Mass Maritime Academy 2017 Commencement Address

This past Saturday I was honored to be the commencement speaker at Mass Maritime Academy. I was humbled by the experience and inspired by the leadership of the graduates. Congratulations to the Buccaneers Class of 2017!

Steve

June 17, 2017

As Prepared

President McDonald, distinguished guests and family.

And most of all, to the Mass Maritime Academy Class of 2017 … the Buccaneers.

Good morning!

I am truly honored to be here to deliver your commencement speech.

I must admit; I am also a little nervous. 

I have been to several commencements, including my three sons’. And I’ve delivered hundreds, if not thousands of speeches all over the world. 

I’ve presented to Prime Ministers, hosted royalty, even briefed a President. 

But I have never delivered a commencement address.

Let me tell you Cadets …there is no -- as you call it here at Mass Maritime -- “Youngie Knowledge” for graduation speakers. If there were, it would be stuffed in my sock!

So, what did I do to get prepared?

First of all, Mass Maritime is not new to me. You have a great reputation. My three sons grew up in Hingham and two of their best friends from high school came here.

Some of my colleagues, proud MMA alum, have represented you well, including Marc Devereaux, Class of '96, who is here today.

So, I know a little something about MMA, but I wanted to know more.

So, I started talking with Fran and visited the campus.

I met some of the cadets...two of which worked for my business this past summer.

And I also drove your simulator …and no I did not get sick!

But if you want to know the most important thing I did to prepare, it was to take the advice of Governor Baker.

Who at last year’s commencement speech, said one of his key lessons was to “Marry Well.” 

28 years ago, I did just that; I married my wife, Alicia, from Medway, Mass. My life’s best decision. She is here today with my parents.

So, I asked her for some sage advice. She looked at me lovingly, grabbed my hand, and said:

“Honey … just don’t screw this up”.

Seriously, I am not kidding. We live just down the road in Duxbury. Someone in my wife’s book club said to her “Hey, I heard Steve is talking at Mass Maritime.”

I don’t want to be walking the dog at night and hear someone say under their breadth “There’s that bore who gave the long-winded MMA commencement speech”.

It’s one thing if you give a speech in India and nobody hears it; It is another thing when your neighbors see it live!

That’s pressure.

Luckily, my wife had more advice, and as any prepared person would be, I had my “writing implement” conveniently in my pocket.  

She said “Keep it short. Keep it real. Tell them what they want to know. Not just who you are, but how you got here.”

So, that’s what I am going to do.

I’ll also share five lessons I learned along the way that I wish someone told me when I graduated from college, and then one final thought. 

Who Am I?

To begin with, and for some context, I’ll say that knowing who you are is only half of the equation. You also should know who you are not.

I love the water; my entire family does. We moved 10 times in 12 years before coming home to Massachusetts. All but three of those homes were close to the water. 

None of that makes me a sailor.

I’ll share a quick story:

Two of my boys are certified launch operators, so when we got a new boat, they were the captains.

Hey, but I wanted to learn. My youngest son showed me the “ropes,” and I convinced my wife that I was seaworthy.

I checked my list. 

We rowed out to our boat in our dingy. 

I used all my new skills; I was feeling proud. 

Until it came time to attach the dingy to the mooring.

I turned around and it was now drifting ashore - untethered.   

Let’s just say I am now a better swimmer than a sailor!

So, I am not a seaman. But I am an executive at GE. And I’ve been with the company for 24 years.

Why?

Because after studying math and engineering and after working at NASA and Westinghouse Defense Electronics… I went to business school because I wanted to run a company.

Today, I have the privilege of leading the largest division of GE where it all began with Thomas Edison over 100 years ago in Schenectady, New York -- GE Power.

We provide with a third of the world’s electricity. We have over 52,000 employees and do business in about 170 countries.

And still, it’s not enough.

The world needs more affordable, reliable and sustainable power globally – 50 percent more in the next 25 years. I’ve seen it first-hand.

Just three weeks ago, I was in Cote D’Ivoire and Angola, where many people still need power. Even today, over 1.2 billion people in the world do not have any electricity.

Electricity should be a basic human right. Our mission is that we will never be satisfied until every person on the planet has power.

But it’s not what I predicted I’d be doing 32 years ago on my graduation day. In fact, I couldn’t have even imagined this. And to be honest, neither could some of my professors nor fraternity brothers!

But here I am. The product of good luck with the ability to overcome some tough challenges. The product of great parents and a great family.

And a great company. 

A company, by the way, that shares a lot with Mass Maritime.

Both organizations date back about 125 years. 

Today, GE has close to 100 Mass Maritime graduates. Buccaneers are making important contributions around the globe with GE Oil & Gas, GE Renewable Energy, GE Aviation and in the business I lead, GE Power.

A couple of months ago, our GE Nuclear business attended a job fair here on campus. We had seven openings, and we were casting a wide net. The whole country. 

Five of the seven jobs went to your classmates here. 

Why?

Because of you.

It’s why the billboards show how MMA ranks “Fourth in the entire United States” for “Best Return on Investment”. It’s why close to 90 percent of you have jobs by Labor Day in a challenging market.  

But it’s more than simply having the right skills. What’s so transferable and what makes you so valuable and I am talking around the globe...are your values!

What differentiates you?

It’s all right here in the Chafing Gear book …. Traits of a Leader

Bearing, Courage, Consistency, Decisiveness, Dependability.

You know them well. Endurance, Initiative, Integrity, etc.

I will stop there. 

But I do want to remind you of why you know these leadership traits so well. 

