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Episode 14: People, purpose and progress · Chartered Accountants Global Update

• 0:01
  SPEAKER_00: Hello, I'm Antja Dirks from Chartered Accountants Worldwide.
• 0:05
  SPEAKER_00: This podcast has been researched and drafted with the support of AI.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: It's then reviewed, shaped, and signed off by our human editorial team.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: Even though we use AI to create this podcast, every story you hear is real.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: Every person we profile is a real person doing remarkable things.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: Every statistic is checked, every event is verified, every episode is approved by us, the human editors, who care deeply about this profession.
• 0:36
  SPEAKER_00: Technology we use with purpose, oversight, and professional judgment exactly how it should be used.
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_00: So, without further ado, I'm gonna hand you over to Olivia.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: Hello and welcome to Chartered Accountants Global Update, the audio newsletter from Chartered Accountants Worldwide.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_01: Wherever you are listening, thanks for joining us for episode 101.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: Or, as fans of George Orwell might say, episode 101.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: On British television, it became the place where people banish the things they simply cannot stand.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_01: So, to mark the occasion, here are a few nominations of our own.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Merged cells in spreadsheets.
• 1:36
  SPEAKER_01: The meeting that could have been an email, and the shoebox of receipts that always seems to arrive the day before a deadline.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_01: Consider them banished.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: The good news is that nothing in this episode is heading for room 101.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: Well, almost nothing.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: Stay with us and you will find out what we mean.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: This week's theme is People, Purpose, and Progress.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: We hear how one firm has made sustainability part of its strategy, not a side project.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_01: We meet a chartered accountant who has built an audience of close to one million followers, and we put a name to that hard-to-describe feeling of being a bit blah.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: We start with a firm that has put responsible business at the heart of how it works.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: In a case study for chartered accountants worldwide, ESG advisor Dan Firmager and head of culture and values Jennifer Williamson explain how sustainability moved to the center of the firm's strategy.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: It began during the pandemic, when the firm reflected on its purpose, to guide clients, colleagues, and communities to a brighter future.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: B Corp certification offered an independent benchmark for that commitment.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: The assessment took several months and involved every department, and the firm scored 80.6 on its first attempt, just above the qualifying threshold.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_01: Today, sustainability shapes everyday decisions.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: Every board paper must consider how a proposal measures up against B Corp criteria, and the firm's commitment to its stakeholders is written into its LLP deed.
• 3:16
  SPEAKER_01: It has also introduced what it describes as an industry-leading maternity and adoption leave policy, and each year it plants a tree for every client it serves.
• 3:26
  SPEAKER_01: The next step was helping clients do the same.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_01: In June 2025, the firm launched a dedicated ESG advisory service, built around a new ESG advisor role, a carbon reporting platform, and input from teams right across the business.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: One of the most useful lessons is about language.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_01: Inside what the team calls the sustainable, it is easy to forget how technical ESG can sound to a busy business owner.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_01: So rather than telling a client to improve their ESG performance, they might talk about how cutting energy use can reduce costs and build resilience.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: Same goal, very different conversation.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_01: Their advice to other firms?
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: ESG standards are still evolving, so do not wait for perfect clarity.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_01: Use the best guidance available, apply professional judgment, and keep making progress.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_01: The full case study is on the Chartered Accountants' Worldwide Website.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_01: Our next story begins at a business conference in Sydney in 2019.
• 4:29
  SPEAKER_01: Ramis Ansari's boss had sent him along to take notes for the firm, and the keynote speaker spent 40 of his 45 minutes talking about TikTok, an app then best known for lip syncing.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: Ramis went home that night, downloaded it, and started working out what made the algorithm tick.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_01: Six years on, this chartered accountant has close to one million followers, a fashion label called ALAG by Ansari, an events and MC business, and a full-time creator career, built on content for the South Asian diaspora in Australia, the US, the UK, and Canada.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_01: On Thursday, the 29th of October, at 6 p.m.
• 5:08
  SPEAKER_01: Greenwich Mean Time, Ramis joins host Sinead Donovan for a free 30-minute episode of Difference Makers Discuss, broadcast live online.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_01: They will talk about finding a genuine niche rather than chasing trends, why he left a secure job to cover the Cricket World Cup, and how to use AI thoughtfully in content creation.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_01: For our profession, the most interesting part may be how much of his success Ramis credits to his chartered accountancy training.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_01: He approaches brands the way an accountant approaches a set of accounts, identify the problem, then offer the solution.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_01: His background helps with everything from reviewing contracts to pitching brands directly, without an agency.
• 5:51
  SPEAKER_01: And he has never accepted a brand deal that arrives with the script already written, because for him, authenticity is a commercial decision, as much as an ethical one.
• 6:01
  SPEAKER_01: He is also clear about why so many creators fade away.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: In his view, it is rarely because they run out of ideas, it is because they never learned to run a business.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: That is a skill set many chartered accountants will recognize.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_01: Ramis also has a tip for creative block.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_01: His 3% rule for making an existing idea your own.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: To hear how it works, reserve your free place on the Chartered Accountants Worldwide website.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_01: Finally, a question that sounds simple.
• 6:33
  SPEAKER_01: How are you?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: Really?
• 6:36
  SPEAKER_01: If you have ever been asked that and not quite known how to answer, you may recognize our last story.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Thrive, the well-being hub at Chartered Accountants Island, has written about a state called languishing, first described by psychologist Corey Keys in 2002.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: It is that flat, blah feeling where life seems to happen to you rather than something you take part in and enjoy.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: You are not at your worst, but you are not at your best either.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: The signs can be easy to miss: low motivation, putting things off, struggling to focus, or simply going through the motions.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: It is more common than you might think.
• 7:17
  SPEAKER_01: In Axa's 2023 Global Mind Health Study, more people were languishing than flourishing.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_01: 28%, compared with 24%.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_01: And it matters, because research suggests that languishing over a long period can increase the risk of anxiety and depression later on.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_01: The good news is that there are practical steps.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_01: The article draws on psychologist Martin Seligman's PERMA model: positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_01: In everyday terms, that could mean noting a few things you are grateful for, celebrating good news with the people around you, or setting a small, realistic goal and ticking it off.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: And if the blar does not lift, talk to someone.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_01: Several of our member institutes offer dedicated well-being support, and you will find them listed in the well-being hub on the Chartered Accountants Worldwide website.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: Which brings us back to room 101.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: If we could send one thing in there this week, it would not be the blar itself.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: It would be the habit of keeping quiet about it.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: That brings us to the end of episode 101 of Chartered Accountants Global Update.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: You will find all three stories in the latest Chartered Accountants Worldwide Newsletter.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: And if you would like to hear Ramis Ansari in conversation, remember to reserve your free place for Thursday, the 29th of October.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for listening, and here's to the next hundred episodes.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_01: Until next time, take care.