Financial Times

Some practical lessons at CIMA Janashakthi Pinnacle Awards
By Duruthu Edirimuni
It was a case of two divergent groups converging for a common cause and subsequent celebrations thereafter at this year’s CIMA Janashakthi Pinnacle Awards last week to felicitate the business leaders of 2005.

The management of Janashakthi Insurance Company, shareholders of NDB Bank who filed action against the NDB director board invited bank board member, Alessandro Pio, Asian Development Bank Country Director as the chief guest to the awards ceremony they were sponsoring, in a rare instance of as Pio rightly put it, ‘separating the technical and legal issues from personal ones’.

Addressing the gathering of imminent personalities and business leaders with interesting and thought provoking content, he said this is a concrete example of repairing the fault lines and keeping the different issues at their right places. “As a country, Sri Lanka can achieve a lot in many spheres if this is practised more,” he told The Sunday Times FT on the sidelines of the ceremony.

“Mr. (Tom) Ellawala, chairman Janashakthi Insurance invited me and this is a concrete example of separating the technical and legal issues from personal ones in their right perspectives,” he said.

Taking a slightly delicate angle to ‘reaching the pinnacle’, he said that it is a position that can get very tricky after some time. “When you inspect the award which is similar to a pyramid, getting to the summit will be exciting at first, but after the initial exhilaration it could turn very uncomfortable,” he said, inviting applause and laughter from the crowd. Explaining further the reasons why it might not be so great to get to the summit, he said it can get ‘very windy up there’. “It is also very risky, because there is no where to go when you look up, but ‘a lot of way to go down, when you look down,” he said. He said the ‘top’ can also be a very lonely place.

He said all these can be relatively alleviated, if the persons who got to the summit have followed the very basic rules of ethics and decency, while conforming to the rules of natural justice.

Rejecting some misconceptions of ‘leadership’, Pio said that leaders are not necessarily ones who are capable of making people get up and dance on sight, but those who can adapt to different circumstances. “There is a misconception that leaders should be ‘charismatic’, but they do not have to necessarily ‘add to the picture’, but they have to lead from the front and be able to do what they want their people to do,” he said.

Anil Amarasuriya, CEO, Sampath Bank came on top with a gold award for business leader large scale category, with Raja Gnanasiri Hewabowala, CEO Silicone Coatings and Lal Amarasuriya Gunawardena, CEO Lucky Lanka Diaries being awarded gold awards for business leaders in the medium and small categories respectively.

Sriyan de Silva Wijeratne, CEO Microsoft Sri Lanka and Rajiv Casiechetty, CT Plantations Managing Director, were adjudged the joint CIMA business managers of the year for 2005, while Hasitha Premaratne, Head of Research, HNB Stockbrokers (Pvt) Ltd secured the young CIMA star of the year. Thilina Gomes of Confifi was adjudged chief financial officer of the year.

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