How to use success to empower others

3 minute read 10 May 2019
By EY Global

Multidisciplinary professional services organization

3 minute read 10 May 2019

Successful consumer interactions demand new, people-focused skill sets that aren’t always learned at universities.

Patrick Kabuya says it was what he learnt from his grandparents that shaped his career and life. He attributes his success to his grandmother who raised him. “I owe all my gratitude for her because she was a strong believer in education and in good values,” he says.

An EY alumnus, Patrick is now Senior Governance Specialist at the World Bank Group. Patrick was drawn to accounting and bookkeeping at a very young age, watching his grandfather crunching numbers at his butchery in Nairobi. “I saw that he focused and concentrated, pouring himself into this book, doing calculations, writing over the margins, and that intrigued me.”

But it wasn’t just the love for accounting and bookkeeping that Patrick got from his grandfather. He learnt that it is important to use your skills to serve others. “Use what you have to reach out to others, and help other people's lives grow," his grandfather would say. And Patrick has lived by those words all his life.

A lifelong member of the EY family

During his nine-year stint at EY, Patrick worked in a variety of sectors and learnt about the various aspects of accounting and business. “I am paying a lot of gratitude to EY for giving me that development opportunity, which equipped me with skills that grounded me and has made me who I am today.” EY is also where the lessons he learnt from his grandfather were reinforced.

Patrick left EY in 2002, but still sees himself as a member of the EY family and continues to engage with partners across the African region. And when he engages with them, he challenges them. “I challenge them saying ‘What are you doing in this country to help to reach out to the youth, who are in the rural areas, who don't have access to become accountants? What are you doing to develop the professional accountancy organization in your country, so it can become a voice? A voice that can reach out, a voice that can have impact, not just in your country, but in the African continent. And I'm happy to say that they never disappoint.’”

Summary

Reaching out to others and helping other people's lives grow is the mark of true success.

About this article

By EY Global

Multidisciplinary professional services organization