ICAS ICAS logo

Quicklinks

  1. About Us

    Find out about who we are and what we do here at ICAS.

  2. Find a CA

    Search our directory of individual CAs and Member organisations by name, location and professional criteria.

  3. CA Magazine

    View the latest issues of the dedicated magazine for ICAS Chartered Accountants.

  4. Contact Us

    Get in touch with ICAS by phone, email or post, with dedicated contacts for Members, Students and firms.

Login
  • Annual renewal
  • About us
  • Contact us
  • Find a CA
  1. About us
    1. Governance
  2. Members
    1. Become a member
    2. Newly qualified
    3. Manage my membership
    4. Benefits of membership
    5. Careers support
    6. Mentoring
    7. CA Wellbeing
    8. More for Members
    9. Area networks
    10. International communities
    11. Get involved
    12. Top Young CAs
    13. Career breaks
    14. ICAS podcast
    15. Newly admitted members 2022
    16. Newly admitted members 2023
  3. CA Students
    1. Student information
    2. Student resources
    3. Learning requirements
    4. Learning updates
    5. Learning blog
    6. Totum Pro | Student discount card
    7. CA Student wellbeing
  4. Become a CA
    1. How to become a CA
    2. Routes to becoming a CA
    3. CA Stories
    4. Find a training agreement
    5. Why become a CA
    6. Qualification information
    7. University exemptions
  5. Employers
    1. Become an Authorised Training Office
    2. Resources for Authorised Training Offices
    3. Professional entry
    4. Apprenticeships
  6. Find a CA
  7. ICAS events
    1. CA Summit
  8. CA magazine
  9. Insight
    1. Finance + Trust
    2. Finance + Technology
    3. Finance + EDI
    4. Finance + Mental Fitness
    5. Finance + Leadership
    6. Finance + Sustainability
  10. Professional resources
    1. Anti-money laundering
    2. Audit and assurance
    3. Brexit
    4. Business and governance
    5. Charities
    6. Coronavirus
    7. Corporate and financial reporting
    8. Cyber security
    9. Ethics
    10. Insolvency
    11. ICAS Research
    12. Pensions
    13. Practice
    14. Public sector
    15. Sustainability
    16. Tax
  11. CPD - professional development
    1. CPD courses and qualifications
    2. CPD news and updates
    3. CPD support and advice
  12. Regulation
    1. Complaints and sanctions
    2. Regulatory authorisations
    3. Guidance and help sheets
    4. Regulatory monitoring
  13. CA jobs
    1. CA jobs partner: Rutherford Cross
    2. Resources for your job search
    3. Advertise with CA jobs
    4. Hays | A Trusted ICAS CA Jobs Partner
    5. Azets | What's your ambition?
  14. Work at ICAS
    1. Business centres
    2. Meet our team
    3. Benefits
    4. Vacancies
    5. Imagine your career at ICAS
  15. Contact us
    1. Technical and regulation queries
    2. ICAS logo request

How to bring your true self to work

  • LinkedIn (opens new window)
  • Twitter (opens new window)
By ICAS

20 July 2022

We look back on insight from Wim Focquet, Head of People and Culture at Gala Games and former Talent Director at DPDgroup, who spoke at last year’s CA Summit on how to self-assess and manage your own learning and growth throughout your career.

Wim is an experienced Human Resources Leader with a passion for change, organisational design and talent development. He opened the Inspire chapter of the 2021 CA Summit by examining the three centres of oneself (‘I’, ‘we’ and ‘it’) to encourage attendees to become more in sync with both their private and work life.

Watch the video or read on to learn more.

According to Gallup statistics, the percentage of employees globally that are engaged in their work never reaches above 30%, with 65-70% being entirely disengaged or not engaged at all. Wim explained that “many of us are in a workplace where we are doing things without questioning why we are doing them, we take shortcuts, and there is a lack of synchronicity between us and the organisations we work for.”

He added: “Good decisions come from a combination of our three centres; head, heart and gut, but for decades we have been taught to use our heads and be rational, so it’s more difficult for us to use our heart and our gut.”

