Photo by Nicholas Huisman
Mark Goulding is an experienced tax professional with over two decades of leadership at Ernst & Young. Alongside his professional career, he has built a life full of memories and skills within Scouting: from earning his Leaping Wolf, Springbok Scout, and Chief Scout Awards, to serving as a Troop Scouter, and currently as Scout Group Leader at 1st Rivertrail, and as a member of the SCOUTS SA Board. We sat down with Mark to reflect on the adventures, values, and leadership lessons that have shaped his journey and continue to influence his impact today.
Mark’s Scouting journey
“I joined 1st Morningside Cubs in Johannesburg as a young boy and grew up in Scouting — living a real sense of adventure and freedom through the many different and fun experiences. Some of my best memories include being outdoors with friends, building rafts, hiking in the Drakensberg, the Magaliesberg and the Cederberg, cooking over fires, camping, and building pioneering projects. It was never just one activity, but the combination of all of them that made it so memorable,” he reminisces.
“Just as important were the adult leaders who guided us. They were passionate, skilled, and deeply committed. They didn’t just teach us Scouting skills, they showed us, through their actions, what it meant to be a good human being and an active member of our community. That example has stayed with me throughout my life.
We were also given a remarkable level of trust and independence. Being trusted by my adult leaders and parents to run and participate in activities with my friends without supervision helped me learn and grow. We were allowed to do things such as catching trains from Johannesburg Station to the Magaliesberg and hike for 2 days without adult supervision — at the age of 13! We went on a 2-week tour with my Scouters in their VW Combi and my dad’s Chev down the garden route to Cederberg, when my Scouters were only young adults (Rovers) themselves! That was amazing fun! It was a different time, but that trust by our parents, that freedom to explore, to make decisions, and to learn through experience played a huge role in shaping who I am. On a personal level, Scouting has had a lasting impact on my mindset and values. The principle of always doing your best has become something I carry into everything I do. There were many times I was asked to reflect on my values and ethical views, and I always referred back to the Scouting Law and Promise, which formed the foundation of my own personal belief system.”
The value of Scouting skills
Professionally, Mark is a Chartered Accountant with an expertise in Tax. He is also renowned for finding solutions to complex cross border business challenges. So, did Scouting help him develop this ability to solve any problem that comes his way? “When I informed my District Commissioner Tom Anderson that I was going to study to be a Chartered Accountant he laughed, as he was convinced that, as Scouts, we had the foundations to become great engineers and contribute to the building of the country. He was a great Scout leader and mentor, and the irony is that he was a Chartered Accountant! While my career may not have followed the path my District Commissioner once imagined, his leadership and Scouting certainly shaped the way I approach problems. Through your Scouting years, the programme continuously teaches you how to handle problems that require solving in teams and allows you to practice these skillsets repeatedly in a safe environment. It also teaches and guides you on how to look at things differently, and to find innovative ways to solve problems. So, I probably should thank Scouting for laying the groundwork for that way of thinking,” he says with a smile.
“Scouting taught me practical skills that I still use every day. Planning and organisation are obvious ones, but it also taught me how to work with others in a team and how to get things done together. Particularly the idea of working in small teams – like we do through our Sixes and Patrols. I would also say Scouting teaches you a certain patience and calmness and reminds you to try to look for solutions — all of which are critical in business. You cannot panic. You must review the situation, consider your options, look at your teams’ strengths and make decisions to solve the problems. All these ideas — which I use in business today — are taught through Scouting.
Scouting teaches you how to look at things differently, and to find innovative ways to solve problems as a team.
Of course, the values I learnt as a Scout remain central in my professional life. The idea that a Scout’s honour is to be trusted, and that you need to be truthful, fair, ethical, and honest, is something I apply in all dealings. This always helps you in business, as you get a reputation for honesty and integrity, which follows you across your career. Not only in the business dealings, but in how you deal and interact with people, which attracts top talent to work for and with you.
Mark’s children are currently in Scouting and are both thriving, with his daughter recently obtaining her Springbok Award. “I strongly believe that Scouting remains incredibly important for young people today. As you can imagine, I’m a massive fan of the skillsets Scouting teaches. It allows our young people to grow and shine. There is a proven formula of working in small teams and learning through doing that has had more than a century of refining to ensure it gets the desired results.
When people ask whether Scouting is still relevant, my answer is simply, yes. Going back to solid roots of honour, loyalty integrity, helping others, being kind and doing what is right and fair is more relevant than ever in our country today. Scouting builds leaders and enforces this, together with a deep sense of fellowship and comradery with all others in the movement, which builds on citizenship. Imagine a county where everyone acted and behaved with these as guiding principles. Scouting helps to build this.”
Sustainable growth and support
Photo by Nicholas Huisman
From growing up in Scouting, to being an adult leader and now a Board member. What does Mark hope to achieve on our Board? “I want to use my lifetime of experience in the movement to ensure that the Board acts in the best interests of Scouting and the decisions made positively impact Scouting at the grass-roots level. I am a big supporter of the current 3-2-1 strategy, and in particular the 2 pillars of delivering quality programmes and growing and retaining adult volunteers — which I believe are the “secret source” to successful Scouting. I think we are doing well in this space and will leave this to the excellent teams running and improving this.
The 3 enablers need more work and support, and this is where I hope the Board and I can make a greater impact. Personally, I would like to focus on the “sustainable support and financial resources” enabler and, together with my peers, unlock new sources of funding to increase the impact and growth of Scouting across the whole of South Africa. I particularly want to focus on under-resourced communities and individuals who have the talent but not the means and require financial support to unlock this.
So, I would like to invite people interested in growing our country to join me at a Scouting event. Let me take you around, explain to you what the youngsters are doing and learning, and share my knowledge. Come and witness the impact Scouting is having on the youth of our country, witness how we are building future leaders and citizens and become part of this positive change. I’m a big believer that once people see this impact personally, they can’t but want to get involved and support however they can.”