Wake Forest Remarks: Three Big Ideas

Team,

This past weekend I was deeply honored to serve as the keynote speaker for the 2023 Wake Forest School of Business graduate hooding ceremony. ??

Core to the Wake Forest experience is Pro Humanitate -- a calling to use our knowledge, talents, and compassion to better the lives of others. This idea transcends the academic and business worlds and connects us all to a larger sense of purpose. Think about what we do here at GE to build a world that works. Pro Humanitate, indeed.

In my remarks to the graduates, I offered three big ideas that have served me well throughout my career. Whether you’re a recent graduate or a seasoned leader with decades of experience, I believe these concepts are equally important to help each of us be at our very best. ???

1.?Be Substantive, Not Superficial: PowerPoint nearly ruined my generation and social media may ruin this generation. Business can be over-run by unnecessary meetings, platitudes and bureaucracy and other forms of nonsense and waste. Know the difference between substance and superficiality and steer towards the former. You will differentiate yourself in a PowerPoint and social media world.

2.?Continuous Improvement, or Kaizen: Toyota operationalized the idea of continuous improvement, or kaizen in Japanese, years ago.?The best leaders I know do the same today and you can too. Constantly look to learn and improve and grow. Push your teams and your employers to do the same. Substantively, in ways that really matter. Yes, it can be exhausting at times but also exhilarating. There isn’t a better path to success. ??

3.?Stay close to the customer: Business exists to serve the customer. But who is the customer? What do they truly value? How do they measure us? These are common questions I often find flummox smart people who have burrowed into their functional silos or technical disciplines and have simply lost sight of who pays the bills. Stay close, even if you don’t directly touch customers. Know the answers to those questions and know how you help serve the customer, even indirectly.?

These three points, combined with a sense of humility and respect for others, is recipe for success – both in business and in life.

You can watch a recording of the full speech here. Congratulations and all the best to this year’s graduates.

Larry