He was reflecting on his 37-year career and his roles at major banks in London, New York, Canada and Australia - as well as founding Judo Bank – at FINSIA’s latest Current and Future Leaders event when he spoke about the importance of having a mentor.
“One of the biggest influences of my career was actually my mentor, someone that I could speak to, someone I could look up to, someone that I could learn from,” he said.
His biggest influence has been another Senior Fellow at FINSIA – Westpac chairman John McFarlane, who was also CEO of ANZ, of whom he says: “I learned so much from him.”
The banker behind one of the success stories of the past decade with the launch of Judo Bank added: “If you're thinking about how you want to shape your own career, look around for the people who really inspire you.
“They don't have to be in finance.
“Study them, and find out their background, what motivated them, what did they learn along the way.
“I've been a student of the success of other people because it's helped me build my own self-confidence in trying to course my own personal career.”
It’s not always about success stories either.
“Sometimes you look at failure or mistakes and, 'Oh, my God, how do I recover from this?' But you should say, 'That was actually a good experience. It was a good lesson, and I'm not going to make that same mistake again'.
“So I do encourage everybody to look around at somebody that they can learn from.
“Mistakes are a big learning experience. Sometimes you can be too successful and then you have a big mistake. You're not going to learn anything simply enjoying the fruits of your career.”
Joseph reflected on how he was told he was making a big mistake when he set about building a bank from scratch in 2016.
“People said, ‘You're mad. Why don't you just take it easy?'
“But I would have only looked back in 20 years’ time and regretted it. I’m very passionate about the profession of banking. It's a very privileged profession to be in. Banking is an honourable profession.”
Addressing the audience of young financial professionals at Sydney’s Fishburners, he concluded: “The message is that whatever age you are, and you ask what did I do in my career? Did I realise the potential that I had?
“Don't live a life with regret. If I didn't fulfill all of my goals at least I gave it my all.
“That's my big message. Do your very best and take it wherever it leads you. And nothing in life is a substitute for hard work. No matter what, your success is achieved through hard work. If you're gifted, that's great.”
