Olympic Coach for Gymnastics Ireland, Luke Carson, has told of how important mindset is when it comes to success. Speaking at a teambuilding event hosted by chartered accountancy RBCA in Bangor, the acclaimed sportsman, who coached County Down’s Rhys McClenaghan to gold at the Paris Olympics this summer, detailed how his personal insights on setting goals to attain and maintain excellence could also be applied in business.
Luke, who is also the owner of Origin Gymnastics, said, “If my experience in elite sport has taught me one thing, it’s that harnessing the right mindset is the first step in achieving goals. Whether an athlete or an accountant, we will all face challenges in our working lives, but by embracing these hurdles and changes, rather than shying away, we learn to become more adaptable and grow in confidence – all of which results in resilience.
“Whilst all of us can and should be responsible for our own success, the type of leadership we’re exposed to along the way is really important. Positive leaders encourage the type of mindset athletes are known to have. They believe in continuous development and provide the environment for people to improve bit by bit, day to day.”
Ross Boyd, the founder and director of Belfast-based chartered accountancy, RBCA, echoed Luke’s thoughts. He said, “Every year we invest in teambuilding and skills development to ensure that all the team has the opportunity to reach their full potential as trusted business advisors. Talent and growth go hand in hand, and we view talent as our best asset, and so we are proud to invest in the team.
“This year, with the help of our exceptional line up of speakers, we also reflected on 14 years in business and the importance of our work, especially in this economic climate. These are challenging times for owner-managed businesses, particularly now as we look to 2025 in light of tax changes made by Labour. Our goal is to ensure that our team remain in the strongest position to provide sound business advice.”
The RBCA event, now in its 11th year, was held across two days. Alongside the address from Luke Carson, the first day also featured a role-playing workshop from actor and communications coach, Sara Dylan, who starred in Line of Duty and Game of Thrones, and insights from Full Circle Management on business development. The second day brought together a range of local business experts with Bank of Ireland’s Alan Bridle providing an economic outlook, and Chartered Accountants Ireland Head of Thought Leadership Michael Diviney and Ian Philips, Head of Partnerships at Xero, focusing on the changing role of the accountant with artificial intelligence.
Ross continued, “Earlier this year, we invested £50,000 into AI software to automate a range of activities such as automating bookkeeping and generating reports and forecasts. This frees up the team to focus more of their time on servicing and consulting our clients, whilst building new relationships. We live in a technologically minded world and RBCA continues to embrace new opportunities and provide the right learning environment for young people. Gen Z will account for 27 percent by 2025 so it’s important that we position the role as forward-thinking to attract new talent. By leveraging the benefits of AI, we have already seen improvements in our business performance.”
RBCA has seen a number of significant developments over the past year. In September, the team announced a merger with Johnston Graham in a significant deal for the sector which added 1,000 clients to the portfolio.
Since 2010, RBCA has established itself as a leading challenger firm in the local market by continuing to provide strategic independent advice and bespoke financial solutions focused on growth and resilience. Now a team of 25, the business is primed to continue to grow in the new year.
Ross concluded, “The changing nature of the accounting and tax sector has created a wonderful opportunity for a quality, technology-enabled independent practice such as RBCA to grow rapidly. RBCA offers a full range of services with specific product offerings in tax for owner managed businesses and audit for the public sector and pensions. As a result of our growth plan, we hope to see annual revenues double to more than £4m in the next two years.”
For more information visit rbca.co