Emmanuel Daniel
Self-discovery is a wonderful thing. Not only does it make one clear about their purpose, but also gives them insights about themselves and what they are best at. For entrepreneurs, it becomes all the more important as they get to realize their interests and true potential.
When Emmanuel Daniel started his quest for professional life, he saw himself as a lawyer. Two years down the line, he was hit by a realization that being a lawyer was not important for him. He then spent 10 years moving jobs to see what he liked doing the best. He discovered his strong independent streak and his love for traveling, writing, and meeting people. All things combined, he realized publishing would be a suitable career. A job with a European publishing house introduced him to the world of banking and he took to it as fish takes to water. “Banking was what I called a ‘cathedral’ industry – it sits in the middle of any society, you have to deal with it from birth to death and it is run by the most important people in the country, besides the politicians,” says Emmanuel. So he set out to start his own publication called “The Asian Banker” with his own money as well as money from three investors.
Emmanuel believes that there’s no other professional life he would have chosen other than being an entrepreneur. The most important attribute, he thinks an entrepreneur should have, is motivating and mobilizing his people. “It’s a skill that I took a very long time to harness. In my early years, I used to be easily upset when my employees did not see what I saw or shared what I valued. Then over the years, I came to realize that no entrepreneur or company has a monopoly on great staff. The secret is in enabling ordinary people to achieve extraordinary things. Even here, no entrepreneur can achieve this unless he is blessed with people who believe in him or her enough to stay with him over time. I am just grateful today that I have staff who have believed in me, despite ups and down.”
To the budding entrepreneurs, he says, “Be yourself. Be nothing but yourself every single day of your life. This is what allows others to relate with you and do great things with you.”
