Five Minutes with Fazeela Gopalani, Head of ACCA in the Middle East
As Head of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) in the Middle East, Fazeela Gopalani is a high-profile leader in a male-dominated world. She is responsible for leading the operations in 11 countries across the region and all levels of business across the Middle East.
You’ve made Dubai your home for many years - what are some of the best things for you about living here? Dubai is a great place to live and work, super-fast paced. It’s all about connections here. We read about emotional intelligence but you actually need to be culturally intelligent in this region because we’ve got so many different nationalities and different ways of working. I grew up in Birmingham and we were all made of the same cloth and went to the same school and university together but here, you have to have an open mind and think twice before you speak. Being a British Indian Muslim woman really helped me settle because I grew up understanding different cultures. How you treat each person has to be different with a lot being about listening, body language, and becoming really observant. Being so diverse ensures that no two days are the same and I love this. I also feel Dubai is such a great place to raise children and really there isn’t anything you can’t do in Dubai. One day you’ll be on the beach, next you’ll be trekking up the mountain.
Dubai is a city with a work hard play hard spirit, with a palpable spirit of creativity and entrepreneurship - how do you reflect this spirit within ACCA? I’m a huge advocate of work-life balance and not just in terms of “private outside of work”. As a team, ACCA Middle East regularly spend time outside the office, whether it be enjoying each other’s cultural cuisines to running marathons, or completing Tough Mudder events. In terms of creativity and entrepreneurship, I actively encourage the team to step outside the lines and think differently when it comes to doing what’s right for the ACCA Community, hence such events like the ACCA Dubai Expo run which was a fun way to not only engage with our members but also give them an experience they wouldn’t forget, the sense of achievement, collectively as a super-connected community of ACCA Members.
You’re a dynamic and high-profile woman in a traditionally male-dominated industry - what are qualities and strengths that you believe are crucial for women today who want to achieve leadership roles?
The female leaders of today are effervescent: they have a lively personality and seem to accomplish everything with graceful ease. I think it’s crucial for women nowadays to be continually focusing on what it is they want to be and where in the next five years and by taking this time to think about what it is they want. They are ultimately led into a perpetual cycle of becoming the best version of themselves, which leads to a more confident version of yourself, one that employers see potential in and are willing to give a chance too.
Always ensure whatever you do its helping you work towards your goals and dreams
Be focused, have and demonstrate consistency and discipline.
Have a growth mindset
Embrace silence and quiet time
Take time to really think and stretch your mind
Think differently and think big
Believe in yourself and your capabilities - Don’t let others shape or define who you want to be
Be authentic and genuine in everything you do
Challenge that other negative voice in your head - find your own voice and be who you want to be – don’t compete with anyone but YOU
Have a purpose…are you doing just a job or are you living and breathing what you want to do – are you making a difference ?
What’s been your biggest career challenge to date? Running my father’s accounting practice when he passed away when I was only 23 years old. I was a part-qualified accountant and my mother, brother and sister were depending on me for that income. When I took over, we had 350 clients and 15 staff who were all men which was a challenge. I had two options…sink or swim! I wasn’t able to stand up and speak then as I am today. I had lots of tears in the bathroom which at that time was seen as a sign of weakness so I would wash my face, put my make-up back on and carry on. That experience of managing an accounting practice and all the challenges I dealt with has made me what I am today.
Women are still in a minority in boardrooms and within senior executive positions. You’re passionate about addressing this - what is the Women in Finance initiative?
The pandemic has shaken the world as we know it both professionally and personally. Many of us have had time to reflect or rethink our careers. aspirations and indeed futures. Our roles and that of accountants, in particular, have become wider and more important than ever before and we’ve seen first-hand how this profession offers a secure and flexible career whatever your age. However, many of us who’ve climbed the ladder know how difficult it is to navigate the corporate ladder to senior leadership. It’s often and long hard road, given that just 8% of chief executives globally are women according to the latest Forbes report. And just 3% of the CEOs in financial services are female.
Our Women in finance program is designed to help the next generation of female leaders navigate their way up the corporate ladder by talking about the issues that really matter whether that be lessons from influential female leaders both within the finance world and outside, to skills and competency training. Over the course of the year and beyond, ACCA will be teaming up with successful business leaders from across the region, industries and job functions to bring you a wealth of information, knowledge and learning opportunities.
You’re a leader in finance, which has traditionally been quite male-dominated. What was your own path to the C-Suite?
For me, it really has been accounting all the way from my Accounting and Finance degree from Birmingham university right through to present day heading up ACCA Middle East. Thanks to my father ACCA and accounting are truly in my blood. My father was also an ACCA member so I was convinced from an early age of the power of the ACCA qualification. I credit completing the ACCA qualification to not only giving me the technical capabilities needed to step in to a man’s world and run a well-established practice, but also the confidence. ACCA has opened doors for me because I have had many opportunities come my way in the last 12 years while I have been in the Middle East, be that corporate training, lecturing for MBA’s from renowned British universities based here or becoming a Senior Manager at PwC.
As a leader, what motivates you?
I am motivated by many thing with my family being a key anchor and demonstrating to my children that they can “have it all”. Aside from family, motivation for me includes, empowering people and bringing the best out of them, the ability to be able to make a difference to people lives and working together as a team reaching a common goal.
Who have been your biggest sources of inspiration?
There have been many sources of inspiration but the biggest would be my father. He had a really strong work ethic - coming from Malawi to the UK, he became an ACCA member and he gave us a fantastic quality of life. I got my love of accounting from him - he was an accountant who absolutely loved balancing his balance sheets!
You're a trailblazer for women - what qualities do you think make a good role model?
I think anyone who elevates another person. Someone who actively supports, isn’t afraid to challenging the status quo, someone who actively supports equal access to opportunities. A person who actively encourages and engages in continuous learning in order to support ones own and others self development – we should all inspire to “ seek knowledge from our cradle to the grave “. And lastly someone who empowers you to be who you are and provides a safe space for you to be able to flourish.