Strong ethics make strong leaders — and a leader can be anyone.
That’s the message accomplished senior risk and audit executive Paul Townsend hopes people take from his keynote speech at this year’s Marketplace Leaders convention in Kamloops.
Townsend, an accountant by trade, has extensive experience building and enhancing risk, audit, ethics and compliance programs. He’s worked for large shipping companies for 20 years, giving him insight into how ethical conduct intersects with leadership.
He now runs his own consulting firm, advising myriad boards and conducting risk management for companies.
In his presentation, Townsend plans to discuss the leadership attributes that have strong components of ethics tied to them.
“For example, one of them is you must have a strong character that people are attracted to, so I'll walk through why that attribute is so important for great leadership, how it intersects with great ethical conduct and bring in some of my experiences,” he said.
He said he’ll share with the group some of the things he’s seen in his role investigating unethical conduct all around the world.
“I can share some of those and just how that impacted me and my leadership journey,” Townsend said.
He said he hopes attendees will walk away from the talk with the knowledge that leaders are not just people in positions of senior management.
“People can be great, ethical leaders regardless of their position, and can have influence way beyond their position,” Townsend said.
He said he’ll also be giving people some tips on what makes a great leader.
“How do you lead? I think we need to be intentional about that, rather than just going to work and doing a job. How does what you do link to a higher purpose and a higher calling?,” Townsend said.
The keynote presentation will take place Nov. 20 at the Sandman Signature Hotel from 6:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m.
Marketplace Leaders is led by a volunteer committee, and offers speaker events aimed at helping business leaders connect and learn.
Tickets to this year’s event can be purchased through the Marketplace Leaders website.
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