The Accidental Banker
- Luke Lyons
We can agree that the decade commencing 2020 has been an extraordinary decade thus far. At the beginning of the decade, during lockdown, I vividly remember trying out a new artistic hobby: painting. I recall watching a Bob Ross video, where he famously stated, whilst producing a work of art that a first-time painter could only hope to achieve:
“There are no mistakes, only happy little accidents.”
2020 was the year I began my career as an ‘accidental banker,’ with the start of my apprenticeship journey.
Why accidental, you ask?
Imagine the scene: you’ve finished university, studied an entirely unrelated, non-financial field, worked as a dog walker, and now you find yourself accidentally working in a bank.
Truth be told, it was never my intention to work in a bank for long, but seven years on, I find myself not regretting my choice at all. Following university, I began working in customer service roles. Initially, I was not attracted to a career path in banking, but as I carried out my role with customers, I found myself enjoying the investigative aspect of my work—identifying where things had gone wrong in the customer journey. Pattern recognition and seeing trends in history translated well to spotting trends in customers and financial data.
Banking was going through its own period of transition. With the growth of a variety of business models, there was no one-size-fits-all approach. Some challenged the status quo with their online banking offerings, whilst others bucked the trend, instead opting to open more branches. It was an exciting time to find yourself in the middle of this transformation.
And so, as the decade began, I took the plunge into banking, undertaking a financial apprenticeship. Fast forward to today, and I’m in the final stages of completing my second apprenticeship.
I’ve always been a strong believer in getting out what you put into something, and I would say: challenge the conventional mould where you can. How can banking adapt to changes if we don’t review and challenge how we operate and do business?
A good apprentice provides fresh insight and perspective to a business. But to be a good apprentice, you must actively search out opportunities where you can test ideas, allowing yourself to develop your potential to generate new ideas—far exceeding your studies.
In my own case, nowhere was this better demonstrated than when I entered the Chartered Banker Institute’s Young Banker of the Year competition. I had the ambitious idea for a localised pension product that would allow pension holders to invest their funds locally. The idea itself was broad and ambitious. I had the support of some great managers and was put in touch with the directors of my organisation. The institute was incredibly supportive of the idea and encouraged me to build on the proposal—which I, of course, did. I presented the proposal to senior stakeholders, acquiring communication, leadership, and influencing skills whilst playing a focal part in challenging the mould of the typical pension product in the market. I committed some of my 20% off-the-job learning hours to this idea. It’s very easy to blend both work and study when you’re working on something you’re passionate about and truly believe could make a difference.
As I approach the end of my apprenticeship journey, I often find myself pondering what advice I would give to myself or to any other budding ‘accidental banker.’ I would provide just two brushstrokes of advice:
First would be an adapted phrase—‘Carpe diem,’ taken from one of my favourite movies—to ‘Carpe Opportunitas,’ seize the opportunity.
Harking back to Bob Ross’ words, “There are no mistakes, only happy little accidents,” I believe everything is an opportunity, whether you can see it for what it is now or not.
The second piece of advice would be to embrace change—do not be locked into the trap of thinking there is only one right way to accomplish something.
Looking forward, I understand that I have a big appetite for learning, and so I know that I want to continue my learning journey. The Institute has a great portfolio of qualifications, and to keep up with current trends, I’m particularly attracted to the Certificate in Digital & AI Evolution in Banking in the short term. It pairs well with my current role whilst also aligning with the fast-paced, ever-changing environment of the banking and financial sector.
But what does a similar pathway look like for an accidental banker in 2025?
Well, it’s non-linear and unique, to say the least. But it really begins by embracing new opportunities, even if that means stepping out of your comfort zone. It develops naturally from each action you choose to take. You discover what you like and what you don’t, and you plan how you’re going to try to change the things you think could be done differently. Finally, you take a step back and realise that you’ve accomplished something that you might not have initially had in mind but that, nonetheless, is something to be proud of.
Not too dissimilar from starting to put a brush to a canvas.
Luke Lyons is a Level 7 finance apprentice at Lloyds Banking Group. Luke works as a Process Improvement Manager in the finance function at Lloyds.
This blog was written to mark National Apprenticeships Week in England (10th -16th February) and you can listen to an associated first episode of our new podcast series “Skills Conversations”, featuring Luke as the guest here.
Learn more about Apprenticeships.