Toastmaster Maheshi Godakumbura Premasinghe, Competent Communicator
Maheshi is a graduate of the Chartered Institute of Governance (UK & Ireland) formerly ICSA(UK). Starting work at Aitken Spense (Executive ISO 9000 Service Quality & HRD) then John Keells Computer Services (Executive HRD), Maheshi joined the HSBC Global Service Center (initially as Asst. Manager HR Operations). In 2004 Maheshi won the Bartleets Challenge Trophy for the All Island Best Speakers’ Contest. The same year she won first place in the Impromptu Speech Contest at the Conference for Toastmasters in India & Sri Lanka at the TATA Auditorium Bangalore. She soon obtained a lateral transfer to HSBC’s Learning & Development Department. Under Mr. John Hindle, VP L&D Maheshi got a rigorous training and obtained accreditation to all HSBC Global Workshops. With added exposure at the Toastmasters International Conference in Toronto as guests of International President Dr.Dilip Abayasekara, within 1 year Maheshi was promoted as Manager Leadership & Management Training. She managed the new Global Resourcing Leadership & Management GRL&M Project that focused on an elite batch. In 2006 at the HSBC GRC in Malaysia she received the Worldwide Center for Organisation Development WCOD (AUS & US) Train The Trainer session for modules of the Institute of Leadership & Management ILM (UK) from Dr Jon Warner, Stewart Mitchell & Ann Sandberg. There Maheshi delivered an ILM(UK) module to Dr. Jon Warner and Team and the HSBC Trainers from all over India, China, Malaysia & the Phillipines and received her accreditation by Dr. Jon Warner (PhD) of WCOD (US & AUS). Over the 1.5 years of the project, Maheshi delivered the 13 Level A modules of ILM (UK) to the elite batch in Sri Lanka. 1n 2007 Maheshi obtained training in Workshop Design and Facilitation by Dr. Tripathy of Pragathy Leadership Institute (India).
Other than the above, and HSBC’s own Leadership & Management workshops, Maheshi delivered HSBC’s Train the Trainer Workshop for technical trainers and later to all HR staff at Hayleys Group as an external resource person, after she ventured out as an independent Trainer under the business name STAR Factory in 2008. The same year after attending Maheshi’s Keynote “The Mystery of the Mixed Response” at the Toastmasters District 82 Conference, she was invited to be a resource person in the Toastmasters Train The Trainer in Hyderabad India by Mr. Deepak Menon, Toastmasters District Governor. The Lt. Governor Education of the TMI District Nagaraj Rao invited Maheshi to Bangalore to coach the District Champion for the TMI International Contest in USA.
Maheshi has conducted training at Telstra (Australia), Infosys (India), The Embassy of the Republic of Germany in Sri Lanka, Toyota Lanka, Pan Asia Bank, Mobitel Call Center, Inter-University Gavel Conference, MAS, The Wallawa Resort Hotel, Unawatuna Beach Resort managed by the Calamander Group, Hayleys Plc., John Keells Office Automation, Union Assurance, Sri Lankan Airlines, Etisalat, Sri Bhagawan Mahaveer Jain University (India) and Dayanand Sagar University in India, , IBM (India) and many ICT companies. For over 10 years she was a visiting lecturer at the Institute of Chartered Accountants Sri Lanka CASL for Public Speaking and Negotiation Skills Training.
Maheshi has delivered public programmes for the Institute of Personnel Management IPM (Sri Lanka) “Presenting to Win” and “Building Confidence in your Personality”. She conducted 2 workshops for Bankers from diverse commercial banks organized by the Central Bank Institute for Banking Studies, receiving above 90% each for both content and delivery. This is her normal feedback, but in this instance, the next month she delivered her baby! So Maheshi’s energy, quality & customer focus hits the 90’s no matter what!
Maheshi invests her own resources lavishly on her Continuous Professional Development. She has absorbed much from attending 3 Toastmasters International Conferences in Canada (2004) & US (2015 & 2018) and has received training from 9 World Champions of Public Speaking. In September 2019 Maheshi flew to Singapore to attend Tony Robbins’ Unleash The Power Within UPW with 8000 others. She was looking forward to the famous ‘fire walk’ and found the experience exhillerating! In 2020 during lockdown she followed the same UPW -the Online version- plus Tony Robbins and Dean Graziosy’s 7 Day Challenge to learn how Tony adapted his signature training to the new online conditions! Maheshi is a lifelong learner.
Maheshi also delivers workshops that enhance your Spiritual Intelligence to super-charge personal efficiency & effectiveness. She is an Angels’ Reiki Master (a 2 year course culminating in delivering a channeled Mastership Seminar in Glastonbury (UK), is a Pranic Healer and has been practicing Vipassana Meditation (Mindfulness) and Samatha Meditation for over 27 years. Tutored by Dr. Janet Le Valley (PhD) Maheshi earned an International Diploma in Counseling Hypnosis and a Diploma in Child Psychology to add to her repertoire. She has travelled to the Gangotri Glacier in the Himalayas in 2008, attended The Global Congress of Spiritual Scientists 2012, been on the Mayan Cruise to visit Chichen Itza in Mexico in December 2012, and in 2022 spent a month in India including the Himalayas where she received initiation into Kriya Yoga by Swami Shankarananda Giri. With these diverse inputs from the West and the East, Maheshi can use a wide range of tools and methodologies for both Left and Right Brain development in her workshops.
Other Positions served in:
- VP Membership of the Colombo Toastmasters Club
- Member of the panel of judges for The All Island Best Speakers Contest and others
- Chairman of the Speakers’ Bureau of Toastmasters District 82 (District 82 comprised of all of India & Sri Lanka at the time, and became the world’s number 1 District 3 years in a row including that year!)