Kweku Bedu-Addo: Bearing the fruits of a 30-year-old dream

Somewhere in the mid-80s when the young Kweku Bedu-Addo casually said to two friends that he would one day become a world-class banker, all three of them might have taken it lightly.

However, as fate would have it, three decades later, he is living the dream as the Chief Executive Officer of the Standard Chartered Bank in Ghana.

Mr. Bedu-Addo is the first Ghanaian to head the Ghana unit of the Standard Chartered Group, an international bank that has been in business for the over 150 years.

Building the base

Tracing the circumstances that led to his entry into the banking sector, Mr Bedu-Addo said although the sector attracted him from the onset, he did not start off as a banker.

"I did not start my career as a banker and it was not because I did not have the opportunity but I did not think it was the right time when I had the chance and so I declined the opportunity (to go into banking) when it came my way. I joined banking much later when I felt I had done what I needed to do," he said, adding that he realised he needed to properly prepare to be able to take up the challenges in the industry.

He shared his career and life experiences with the host of the Springboard Virtual University on Joy FM, Rev. Albert Ocran. He was the ninth guest on the ‘Leaders' Digest’ series which focuses on the principles and values of the nation’s foremost corporate leaders.

After graduating from the University of Ghana, Legon, in 1990, he joined the Policy Analysis Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, first as a service person and later as a full-time employee.

That opportunity, which he described as exciting, was part of a personal journey of self-development towards higher challenges in the future.

"It did not pay much but I got to learn about how the system works, how an economy is managed and how not to manage an economy. It also gave me a broad network of people because it exposed me to so many people," he said.

"Generally, it gave me a solid base in my career," Mr Bedu-Addo, who is married with three children, explained.

Career path

He noted that the experiences gained in the Policy Analysis Division of the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning then became the base that propelled him into the financial services sector in the late 1990s.

Mr. Bedu-Addo,  is a product of the Mfantsipim School, University of Ghana and Columbia University. He was originally a science student at secondary school but decided to switch at the university. He explained that the decision was more as a result of a journey of self-discovery rather than a premeditated one.

"The truth is by the time I finished secondary school, I knew what I did not want to be. I was a science student and by the end of lower sixth, I knew science was not for me. I could do it, I could pass it and I could understand it, but I did not see myself in a science-based career.

“My thoughts were on a leadership and management-based career and I thought that I should pursue that career path. So, it was more of a journey of self-discovery," he added.

His first career in the financial services sector was with the General Leasing and Finance Company Limited, where he worked as a financial analyst before joining StanChart in February 2000.

His commitment and passion for excellence saw him rise rapidly within four years from a Relationship Manager to the appointment as Head of Corporate and Institutional Banking, in Standard Chartered Bank Zambia Plc in 2004. He spent three years in Zambia and was also an Executive Director of the bank. He then moved on to Singapore where he worked for almost two years  as a Director in the Wholesale Bank Group Head Office.

Mr. Bedu-Addo later retuned to Africa when he was appointed a Managing Director & Head of Origination and Client Coverage, West Africa, with responsibility for Ghana, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, The Gambia and Sierra Leone.

Core values

In a country where most people complain of low remuneration at the workplace, the temptation to work less than expected in the name of lack of motivation is high.

Mr Bedu-Addo, however, said such an attitude must be discouraged.

"You need to always deliver more value than you are paid for; in other words, go the extra mile. When you do that, you put the obligation on other people towards you and it generates goodwill, favour and opportunities," he said.

He explained that his advice on the need to deliver more value that one is paid to do was one of the three core values that he cherishes in his personal life and career.

His second core value is his commitment to treating people with dignity, fairness and respect. And his third core value is keeping a positive mental attitude.

These values, he said are inspired by his readings, personal experiences, observations and the journey of self-discovery over the years.

"I think when it comes to treating people well, Africa does not treat its own with dignity and respect and I find that shameful," he noted.

Staying positive

On a positive mentality, Mr. Bedu-Addo said: “"To manage realities is to deal with the situations as they arise; sometimes there will be negative situations, and sometimes there will also be positive ones. Look, there is no successful person who has not endured something negative, some failures and some setbacks," he said, noting that he had personally encountered series of setbacks in his professional and personal life.

"Along the way, I took a lot of knocks, disappointments and setbacks, they were pretty devastating but it is important to have a positive attitude about it and I did and it paid off later," he added.

Mr. Bedu-Addo said it was important for people to believe in themselves and learn to let go of negative emotions resulting from misstatements in the office or colleague staff.

"The corporate world is not a smooth one; there are a lot of ambitious people out there, a lot of politics that go on there and it can really consume its own, that is the harsh reality of the corporate world. You still need to be focused, believe in yourself, go the extra mile and if you really committed, I believe your day will come. Just believe in yourself," he said.

He also advised that people need to look out for opportunities, explaining that opportunities do not come in glamorous ways.

"It comes with all the good sides and the bad sides and you need to be physically, mentality and emotionally prepared to be able to realise and grab it," he said.

Advice

In concluding, the StanChart CEO said leaders needed to be models of human aspiration. "Stand for ideals that look beyond the mundane of this world, help the people who work with you to accomplish more than they would otherwise have achieved on their own. If you can do that then your private success becomes aligned to civil progress. I think that is what society is lacking and we must cure that," he added.