Food for Thought

Transcript

00:06 good morning let me just rearrange here

00:12 real quickly dean o'neill acting provost

00:19 royal chairman lam members of the board

00:23 of the trustees distinguished faculty

00:25 parents and families fellow alumni and

00:29 most importantly to the members of the

00:32 class of 2019 congratulations from it

00:39 Timmy thank you for that kind and

00:42 generous introduction

00:43 growing up 20 miles west of here this

00:47 knucklehead from Framingham never

00:49 imagined he'd be standing before you

00:50 this morning I would also like to say

00:54 thank you to my wife for her love and

00:56 support through the last 28 years

00:58 I would not be here today without you

01:00 and my two daughters Samantha and jemmye

01:04 for their love and support and

01:06 understanding the demands of my job it's

01:09 been great to watch both of you grow and

01:11 become the wonderful young ladies you

01:12 are today I'm very proud of you

01:15 Anita thanks for being here this morning

01:18 and if I'm being honest this isn't the

01:21 first time I've been in a situation that

01:23 my younger self would find difficult to

01:26 comprehend my journey to becoming the

01:29 president and CEO of Darden Restaurants

01:31 was anything but traditional like many

01:35 of you I grew up in a blue-collar lower

01:38 middle-class family with loving parents

01:40 who never prioritized their old formal

01:42 education but had very high expectations

01:46 for my education see I was an average

01:49 student okay maybe a little below

01:52 average but I never applied myself and

01:55 the heart of my parents pushed me the

01:58 more I ignored them see for as long as I

02:01 can remember my priority was sports all

02:05 I wanted was a ball in my hand a

02:07 basketball a football or baseball like

02:12 so many kids I believed my future was

02:14 field or a court reality hit me hard

02:18 when I was 16 I was cut from a high

02:21 school basketball team I was crushed

02:24 the final harsh realization that I was

02:29 not going to be a professional athlete

02:30 so word is a 16 year old boy turn when

02:34 his dreams are shattered my parents

02:37 hoped this would be the jolt that I

02:38 needed to focus on my study and improve

02:41 my grades I had a different idea I was

02:45 gonna get a job

02:46 but wasn't gonna play organized ball I

02:49 was going to make some money and buy a

02:50 car truth be told I really wanted to

02:53 make money to buy beer and this was the

02:57 beginning of my restaurant career I

02:58 started as a busboy at the orc

03:01 steakhouse and the Natick Massachusetts

03:03 that winter and while I got off to a

03:07 slow start I almost quit or got fired

03:11 multiple times in the first couple

03:12 months I quickly climbed the ranks that

03:15 my managers gave me more more

03:17 responsibilities I worked a lot in my

03:20 senior year in high school I even

03:23 skipped school to work which right now

03:25 makes no sense to me but I finally found

03:28 something I was really good at I found

03:31 it like it's still be part of a great

03:32 team working toward a common goal I went

03:36 off to college that fall but it wasn't

03:38 for me so at the end of my freshman year

03:41 I decided to take a break from school

03:43 and join the management training program

03:45 at York steakhouse I vividly remember

03:48 telling my dad I was leaving school it

03:52 was the first time I knew that I had

03:55 truly disappointed him but he never gave

03:58 up for the next ten years or so he would

04:01 find every opportunity to remind me that

04:04 it was never too late to go back to

04:05 school and get then get a real job

04:08 but I'd found my home in the restaurant

04:10 industry I began to have success I

04:13 quickly moved up the corporate ranks in

04:15 the industry eventually becoming the

04:17 vice president of operations for Pizza

04:19 Rio no but I came to realize that I

04:22 wanted if I wanted to continue and grow

04:24 professionally I needed a formal

04:26 education

04:28 that's why I discovered sulphate in the

04:31 fall of 1994 I entered in the Executive

04:34 MBA program I owe this University of

04:37 data gratitude they took a chance on an

04:40 unproven student it was a wonderful

04:43 experience a great professor's a smart

04:46 and engaged thoughtful cohort I have

04:50 achieved what I've achieved would not

04:51 have been able to impossible without the

04:54 foundation here at this great an

04:56 institution I will be forever grateful

04:59 to Suffolk I am proud to see that

05:02 students are still afforded the

05:04 opportunity to receive a world-class

05:05 education based on their potential

