Wednesday was a day of quiet significance. Alongside my colleague and our CEO, Paul, I was granted the Freedom of the City of London, joining an eclectic lineage of the great, the good, the mildly reprehensible, and the downright rakish who have stood before the Chamberlain’s Court since 1237.
Aside from the gentle humour regarding the right to drive sheep over London Bridge, that apocryphal privilege now lost to antiquity, it wasn’t the pageantry that struck me most. As I stood in that court, bowing to a nice, robed gentleman, more profound thoughts took hold.
The City of London is a remarkable square mile and one of the world’s most powerful engines of growth. It is a beacon for the most incandescent of talents to leave their mark. Yet, for those navigating it correctly, it demands a complicated relationship.
I think of the City as a rapid river, great rewards may be hauled from its currents, but you must expect to pay a heavy toll to cross. The thing is you rarely cross alone. In these waters, you encounter a spectrum of humanity. There are those you will conflict with and those you will build with. Some offer a hand when you are sinking; others will require yours and many become lifelong friends. However, it is always the people.
The word “innovation” has become a tired totem, overused to the point of exhaustion. In my experience, true innovation only emerges at the intersection of people and purpose. The City acts as a lens, concentrating brilliance and fostering a sense of purpose to which genius can attach. This is how genuine innovation is forged in finance, law, technology, and commerce. This City kindled my own purpose, it has granted me the privilege of working alongside human forces of nature, true genius. It is a privilege that I enjoy to this day. It is also insanely good fun.
It was these people, these reflections and these friends, I thought of during the ceremony, summoned by the words of the Declaration of a Freeman, which concludes fittingly with the Chamberlain extending a hand of friendship.
It was an unexpected reflection to draw from such an ancient rite, but, as it turns out, a very welcome one.
