Speech to Niagara College Spring Convocation
By Garth Whyte, CRFA President and CEO
June 14, 2011
Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario
Thank you Dan (Dan Patterson, President Niagara College)
I am very honoured to receive this Bachelor of Applied Business degree in Hospitality Operations Management. Like all graduates here, from this day forward, my biography will say that I have a degree from Niagara College Canada.
I am very excited and proud of this. I am sure you and your families are excited and proud as well.
If I had one wish for today it would be: this graduating class, my graduating class, would be the most successful class in Niagara College’s history.
It would be fun to gather us together 10 years from now and see where we ended up. Where will you be 10 years from now? Each one of you starts your own personal journey today. Today is your new starting line on your road to success.
You have worked hard. You’ve graduated. Now what? Most people would say get a job. I say your new journey is more important than that. Getting a job is an important step. But as new graduates you have a unique opportunity to be successful.
First, you have the ability to take calculated career risks and be entrepreneurial. This gets harder to do once you have a family, commitments and financial obligations.
Second, you have the opportunity to develop your own personal brand.
Third, you have the time to find out what you are passionate about and what you love to do.
Let me talk about the first key ingredient for success; as a new graduate you have the ability to take career risks and to be entrepreneurial.
I am not saying that older people do not take career risks or are not entrepreneurial. Two years ago I made a major career change and moved our family to Toronto. That decision had an impact on not one but five people. It is a lot easier to do if you have the experience of taking chances when you first start a career and when it is easier to recover from some setbacks. The whole nature of being entrepreneurial is the ability to fail and start again.
Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple computers, talked about connecting the dots when he talks about his career. He said, “You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever because believing that the dots will connect down the road will give you the confidence to follow your heart, even when it leads you off the well worn path, and that will make all the difference.”
All my life I have been following what seemed like random “dots” that have led me to a fantastic career that I love.
Thirty years ago I drove from Regina, Saskatchewan to Cedar Rapids, Iowa to meet with the head office of a North American time-share company. I obtained the exclusive rights to sell time-share units to the Canadian market. I met another young entrepreneur from Australia who also got the exclusive rights to that market. I don’t even remember his name but I do remember him telling me about a new business opportunity to sell shampoo and soap to hotels around the world. He said he was starting a business in Hong Kong that was filling little bottles with shampoo and selling them to hotel chains. I remember telling him that that would never work. Boy did I miss out on a big opportunity. I never sold time-share condos and I never sold shampoo to hotels.
Talk about a random event in my life but as I look back I realize that this was an important “dot” leading me to my career. For 25 years I have represented entrepreneurs and small business owners. I am sure I wouldn’t have taken that path if I didn’t take some risks like driving from Regina to Iowa.
The second condition for success is developing and understanding your own personal brand. To quote the famous writer Oscar Wilde, “Be yourself; everyone else is already taken”.
Like it or not you will be developing your own brand. Even if you choose to stand still or do nothing you are making a personal statement. Are you a hard worker, dependable, a leader, entrepreneurial, an expert in a field, a techie, a skilled performer or great with people? Pick some descriptions that will attach to your name. No matter what job or career path you choose, your brand will stick with you. It is something that will guide you along your career path. It is your personal brand and no one can take that from you.
The third condition for success is to find out what you are passionate about. If you love what you do you will never call it work! Whatever you choose to do, be the best in world at doing it. If you are a law clerk, be the best law clerk in the world. If you are in the restaurant, hospitality, tourism, golf or event management field, be the best employee on the planet.
A few days ago a restaurant owner in my neighbourhood in Toronto told me about an amazing employee he hired as a dishwasher. After the owner posted the job he had over 40 people sitting in his restaurant waiting to be interviewed – people from all different backgrounds - some candidates were wearing suits and ties.
The person he eventually hired walked in the room and told the owner he would arrive for work the next day at 4:00 pm. The owner said, “Wait a minute, I haven’t interviewed yet and do you have a resume?” He said he didn’t need a resume because he is the best dishwasher you will ever find.
I asked the owner, “What did you do?” He replied, “I had to hire him just to see if he was as good as he said he was.” Then he said, “He is the best dishwasher I have ever seen – by far! He is passionate about washing dishes and I will do whatever it takes to keep him happy.”
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t think this is how you should apply for a job, but being fantastic at what you choose to do is a sure way to get noticed and open up new opportunities.
I have met CEOs of multi-million-dollar companies that started their career as a dishwasher. I know of new Canadians who started as dishwashers and now own a successful restaurant franchise. I also know of people who love being a dishwasher. Whatever you choose, love what you do, do it passionately and be the best at doing it.
So my advice to you is to take advantage of the opportunity you have starting out on your personal journey – be entrepreneurial and take measured career risks, develop your own personal brand, and find out what you are passionate about and be the best at doing it.
My experience has been that if you do those three things early in life you will love what you do, you will love your life and you will make a difference.
Congratulations fellow graduates. See you in ten years!