An invitation to self-assess

Wim challenged attendees to carry out a self-assessment, exploring whether they could bring their true self to work, without being influenced by the job description, how others perceive they should behave, or the company culture.

He said: “Ask yourself ‘can I be myself in this company or not?’, and if you can’t answer with a firm yes, then you are probably in the wrong organisation.”

To help with this self-assessment, Wim posed that the three spheres of 'I', 'we' and 'it' encompass the following themes and questions:

Individual – the ‘I’

What is your real purpose, where do you make a difference and what do you aspire to be?

Team - the ‘we’

Do you have the psychological safety in your team to be vulnerable, are you all working towards a common goal?

Company – the ‘it’

Do you fit within the company goal and add to its success?

Wim invited attendees to take the time to consider these questions and write down and reflect upon their answers. “If you can reach a place where you are centred within these three spheres, you will have a wonderful life, both at work and at home.”

Engaging leadership

This exercise is particularly useful for those in leadership roles. Managers remain central to creating and sustaining engaged teams, with Gallup finding that the team leader alone accounts for 70% of the variance in team engagement. Developing self-awareness and an understanding of your purpose as a leader will strengthen not only your individual performance, but the trust and synchronicity within your team.

Wim closed by proposing that there is a collective movement away from referring to people in your team as resources, as this takes away from people being their true selves. Rather than Human Resources Departments, he instead calls for People Departments.


Register for the 2022 CA Summit

Registrations are now open for the CA Summit 2022. ICAS’ award-winning three-day virtual conference, which takes place from 4-6 October, will give attendees the opportunity to hear from some of the best and brightest minds on a variety of topics.

Register now


Discover more about Finance + Leadership

Our Finance+ insight series looks through the lens of responsible leadership and ethical business to explore the challenges and opportunities faced by professionals in the worlds of business and finance.

You can find all of the insight we are sharing throughout July and August in our newly launched Finance + Leadership section of icas.com.

Finance + Leadership

Explore our latest insights on personal and professional development for sound leadership. Leadership will be our focus theme throughout July…

2023-03-MarksElectrical 2023-03-MarksElectrical
ICAS logo

Footer links

  • Contact us
  • Terms and conditions
  • Modern slavery statement
  • Privacy notice
  • CA magazine

Connect with ICAS

  • Facebook (opens new window) Facebook Icon
  • Twitter (opens new window) Twitter Icon
  • LinkedIn (opens new window) LinkedIn Icon
  • Instagram (opens new window) Instagram Icon

ICAS is a member of the following bodies

  • Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies (opens new window) Consultative Committee of Accountancy Bodies logo
  • Chartered Accountants Worldwide (opens new window) Chartered Accountants Worldwide logo
  • Global Accounting Alliance (opens new window) Global Accounting Alliance
  • International Federation of Accountants (opens new window) IFAC
  • Access Accountancy (opens new window) Access Acountancy

Charities

  • ICAS Foundation (opens new window) ICAS Foundation
  • SCABA (opens new window) scaba

Accreditations

  • ISO 9001 - RGB (opens new window)
© ICAS 2022

The mark and designation “CA” is a registered trade mark of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Scotland (ICAS), and is available for use in the UK and EU only to members of ICAS. If you are not a member of ICAS, you should not use the “CA” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to accountancy, tax or insolvency services. The mark and designation “Chartered Accountant” is a registered trade mark of ICAS, the Institute of Chartered Accountants of England and Wales and Chartered Accountants Ireland. If you are not a member of one of these organisations, you should not use the “Chartered Accountant” mark and designation in the UK or EU in relation to these services. Further restrictions on the use of these marks also apply where you are a member.

ICAS logo

Our cookie policy

ICAS.com uses cookies which are essential for our website to work. We would also like to use analytical cookies to help us improve our website and your user experience. Any data collected is anonymised. Please have a look at the further information in our cookie policy and confirm if you are happy for us to use analytical cookies: