In a modern age where it becomes increasingly difficult to go off the grid, having time to yourself becomes a luxury; consequently, the line between work and leisure starts to blur, and both areas of life start bleeding into each other. It becomes a challenge to properly divide time between furthering one’s career and doing the things you love, and when managing a team enters the picture, it grows harder to make space for your own life. Our female leaders at Grant Thornton Indonesia have gone through the struggle of finding success and contentment in both their careers and in interests and passions of their own, and they’ve found ways to incorporate both priorities into their daily lives.
There are many ways to blow off steam and unwind when dealing with the responsibilities the life of an auditor demands, and Assurance Partner Enny Akbar indulges in a wide breadth of hobbies to balance out the turbulence office life can cause. From baking to making flower arrangements, Enny has plenty of ways to fill up her hours out of the office, which creates a dynamic that she had to learn to manage. She explains that she spends time on her hobbies during the weekend, as well as additionally waking up early and making time for her hobbies before she starts her days at the office. She was able to take advantage of the firm’s hybrid situation as well, using her lunch break to bake for a little while, unwinding and recharging before resuming her responsibilities.
However, just because our leaders make time for their personal lives, it doesn’t mean that it detracts from their roles at the firm. Assurance Partner Setiawati Budiman will take time away from her busy schedule to exercise on the weekends and relax in other ways, but she is just as purposeful in making space and time for her responsibilities at the firm, listing her priorities as consistently reaching the firm’s financial target, improving ways to approach a client and figure out what they need, and developing consistent communication with team members and training them to be beyond competent.
Tax Partner Juanita Pribadi is another leader who has plenty of extracurricular activities, partaking in various sports and adventure activities in her free time. Especially before the pandemic, she was a frequent participant in various forms of exercise, from table tennis and swimming to tennis and cycling, even saying that she took up scuba diving at one point. In the midst of all her responsibilities, Juanita still takes time for herself and understands the importance of balancing all these different facets of her life.
Despite all these hobbies and pastimes Juanita and other partners have, it speaks to their collective mindset at the office that even their team members might not be fully aware of how their partners and directors spend time in their personal lives. A recent End of Year party to close out the year 2022 shone some light on the more casual parts of our leaders’ lives, as they showed up in themed costumes relevant to their ways of healing, whether it be exercise, gardening, biking, or fishing. These are still the same people pushing their team members to meet their standards and produce high quality service to Grant Thornton Indonesia’s clients, and our partners and directors have found ways to maximize both their personal lives and their responsibilities to the firm. Enny still focuses on making sure her team runs smoothly and remains effective in the firm’s new hybrid environment, and since she was given a position of authority in 2011, she has upheld her values and standards as an invaluable contributor to Grant Thornton Indonesia’ current success.
In fact, beyond simply keeping the firm running and providing clients with the services they need, our female leaders still have plenty of individual achievements in the professional world that they have worked just as hard to make space for. CEO Johanna Gani and Head of Assurance Hanny Prasetyo have both participated in the Grant Thornton Senior Leadership Programme in association with Harvard Business School, and Johanna is also a chairperson in the Institute of Indonesian Public Accountants. Earning a CPA license alone is already an achievement in and of itself, and one which many of our partners and directors have achieved. Moreover, all these achievements don’t even cover the unseen and unwritten impact our leaders make on the firm, and in turn, the clients and other parties it reaches.
For example, our Quality Control Director Marilyn Cezar, among other functions, her responsibility in monitoring the engagement quality when it comes to delivery of services is critical to the firm’s success. In addition, Marilyn and her team have been the driving force behind the proposal of various internal policies throughout the firm’s service line, as well as the firm as a whole. These changes in policies and procedures epitomize the vision GT Indonesia’s leadership imagined when the firm’s Quality team, and Marilyn believes that establishing defined policies and procedures will ensure that the Firm will run effectively and efficiently, as well as help maintain quality work, which will eventually translate to better client service. Consequently, Grant Thornton Indonesia’s internal structure has become more defined and grown more effective due to Marilyn’s efforts.
The process of building lives for both oneself and the firm is a lengthy and nuanced process, but our female leaders have proven that they are able to succeed in achieving equilibrium and finding the best of both worlds. Whether it might be valuable contributions at the office or living life to the fullest off the clock, Grant Thornton Indonesia’s partners and directors have reached the point in their careers where they’re starting to enjoy success in multiple aspects of their lives, work-related or otherwise. After all their hard work, they get to enjoy their moment in the sun and reap the rewards of their efforts.