When Passion Became Profession: My Consulting and Training Journey

A Review of the Past - Looking back, I realise how each phase of my career quietly shaped the consultant and trainer I would later become.

- BY SUNIL G WUESINHA

In my previous articles, I spoke about the lessons I drew from every workplace I passed through — lessons that went far beyond technical knowledge. My journey began humbly at the State Engineering Corporation as a trainee, where curiosity and enthusiasm were my greatest assets. Before long, I found myself entrusted with the Building Research Centre, later known as the National Building Research Organisation. That early responsibility taught me how knowledge and leadership could combine to create impact.

From there, my path took me to the Tyre Corporation as an Industrial Engineer, then to the Sri Lanka Institute of Cooperative Management as General Manager, and later to the Ceylon Ceramics Corporation, again as General Manager. Each move added a new layer of understanding — of people, systems, and how organisations could be guided to perform better. My education in Engineering and Accountancy, complemented by my CIMA and MBA, gave me the frameworks. But it was the experiments, challenges, and day-to-day realities of those workplaces that gave me true insight.

So when I was appointed Chairman of the Employees’ Trust Fund Board at the age of 39, I didn’t feel overwhelmed. Instead, I sensed continuity — as though all my past experiences had prepared me for what lay ahead. The knowledge I had gathered from such diverse environments allowed me to approach problems with a calm sense of foresight. My three-month training in Japan added another dimension, deepening my appreciation of discipline, efficiency, and participative management — lessons that would later influence my consulting style profoundly.