I was supported through university by Old Mutual. It was part of why I chose the career I did. Pragmatically sitting on a bench in London during two gap years between school and university, I took the decision that life would be harder if I didn't do something that made money. There are certain choices that are easier to get support for. I found a course and a company that would put me on a path to financial security. It wasn't romantic. I worked for 1.5 years for each year I was supported... then aged 28, got itchy feet. Old Mutual were supportive. I looked at jobs internally, but also got support and positive recommendations to look externally. I then headed overseas again, and back to the UK (via Bermuda). I did feel loyalty to the company... but in reality, that meant to the people. Those who had backed me. But that didn't mean my choices couldn't look beyond the container. As it turned out, I came back to work at Old Mutual 12 years later when I returned to South Africa. How you treat the people who leave says a lot about who you are. The containers we use to build each other up are there to build rather than constrain. Today those who stay, go, or arrive, celebrate the fall of the Apartheid that separated us... and pretended that it was our containers that defined us.
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