05:07 success I've had a wonderful career and

05:12 I'm an example of what you can

05:14 accomplish with hard work perseverance

05:16 and a little luck along the way I'm an

05:20 optimist and I still believe the

05:22 American Dream is alive and well

05:24 I'm excited for you as you enter the

05:27 next chapter of your life don't listen

05:29 to those who tell you the opportunities

05:32 don't exist anymore we have been here

05:34 before this country I survived the

05:37 Agricultural Revolution the Industrial

05:39 Revolution and now the information

05:42 revolution as the world continues to

05:45 evolve there will be plenty opportunity

05:47 for those who are able to find their

05:49 place and work hard I have learned a lot

05:53 over my 30 year plus career and as I

05:57 reflect on what has made a difference

05:58 for me three things come to mind

06:01 one a passion for lifelong learning - an

06:06 ability to prioritize and three the

06:09 critical importance of trust in building

06:12 relationships I hope that's sharing my

06:15 thoughts on these important topics will

06:18 help guide you as you begin the next

06:19 phase of your lives let's start with the

06:22 topic of lifelong learning

06:24 you leave Suffolk today with the

06:27 foundational knowledge you'll need to

06:29 begin your journey and there'll be

06:31 countless opportunities to continue and

06:33 learn and grow but I want to focus on

06:35 experiential learning without exception

06:39 you've grown and matured during your

06:41 time at Suffolk but it's important to

06:44 acknowledge that you're relatively

06:45 inexperienced in all facets of life

06:47 especially business when I reflect on my

06:51 own career I realized just how

06:53 unprepared I was for the

06:55 responsibilities I had but back then I

06:59 thought I knew everything as I continue

07:02 to learn and have different experiences

07:04 I realize how little I really did know

07:07 today the more I learned through my

07:10 experiences the more uncertain I am of

07:13 the answers to the questions I was sure

07:16 I had the interest to when I was younger

07:20 this is my belief the key to continuous

07:23 learning is curiosity the one

07:26 characteristic I see in all successful

07:28 business people is that they're

07:30 extremely curious they are interested in

07:33 the why not just the what they enjoy the

07:37 process of completing the task and want

07:40 to understand the details being curious

07:43 will continue to build on what you've

07:45 learned here at Suffolk who you work

07:49 with and who you choose to be your

07:51 mentors will have an impact on your

07:54 learning journey you want to work with

07:56 people who involve you as much as

07:59 possible Ben Franklin said tell me and I

08:03 forget teach me and I remember involve

08:06 me and I learned it's imperative for you

08:09 to find ways to be involved and more

08:12 importantly be the person everyone wants

08:16 to involve because you add value as

08:20 people go through their careers in life

08:21 I see them make what I believe is a big

08:24 mistake through feedback mechanisms

08:28 annual reviews 360 degree assessments

08:32 and other tools people hear quite a bit

08:35 about their weaknesses and not enough

08:37 acknowledgement of their strengths don't

08:41 misunderstand it is important to

08:43 acknowledge that we are not perfect but

08:45 we should learn how to minimize our

08:47 weaknesses and focus time and attention

08:49 on enhancing our strengths

08:52 and my 30-plus years of leading people

08:54 I've never seen anyone turn a true

08:57 weakness into a strength

09:01 learning to deal with setbacks is an

09:03 important part of life I've dealt with

09:05 multiple setbacks in my career

09:07 especially early on there were many

09:09 times I thought I should have been

09:11 promoted and someone else got the

09:13 opportunity dealing with disappointment

09:16 and striving to improve my performance I

09:19 was better prepared the next time an

09:21 opportunity presented itself now looking

09:25 back I can clearly see why those

09:28 decisions were made everyone will face

09:31 setbacks in their career and for that

09:33 matter of life how you learn to handle

09:35 those situations will be defining

09:37 moments for you

09:38 I encourage you to continue to build on

09:42 the strong strong foundation you have

09:44 poured here at Suffolk be curious learn

09:47 to love what you're good at and embrace

09:50 the inevitable challenges you'll face

09:52 along the way in my role today the

09:58 question I'm asked most is how can I

10:00 maintain balance and have the quality of

10:02 life I want why having a successful

