Graduation Address

I was honoured to deliver this graduation address to the 2021 class of Zoe Leadership Academy. Video.

Hello graduates and congratulations. What a huge achievement you are celebrating today.

I thought I would share with you some of the conversations I had with my own kids, when they graduated from high school. They were heading to post-secondary studies, like you, but they didn’t know how to think about their future beyond that and how to make that future happen. It comes up pretty quickly now.

So here goes.

You have probably heard people say, follow your passion. That’s a good start. But I would reframe it as know your passion. What do you love to do? What would you be okay doing for 8, 9, 12 hours a day? What do you want to work really hard at?

That’s part one.

The second part is about opportunities. Someone, I wish I could tell you who, added follow the opportunities. So, it becomes, know your passion and follow the opportunities. That means look around you. What opportunities are available and feasible that relate to your passion? It could be another education program, an internship, an apprenticeship, a job, or volunteering.

But you might not find anything you like, or anything that is suitable or even possible. So, I am going to add another piece to that: create opportunities. Maybe you attend an event where you know you will meet someone significant; or build a professional online profile or portfolio that people in your area of interest will see; or join an online discussion group; or reach out to an expert.

Sometimes relevant opportunities just aren’t available, and they can’t be created. Or you thought you had one, but it didn’t work out that way. Here’s a third piece to think about: leverage. Leverage is about how you build on experiences, from one to another. It’s about what you can take away from each experience to position yourself for the next. Every opportunity you have provides you with something that is leverageable. Maybe it’s a good reference. It might be that you honed your attention to detail, or you learned to work with difficult people, or you earned enough money to pay for a course. If you cannot find or create an opportunity related to your passion and you end up doing something else, consider it a steppingstone and use it to position yourself toward the next stone. One opportunity, one experience at a time, each leveraged toward the next and ultimately toward your passion.

This is starting to seem like a bit of a plan—passion, opportunity, leverage. But it is full of moving parts. It’s a bit like being in a fun house at the fair. The floor keeps moving. At some point you see multiple versions of yourself. At other times your body is distorted. That’s confusing. And it can be disconcerting. You may take a wrong turn, have a misstep, make a mistake. You will. We all do. In fact, there is a saying that the road to success is paved with failures. To me, that means failures, missteps, mistakes, wrong turns, whatever you want to call them, are part of life’s journey. Learn from them. Leverage them. And move on. 

Sometimes, you do feel trapped in that fun house. Maybe you can’t see the exit, with so many mirrors tricking you. Know that you are not truly trapped. There is an exit somewhere. You might just need a little help to find it.

And here is my final thought. For some reason, the Western World we live in is obsessed with individualism and independence. But we are a social species. Not just in that we need people to hang out with, but we need people to accompany us on our life’s journey, to really be with us, whether they are a best friend, a life partner, family, a religious community, or a special mentor. When you can’t find the exit, or you have other difficulties, take the hand and let that person or that group guide you. There is no shame in this. There is no weakness in this. Because, at some point in your life, you will provide a hand for someone else.

So, to recap—know your passion; find and create opportunities; leverage your experiences; learn from missteps and mistakes; take a companion.

I know that is a lot to pack into a few minutes. But I wanted to share it all, because I think it is incomplete unless I do.

My kids were excited to graduate, as I’m sure you are. But they were also really anxious. This package of ideas was comforting to them. Not only when they graduated from high school, but also when they graduated from university and apprenticeship programs, and even as they launch careers as young professionals.

In closing, I wish you many many interesting experiences, as you continue to live the best version of your life.