE CEO/IPM AT BREAKFAST FUNCTION JAN 01^st 2013

Members of Council and dear Team IPM

A new day has dawned but this is not just another new day but the first day of the New Year 2013. Usually a New Year Day means: plenty of new thoughts, pledges and resolutions. “With the new day comes new strength and new thoughts” – Eleanor Roosevelt.

Let me talk of the 4Es: English, Emotional Intelligence [EI], Energy / Enthusiasm & Enjoy!

If I say that ‘English is Changing Lives’ – it is absolutely true; today 1.5 billion people speak English globally and significantly another 1.2 billion people are learning English. From 2005, India has had the world’s largest English-speaking population. Indeed more than 500 million people speak English in India. It is the official language of the E.U. More and more people are scrambling to learn English such as in China. In fact when I was in Vietnam a few weeks ago and noticed that although the older generation speak mostly Vietnamese, it is now compulsory that all children learn English. Even in SL the years 2011/12 were declared as the ‘Year of English’ by none other than our President. Yet not much serious effort is paid towards making this goal a reality – at least judging by results - whilst English has official or special status in at least 75 countries with a combined population of two billion people!

Most CEOs of top corporate entities admit that social skills and of course competencies in English are a huge plus when hiring people. As soon as you talk and indeed start thinking in English your whole world starts to change – you acquire knowledge that much more speedily. Today’s technology is changing for the better at galloping rates – one can see new products and innovations being introduced at least once every 18 months – look at your Mobile phones and iPads etc what an amazing piece of technology – in fact today’s iPhone has more computer technology than the Apollo spacecraft that landed on the moon in 1969 – that Lunar Lander could not even ‘Tweet’! So use English also as a tool to obtain knowledge – today you could ‘Google’ and be up dated on any subject under the sun!

English is the common denominator of the Sciences, Astronomy, IT, Finance, the leisure industry in fact all trades, pursuits and vocations need English if you want to keep abreast of latest thinking. My sincere advice is to read, read & READ! This is no substitute for knowledge & vocabulary enhancement!

I spoke of Emotional Intelligence [EI] – in broad terms it covers five areas: Self-Awareness, Self-Regulation, Self-Motivation, Empathy and Social Skills. Self-Awareness is ‘knowing what you are feeling and why’. Self-Regulation briefly means: ‘being able to control your emotions, even when circumstances are difficult’. Self-Motivation is: ‘being able to persist in the face of discouragement’. And of course something absolutely vital within Teams: Empathy: ‘being able to read and identify emotions in others’ and putting yourself in another person’s shoes. Social skills mean – being able to get along with others through listening, understanding and appreciating their own emotions. You should know when to speak what and how! Such EI skills make you get along well with others with excellent inter-personal skills.

Much more is possible with Enthusiasm coupled with Energy & Motivation. There are some members of  the staff of IPM who’s daily commute to and from IPM involves 2 hours each way – 4 hours a day on the road! What commitment! Some show absolute single-minded zeal and dedication by working at times throughout the night – they even stay overnight at IPM! We need to appreciate them always!

My advice to seniors is that we need to motivate our youngsters and give them feedback at all times and don’t forget to thank them each time they complete a task to your satisfaction. Tell them what you want – don’t tell them how to do it or try to micro-manage! Those who have just joined us – maybe young in years, remember to respect age and the people around you. Before you want others to understand you, try to understand them first!  Carry with you a little Note Book. Each time you hear or think of a good idea – write it down. The act of writing down ideas helps you remember and process them.

Work at goals constantly and smartly. We on our part will raise the bar to enable you to use that much more focus and energy to attain them. Your smaller goals will fit in with our broader strategies.

“Energy and Persistence conquer all things”, Benjamin Franklin

We need to Enjoy our work too. After all we spend much of our adult life in an office or field doing work – it would become drudgery if we hate our jobs! What a terrible life that would be! So be motivated to start loving what you do – that’ll pay for it-self – you’ll look smarter, be more alert, a great team-player, brimming with creativity; such people are eagerly sought-after. They become winners! Join them!

Let me thank all those who worked tirelessly during 2012 to achieve the successes we are proud of today – much more needs to be done together as we take on this new road for 2013 to even greater heights for our beloved IPM. Wish you the very best for 2013.  If you can dream it, you CAN DO IT!

God Bless All of You!