10:05 career my answer is simple

10:10 challenging and disappointing all at the

10:14 same time the only way to achieve your

10:18 personal professional goals is

10:20 defectively prioritize all aspects of

10:22 your life let's unpack what it means to

10:25 prioritize first let's look at the

10:28 definition of priority a thing that is

10:32 regarded as more important than another

10:34 so by definition every aspect of your

10:38 life can be ranked by level importance

10:41 to you my suggestion is to break your

10:45 life into three components self-care

10:49 care of others and career and then rank

10:53 what's most important to you

10:56 throughout your life your priorities

10:58 will change and they should change

11:00 but right now you have to rank these

11:04 areas and understand the consequences of

11:06 those rankings see there is no personal

11:09 or professional success without

11:11 sacrifice

11:13 however I do believe you can find

11:16 balance the key is effective

11:18 prioritization within each component

11:21 clearly defining for yourself what's

11:23 most important - inside these areas and

11:27 managing your time effectively will lead

11:31 to a feeling of balance but it's very

11:34 important that you realize that

11:36 everything can't be a priority and you

11:39 have to make the difficult decisions in

11:41 a prioritization process I learned how

11:45 important this is when I began my MBA

11:47 program at Suffolk I was learning a new

11:50 job

11:51 I was recently married and I was about

11:54 to become a dad for the first time it

11:57 was the worst possible time for me to

11:59 take on another priority but I knew the

12:02 opportunity at Suffolk was critical in

12:04 my future and my family's future so I

12:07 had to figure it out I sacrificed self

12:11 care and care of others to focus on

12:14 furthering my education and ultimately

12:16 in my career it was never easy but it

12:20 was the right prioritization for me at

12:22 the moment in my life and it also

12:24 enforced me to excel at time management

12:29 distinguishing between the important and

12:32 the urgent is critical for long-term

12:34 personal and professional success and

12:38 lastly I want to share my thoughts on

12:41 trust building relationships is

12:44 extremely important to achieving

12:46 professional success and relationships

12:48 need to be built on trust

12:50 brought you up your career you will

12:54 decide who to trust

12:55 leaders peers and employees and more

13:01 importantly through your behaviors you

13:04 have to earn the trust from that same

13:06 group of people I want to quickly share

13:10 how I think about this very important

13:12 word

13:13 trust it's simple to me

13:17 trust equals judgment plus ethics trust

13:23 equals judgment plus ethics for me to

13:27 trust someone in my organization I need

13:30 to observe sound decision-making over

13:32 time and see them consistently and up

13:35 equivocally live our company values part

13:39 of assessing whether or not someone has

13:41 good judgement is observing whom they

13:44 choose to surround themselves

13:46 I advise young leaders in my

13:48 organization to assemble a personal

13:50 board of directors made up of family

13:53 friends colleagues and mentors to act as

13:57 informal advisors and I urge all of you

14:00 to do the same who will you choose who

14:04 will influence you do these individuals

14:07 reflect your individual personal values

14:10 do they understand and align with your

14:12 goals and dreams will they be truth

14:16 tellers will they be cheerleaders will

14:19 they make you better as you navigate

14:23 your journey through life just as your

14:25 priorities will change so will your

14:28 personal board of directors choose

14:30 wisely and don't be afraid to make

14:33 changes when necessary I may still be

14:37 that knucklehead from Framingham but

14:39 even I know that brevity ISM and this

14:41 moment is appreciated so let me leave

14:44 you with one last thought there are

14:47 three types of people in the world those

14:51 who are wondering what's going on those

14:54 who are watching what's going on and

14:57 those who are making things happen and I

15:01 hope you the class of 2019 will be one

15:05 of those now you may not remember a word

15:09 I said today but hopefully you remember

15:12 me as the guy who bought you dinner for

15:15 all the graduates under your chair you

15:17 will find $100 giftcard Danny Darden

15:19 restaurant

15:24 and for those who care the Capital

15:28 Grille is is on there the logos not

15:30 there

15:41 fellow alumni I wish you much success

15:46 enjoy your journey

15:48 take care

15:57 you