Class of 2023: Business is about people and leading people is about love

This past weekend I had the honor of delivering the undergraduate commencement speech at my alma mater, Babson College . There is nothing like being back on campus again — especially on graduation day — and to share in the 2023 graduates’ achievements is something I’ll never forget. Leading up to my speech, I did a lot of reflecting about my time at Babson and the past 35 years of my career. I’ve learned a lot along the way, and I’d like to share my speech here with all of you, too. Congratulations to the class of 2023!

In the fall of 1983, I applied to Babson College. My GPA was hovering around a 2.0. My SATs were uninspiring to say the least. And I was a below-average hockey player. Now I know what you are thinking — someone in admissions made a mistake. Notwithstanding that mistake, 35 years ago, almost to the day, I sat on this campus and graduated from Babson College. My commencement speaker was a man named K.C. Jones. So K.C. Jones was the coach of the Boston Celtics, and, with all due respect to K.C. Jones, outside of him promising to beat LA, I do not remember anything he said. My goal today for all of you graduates is not to remember me in 35 years, but the one simple message I want to share with you today.?

I have had the privilege of working at one place for 35 years — PwC. Similar to your experience with the pandemic, I’ve faced a number of trying times throughout my career, like the dot-com bust in the early 2000s, the financial crisis of 2008 and, most recently, the global pandemic. I have advised hundreds of CEOs and boards on strategy, culture, and people matters. I have had the privilege of meeting with US presidents, countless members of Congress to talk about things like immigration regulation, economy, inflation and the like. I have met with generals, admirals, and Academy Award winners. I have been to 70 countries across the globe. But without a doubt, the single most important and rewarding thing that I have done is having the privilege of leading 65,000 people at PwC.?

And that is what I want to talk to you about today. I do not want to talk about finance, economics, marketing, digital, or even accounting. I’d like to talk about people and the amazing things that can happen when you lead with empathy, care, and when you lead with love. Now I know some of you are saying, “Love? Love, Tim? This is a business school, don’t you remember?” I do, and I know a lot has changed, but the reality is that you are all going to be entering the working world in some way, shape or form. And the secret to solving those challenges all comes down to one simple word — love.?

I began my career at PwC in 1988. I was the first person in my family to graduate college. Both my parents were blue-collar workers, and I didn’t know what to wear. My mother took me to Sears to help me buy two suits, shirts and ties. That first day going on the commuter rail into Boston, I was nervous like you would not believe. I got to the office, and there were 54 other people starting. I went down to the training room, and I immediately felt like I didn’t fit in. I could feel myself clamming up and the sweat on my palms.?

As the day wore on, it got incredibly hot in the room. People began to take their jackets off because of the heat. I began to notice that everybody in the room had either a long sleeve white shirt on, or a long sleeve blue shirt on, and they were all cotton shirts. Finally, it got so hot that I had to take my jacket off. But when I took my jacket off, I felt like every single eye in the room was on me because underneath my Sears jacket, I had a short sleeve, white polyester shirt. Finally, lunchtime came, and I tried to hurry out of the back of the room. One of the instructors grabbed me, and he said, “Come with me.” He took me down to Filene’s Basement (a department store), and he showed me the right shirts to buy. Then he bought me two. That instructor showed me love. That instructor was a Babson alum.

I had the privilege of being elected Chair and Senior Partner by my partners in April of 2016. My role was not set to begin in term until July 1, 2016. I had an amazing plan for becoming our CEO. My professors would have been thrilled and proud. My plan? Grow revenue, leverage technology, and steal market share! It was a really good plan. My term began on July 1, 2016. That week was overtaken by violence in Louisiana and Minneapolis, and then Thursday night there were shootings in Dallas. We showed up to work that Friday morning, and we did not know what to do. My team and I got around the table, and we talked about the fact that these things were on our people’s minds. Then I did something that was not terribly remarkable. I sent an email and it just said, “I know you are hurting, we are here, and we care about you.”?

What happened afterwards was completely remarkable. Almost 1,000 people wrote back in the first 12 hours, and, while the replies were all different, there was a theme and it was summed up by one from one young woman. She said, “Tim, PwC has made incredible progress over the last couple of decades around inclusion and making people feel comfortable in the workplace. But when I came to work Friday morning, the silence was deafening.” And folks, I knew I needed to take that great plan I had and chuck it out the window. Because what became clear to me, as a young ambitious CEO who had a plan, was that the people I was counting on to help achieve that plan were coming to work, and they had other things on their minds, and their hearts were broken. So, we decided to tackle the problem head on.?

I got my leadership team together, and we decided that we were going to shut our firm down for a day to talk about uncomfortable topics, and to specifically talk about the uncomfortable topic of race. We targeted July 21st. In the intervening two weeks, I was out meeting with our clients — a big part of my role — and that resulted in meeting with one Fortune 50 CEO of a company every single person in this room would know. I shared with him what we were doing — that we were shutting down the firm in about a week, and we were going to talk about race. He looked me in the eye and said, “It’s too raw. It’s too emotional. Don’t do it. It’s going to blow up in your face.” But we did it. And on that day, what we learned is that many of our white professionals were uncomfortable and did not know what to say. They wanted to help, but did not know how. We learned that our Black professionals were worried about safety, especially outside the workplace. One young man in New York told me, “Tim, I feel safe in this office with my suit, but when I am going to my softball game in Central Park, walking down Fifth Ave in my shorts, in my t-shirt, I don’t feel safe.” Folks, we shed more tears on July 21, 2016, than we had in our firm’s history, and, most importantly, we began to learn about each other. And you know what? That CEO was wrong. It did not blow up in our face. Instead, it catapulted us to the next level, because we showed love.

I often get asked by young professionals beginning their careers, what advice do I have for them? In the simple truth, my advice to you is the same advice I give to CEOs today. I know you have great plans. I did. But just remember, it’s about the people you are counting on to help you achieve those great plans. Like the young person starting their career, and they feel uncomfortable about the way they are dressed. It is someone who is uncomfortable talking about how they feel in the workplace. It is a working mother trying to put food on the table. It is a father wondering whether he is spending enough time with his son, and it is somebody struggling with mental health. They are all looking to you not just for a plan, but they are looking to you for love. Your amazing plans can conquer all of those things we worry about — like Artificial Intelligence, like climate, like social divide — and it will all happen when you lead with love.?

Now folks, when I was at Babson, I had a professor named Richard Bruno. He has since passed. He was Professor of the Year during my years, and he was amazing. He said to me, “Hey Tim, I want you to give this thing called Public Accounting a try.” As a first-generation college student, I said to Bruno, “I don’t want to work for the government.” And he said, “It’s not working for the government; it’s business. And business is about people. And I think you would be good at that.” Me? I wanted to open up a sub shop that was going to have really good subs, by the way. But I figured I would give Bruno’s advice a try. And you know what? Bruno was right — business is about people, and leading people is about love. And so my simple message for the class of 2023: I want you to lead with love.

Congratulations class of 2023. I am incredibly proud of you.