It is not just because someone handed them to you the day you first arrived in Buzzards Bay. It’s not just because you were ordered to recite them on command. Ok, maybe a little.

It’s because it’s part of your culture. 

These traits are who you are. What you’re made of.

It’s your DNA. And it is mine as well.

It’s what has made me successful and why I am standing here today.

Trust me on this. The world is moving faster and it is becoming more complex. Certainly, compared to when I graduated. 

Your DNA will differentiate you.

That’s why we hire so many MMA graduates and they do so well.

You can navigate tough times. You can deal with adversity. Regardless of your major, you all have a degree in “figuring things out.”   

What can I add now? Knowing our shared values, here are five lessons that have helped me in my journey that I hope will help you in yours:

Five Lessons

1.      Don’t Forget the Basics

Eat right. Get enough Sleep. Exercise. Because the more strenuous and stressful the work is, the less time you think you have … and the more important those things become. 

But the basics also mean doing your homework. Being grateful. Above all, showing respect. 

But know that homework, that gratitude and respect, pay dividends in the business world, too. It’s all about how you conduct yourself.

Two years ago, I had a meeting with Prime Minister Sisi of Egypt in Cairo.

I read through all my briefings, of course. But I wanted to know a little more and so that I could best connect with him. I discovered he had graduate training at the US War College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. The same town where my grandparents lived and my dad grew up.

So, when I started my meeting with the Prime Minister, I said hello, and then asked how he liked his time in Carlisle? It was an instant connection.

I respected his personal history and perspective. I did some homework and the connection made a complex world just a bit simpler. It made a big world, just a little smaller. 

And it also helped land a $1 billion power deal for GE! Not a bad outcome.

Performance matters. To get results, don’t forget the basics.

2.      Work Your Ass Off!

In our constantly changing world, very little is guaranteed. 

But this I know: You will always run into someone a little smarter. Someone with better connections. Someone with more experience. 

Hard work isn’t just an equalizer. It is your competitive advantage. You can bring it into every situation, in every corner of the globe. It’s the drive I look for in every hire.

Hard work. Because the question isn’t: Am I good enough to be in the room?

Rather, the question is: Did I put in enough effort to be in the room?  You will know.

3.      Never Stop Learning

Perhaps the best advice I ever got was from one of my Michigan business school professors. He said to us all in the class "read the Wall Street Journey every day."

He also said most of you won’t do it, but if you do it for 30 years straight … guess what? You will become a lot smarter.

I did. It mattered.

Small things done right over time compound for big impact.

Have the humility to know that you will never have all the answers, and have the curiosity and ability to listen to find the answers anywhere.

Know your weaknesses. Don’t ever be complacent.

Never stop learning.

4.      Embrace Challenge

You are going to find yourself in a tough spot. Not once in a while, but often. 

You might even mess up. But when you face adversity, I can tell you, that is when you learn the most. It builds your self-confidence.   

I started at GE as a strategy guy at the Corporate headquarters back when Jack Welch ran GE. I always wanted to run a business. 

Be careful what you ask for.

When I was 33, I became one of the youngest general managers in the company. I was put in charge of a new global joint venture.

I went from leading a team of eight to a team of 1,000. 

Great opportunity, right?

Well, in one of my first quarters in the role, I was missing my financial numbers. Not by much … just 90 percent. 

I called my Dad and told him that I thought I was going to get fired.

I always remember what my Dad said.

He asked … “Did you break the law? Did you steal anything, or lie? I said, “No.” He then said, “Then you probably won’t be fired. However, they will want to know what you’re going to do about it?”

Well, I immediately went to see my boss directly, so he heard it from me first. I did it in person. 

I talked him and his CFO through the situation as I knew it and what I was going to do about it with the team. I did not throw anyone under the bus … this was on my watch and my responsibility. We got to work.

What I learned then for that $60 million-year business are similar lessons I apply today in running a $28 billion business. 

Take responsibility. Learn from mistakes. Try hard to anticipate change and see around corners. It is hard, but you must get there. And you will.

Embrace challenge and watch yourself grow. 

5.      Aim High. 

Do not underestimate yourself or your team.

I did not get into Harvard Business School. But guess what, I just give a keynote speech there. 

And as many of you probably saw, this past Monday, GE announced the new Chairman & CEO. I was a finalist for the job. I had gone for it and giving it my all. I didn’t get it. It was a tough day. That’s life. However, it was an honor of my lifetime to be considered as a final candidate for this role. And the experiences along the way have been epic.

My lesson - if you’re true to your values, true to your team and true to your family…that is true success. I am no chartering a new course and I’m going to continue to aim high.

My message to you...aim high…dream big…enjoy the journey.

You may surprise yourself, but you won’t surprise me. And you won’t surprise the people here today…who taught you …who love you…and who support you. 

So, let me recap the five lessons:

1.     Don’t forget the basics

2.     Work your ass off

3.     Never stop learning

4.     Embrace challenge

5.     Aim high

One final thought

I wanted to end with one final thought.

I believe strongly in the sense of service and helping others less fortunate. I learned that one from my Mom.

I know that you…Cadets…have a strong commitment to serve others as well.

Don’t ever forget it.

Class of 2017.

Never take more than you give.

To your country… to your community … to your classmates …to your family.

And to your crew.

Today you will be relieved of your watch. But not of your responsibility. 

You know who you are and what you’re made of.   

The skills. The drive. The values.

Your DNA. 

Use it. Go out and find your passion. We are all rooting for you. And please don’t forget to thank your parents and every once in a while, call.

Buccaneers Class of 2017. Congratulations! I commission thee to lead. Go for it!

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