Good morning,
Distinguished Faculty, Honored Graduates, Parents, Family and Friends.
Vice Chancellor Dr. Naqvi, thank you for your kind introduction, and congratulations on your first year at the helm.
Board of Governors, thank you for your invitation to be a part of this special day.
Let me begin by congratulating the graduates, your absolutely thrilled family and friends, and of course the dedicated faculty and staff of LUMS. You all have much to be proud of at this exceptional learning institution. LUMS has rightfully taken its place amongst the leading universities in the world, and for that we have to be grateful to the gifted faculty that teaches here.
I was born in Lahore, I grew up in Lahore -- Lahore is the home of my family and friends -- Lahore is where the core values that have guided me were inculcated -- And, it is to Lahore’s siren song that I return every year. There are countless great reasons for coming back to Lahore -- family, friends, and memories.
But, perhaps, there is no better reason than to be with you, here, today, to celebrate the achievements of the Class of 2014. I am humbled and honored to be in your presence. We must also recognize that you would not be here today without the support, love, and sacrifices that your families have made for you. Take a minute to think about the life stories of your Mothers and Fathers, Uncles and Aunts, Brothers and Sisters. Consider the route they took to get here, to see you and to celebrate your achievements with you. Recognize that today is also a celebration of their courage, their love and desire to see you succeed. So, today, take a moment to give them an extra hug, a smile, and even perhaps a whispered “thank you”.
But, ultimately this day is about what you have achieved academically -- how far you have already progressed and the mountains you will certainly climb in the future.
Today is your convocation -- a day that marks not just the acknowledgement that you have completed your formal studies, but a day that marks the beginning of a new chapter, dare I say, a new book that each of you is about to write. You graduate today with degrees in Law, in Sciences, in Humanities, in Engineering, and in Business. While you may have studied different fields, the challenges you will all face in your professional lives will be remarkably similar.
As I reflect on my journey, I realize that sitting at my own graduation many decades ago I could never have predicted the path I would take. My journey has been anything but a straight line. I studied engineering, because that’s what my father did. I am an engineer who learned marketing, who learned how to run businesses. And, if you believe that I am standing here because I have experienced nothing but success, you would be wrong. I have also seen my share of hard times, my share of failing. In fact, I would say that I am standing here precisely because every time I fell down, I figured out a way to stand up again. I learned that every time I have struggled, it was almost always because I failed to listen--listen actively and listen to what the speaker means, not just what they say.
Adversity is humbling, occasionally embarrassing, but always the best teacher there is. It may seem curious to you that I choose to start with a thought about adversity. You, who have known nothing but academic success. But, life is not the cloistered halls of LUMS -- you will experience the joy of success and the humility of failure. What will differentiate you is almost entirely how you choose to react when faced with adversity. Know this -- when adversity clashes with unyielding resolve, it is always adversity that yields first.
You are also graduating at a time of great economic change -- impacting everything from Law to Business to Academics. Business Models are being reshaped rapidly and continuously. Just last week, Uber - a company built on nothing but an App - a taxi service company - that owns no taxi’s -- went public with a valuation of $18bn. Why? Because they are seen as disrupting a century old model. And consider this, according to IBM, 90% of the world’s existing data was created in just the last 2 years.
So, what does this mean for you? Well, you have to learn to tolerate and prosper with ambiguity. Despite all the data that will deluge you, you will have to learn to make decisions without perfect data. Don’t be paralyzed, don’t wait forever -- business moves forward, competition moves forward -- learn to act with decisiveness and learn to balance the need for data with the need for speed. Above all, recognize that time is not your friend and become comfortable with taking calculated, thought out risks.
Regardless of whether you are entering Law, Business, Engineering or the Humanities and Sciences -- As you move forward, I have no crystal ball to offer you -- no guarantees about the world ahead, except one! In your lifetime, your eternal constant will be change! That is the reality of the world that we live in. Embrace change because the status quo equates to stagnation. Embrace change also because it requires learning agility. Those amongst you who commit to lifelong learning, long after your formal education is over, will succeed admirably. It is at times of great change that opportunities are created. You can shape the future - sounds daunting - but if you commit to learning agility, if you are resilient you can, and will, succeed.
The degree you will soon hold in your hands will serve as the foundation of what lies ahead. Many of you will embark down a path only to realize soon after, that a different road is more interesting, more dynamic. Take that road. Do not be afraid. For the foundational principles developed at University - critical thinking, principled decision making, learning agility, integrity, are never changing. They carry from industry to industry, job to job, and bring success and satisfaction in even the most ambiguous situations.
Throughout every opportunity and challenge, maintain your integrity. Integrity strengthens us as leaders and helps us sleep at night. Do the right thing even when no one is watching.
Your life is a journey. Your personal journey will be marked by luck, opportunity, success, and failure, and perhaps most importantly by humility. Please note that I said life, not career -- for your career must not be your life. Don’t get me wrong -- of course, your career is important and you will likely need to work your tail off to succeed, but I ask each of you to pledge to view your career through the prism of life, rather than view your life through the prism of your career. My whole life I have endeavored to remember that everything and everyone that is really important for me, above all else, is at home -- my wife and children. That has made all the difference for me. Because all success is fleeting and temporary, we must remember that we must have a higher purpose, where we make ourselves useful to society and learn to give back, in whatever way we can.
It was Kipling, a man who spent a great deal of his life right here in Lahore, who famously wrote about Triumph and Disaster as two imposters. He was right. Success after all is a journey, not a destination.
I have no doubt that the Class of 2014 is the most talented class to graduate from LUMS. You are destined to achieve your dreams -- as long as you accept your new best friends -- Resilience, Curiosity, Courage, and Unrelenting Integrity. The future is not what happens to us -- it is what we make of it. After all, if not you, who? And if not now, when?
Good luck, congratulations, and thank you for inviting me to share this day with you.
