When I look back at my years in investment banking, I don’t think the biggest lessons came from transactions, financial models, or deal negotiations.

They came from people.

From founders who were building against the odds. From businesses navigating uncertainty. From the privilege of being invited into journeys that mattered deeply to those living them every day.

Somewhere along the way, I learned the value of intrapreneurship.

Not ownership in the formal sense, but ownership in the emotional sense.

The kind where you stop seeing a mandate as an assignment and start treating it like a responsibility. Where a founder’s challenge stays with you after the meeting ends. Where you celebrate a milestone not because the deal closed, but because the business moved one step closer to its vision.

I’ve realised that the best work doesn’t come from simply doing what is expected. It comes from caring enough to think like an owner. To ask harder questions. To look beyond the immediate task. To act in the long-term interest of the business, even when no one asks you to.

That mindset has changed the way I approach my work.

It has taught me that impact is rarely created from the sidelines. It comes from stepping in, taking ownership, and showing up as though the success of the business is partly yours to build.

And for me, that has been the most valuable lesson of all.