Commencement: This is your time...take it!

May, with a nod to June, is graduation month.  They call the ceremonies commencements telling us that a new beginning is underway...

My children are all grown and leading successful lives now.  Our youngest graduated from college and flew the coop two years ago. She is commencing her life in Bermuda of all places.  (No, she wasn’t sucked into the Triangle).

To celebrate the occasions that may be happening in your family, I thought I would share some of my favorite and/or fun speeches from both fact and fiction that I’ve used in sessions from time-to-time.  I have scanned the Internet and YouTube and found a few links you might like to help you commence your new beginning or make a toast to a loved one.

I am a Mac Fanatic, so it is hardly a surprise that the first link is to Steve Jobs speech at the Stanford Commencement of 2005.  I also have linked to the transcript.  Those close to Steve at Apple have shared with me that his people skills have always been a bit lacking, but in this address he sums up, in three stories, important points about this thing we call life.  It is a bit long, but well worth the time you spend.

The next link is to the movie Rudy, based on the real-life story of Dan "Rudy" Ruettiger.  I have used clips from this in various presentations and many times just tell the story to motivate an audience.  You could pick a dozen or more clips from this film.  I picked the one where Rudy (Sean Astin) and the janitor (Charles S. Dutton) have a great in-your-face interaction.

Not to focus too much on sports, but another pep talk that worked wonders was in the movie Miracle.  The pre-game comments from coach Herb Brooks are delivered by actor Kurt Russell.

Another great “tell it like it is” speaker is a rock star.  Yep, Bono.  He may be one of the brightest stars in our universe today.  There are more of his commencement speeches on YouTube, but here’s one to get you started from the University of Pennsylvania in 2004.

Actor Alan Alda has delivered a few great speeches over the years.  Check this one out from 1980 at Connecticut College.
Desmond Tutu helped graduates fly with the eagles at this Brandeis University celebration in 2000.

Conan O’Brien is commencing a new beginning in his life in June.  With the economy in the state it is in, perhaps his parting words are still ringing in the ears of the Harvard Class of 2000; “When all else fails, there's always delusion.”

In my research, I came across this current Blog from Dean Dad, Confessions from a Community College Dean.  He makes some great points.
Finally, just for fun, you can view a graduation speech from Will Ferrell speaking at Harvard in 2003.  It comes in five parts but this is the link to part one.

There are hundreds if not thousands of great speeches on YouTube or preserved by the Internet, each offering a positive impact on their audiences.  If you have favorites, please send me your links at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Enjoy.

The Offsite Book Club

What with the commencement theme this month, a great question came in from a reader from London, England.  She was inquiring about leadership and struggle, which is on nearly everyone’s mind these days.

Instead of reinventing the wheel in my response, I grabbed a few lines from my book, The Offsite: A Leadership Challenge Fable.  It is the dialogue between Gwen Kelly and Gordon Murphy during Gwen’s job interview with him.
We join them in progress:

“ I think you’ re willing to do anything except embrace the struggle you’re in,” said Gordon.  “The struggle is part of the success, Gwen.” 

“I just don’t see it that way, I guess. ”

“ Gwen, I’m a country boy, and I loved exploring the land around our home.  One day, when I was just a kid, I found a cocoon dangling from a small tree limb.  I was going to cut it down and put it in a jar so I could watch it hatch, but then I decided to go back and check on it every day instead.  I did this for a few days and nothing happened.  But one day, I noticed a small hole at the top of the cocoon and I was so excited because I could see the future butterfly wiggling around a bit inside.  I tried to be patient to wait for the bug to emerge on its own, but curiosity got the better of me and I thought I would help him get out, so I used my pocketknife to cut a bigger hole.  It seemed to be working because the butterfly moved around even more. So I got more excited and cut the cocoon all the way open. I couldn’t wait to see him spread his wings and fly.  But then the saddest thing happened.  The butterfly flopped out of the cocoon onto the dirt below and as it struggled to open its wings, it just gave up and died.  Do you know why? ” 

“ Not really, ” said Gwen.

“ It turns out that the struggle to emerge from the cocoon is actually part of the growth process for butterflies", Gordon explained. 

“If they don’t push against the boundaries of their casing, their wings don’t develop the strength they need to fly.  I see you in that position right now, Gwen.  You’ve got a struggle on your hands at ABP, but you may not become the leader you’re supposed to be unless you go through it.  You’ve got to deal with yourself first, Gwen.  "Leadership is who you are before it’s something that you do."

Each day we are commencing the rest of our life.  Sure, some days are more of a struggle than others.  When I look back and connect the dots as Steve Jobs said in his commencement speech, I see the struggles and the overcoming as the high points.  Leadership is a choice, a moment-to-moment choice.

Remember, this is your time…take it!
Until next month, Lead with Grace.