“Success in business is identifying a particular objective and achieving it” – 60 seconds with David Duffy, Chair of The Corporate Governance Institute

What was your first job?

My first real job was with PWC in London to become a Chartered Accountant. The pass rate of the exams was 25%, so it was pretty brutal, but I got through.  The Institute offered prizes for the first 10 places in the final exam, so I told everyone I must have come 11th!

What pushed you to pursue a career in this field?

I decided that a professional qualification would be a useful to have as it was not clear to me what I really wanted to do in life after studying Business in Trinity College Dublin. As it happens I have had a very varied and rewarding career which I could never had imagined when I was in my late twenties.  From working in a family business after PWC, to working in Accenture in their strategy practice and finally or so I thought setting up my own strategy business which was the first one in Ireland at the time and also did some governance work.  

As a result, I wrote my first book on corporate governance called “A Practical Guide to Corporate Governance” in 2004. It did not make the New York Times best seller list that year or any year for that matter.  I was ahead of my time until I discovered the potential of online education for corporate governance 15 years later!

What would you regard as your greatest achievement to date

My greatest business achievement is undoubtedly identifying that there was a global opportunity to deliver online education in corporate governance to aspiring directors globally.  I had attended a course in the Irish Times on Leadership which was delivered online. One day while driving home, I had an AHA moment and wondered if anyone was providing this in corporate governance.   I took a few weeks off and discovered that nobody had thought of this.  To be doubly sure I got a wonderful Indian graduate from the Smurfit Business School to do the research again and hey presto, he reached the same conclusion. Sometime later The Corporate Governance Institute was born in the dark days of COVID.

Career wise, would you do anything differently?

My father was an entrepreneur, although he did not know it at the time in 1947! I guess that DNA is still part of me and indeed all my siblings who have all started businesses here, Germany and Australia. 

In retrospect, I would have focused earlier on businesses which are more scalable rather than professional services which is more challenging as they are more people based.

I have always been keen post graduate education and to that end I did an MBA at IMD in Lausanne which was life changing.  It taught one to think strategically as a CEO.  If you did not you were called out in the class!