Two of my referees for my return to Old Mutual were the same two referees when I left the company and ventured overseas 12 years ago. As part of my first day reading, I was going through the Annual Report to Shareholders which referred to the 175-year-old company motto of “a certain friend in uncertain times”. The line between colleague, client, and friend can become very fuzzy given how much time we spend dedicated to work. I like that fuzziness. I like the fluidity which recognises that we are not just cogs in the machine. I think the warmth with which I have been welcomed back reflects well on the company, in a world where we have to acknowledge that wealth is created in containers. That can sometimes lead to excess competition, secrecy, and dehumanisation. Old Mutual is both a 175-year-old institution and a large publicly listed company. It isn’t a human and doesn’t own the humans in it. I don’t want to deify or anthropomorphize it, but I do look forward to seeing the people in it again and working with them, and the various stakeholders affected by buildings with green roofs.
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