To The Class of 2017, Be A Standard Of Trust
The opportunity has come for great people to deliver inspiring stories in their commencement speeches to the class of 2017. I cannot remember who my undergraduate commencement speaker was in 1982 what was then called the Rosemont Horizon in Rosemont, IL.
However, I do recall who the commencement speaker was for my DePaul University post-graduation ceremony on February 5th, 1984 at the Civic Auditorium. It was William French Smith, the first Attorney General in President Reagan’s administration.
As I write this, President Donald J. Trump had just unceremoniously fired FBI Director James Comey who was leading an investigation of some of Trump’s campaign advisors and relationships. During the dark days of the Watergate scandal, even Richard Nixon did not fire the head of the FBI.
Now back to my post-graduate commencement. then Attorney General Smith presented the differences between the Soviet Union and the United States with respect to the rule of law and the use of autocratic power. Here are some excerpts from Mr. Smith’s speech:
“There is no restraint on their decisions - whether the traditional restraint supplied by a belief in God or in natural law or the modern restraints supplied by democratic political institutions that draw their legitimacy from the consent of the governed. Unrestrained, the Soviet leaders are free to do as they please. “
“The distinguishing characteristic of the Soviet legal system thus is not the rule of law, but the rule of men. Whatever degree of justice has been achieved by the Soviet legal system, this is the most important fact about that system.”
“Two hundred years ago James Madison wrote: “The accumulation of all powers… in the same hands may justly be pronounced the very definition of tyranny.” A tyrannical nation uses any and ever thing it wishes to use. Nothing is important in itself but only as a means to achieving the ends of the state.”
“If much has changed about the Soviet Union since the time of Stalin, this tyrannical character of the state has remained the same. Whereas Stalin murdered political dissidents millions lost their lives this way…Soviet rulers now deal with them in ways that are less bloody, but no less effective.”
“To choose freedom over servitude, however, must not be merely a mental exercise. Not for us, not for any of the world’s peoples. Such a choice also requires commitments of heart and will. It may even require the sacrifice of the body. The blessings of freedom, as Thomas Paine wrote two centuries ago, require the fatigue of supporting it. Fatigue, in my dictionary, is the tired feeling that comes from hard work.”
Welcome to the Social Revolution — Power to the People
How things change and how things stay the same. The Soviet Union has fallen, but Vladimir Putin is a tyrannical leader of Russia leveraging autocratic power. William “French” Smith was spot on. This use of “Fear” through command and control power is no longer sustainable in our hyperconnected, transparent, and morally interdependent world. Russia’s economy is ripe with corruption and is primarily driven by the price of a barrel of oil. Every dictator eventually falls. We saw this In the Middle East.
One Vegetable Vendor in Tunisia and a few friends with cellphone cameras and access to Twitter sparked a revolution towards freedom across the Middle East. This social revolution is now occurring in “Corporate America. Just a few years ago, Forbes had this on their magazine cover:
You too deserve a commencement speech too. You deserve a speech about launching your journey of significance and distinction through purpose, performance, and relationship capital. The former separate spheres of business and personal have fused. It is all personal and with personal behavior requires moral responsibility.
EARN AND BUILD RELATIONSHIP CAPITAL
In the movie “The Graduate” in which “Plastic” was the opportunity of the time, today it is “RELATIONSHIP CAPITAL (RC)”.
As you start your next chapter of your “Personal” life. It will be less about climbing the corporate ladder by following the “rules” and much more about building relationship capital with your employees, customers, peers, and partners.
Relationship Capital is the accounting or currency of your credibility. It is your greatest asset and it is getting more tangible by the day. There is no place to hide in our digitally enabled social world. This transparency compels us to be more authentic and accountable leaders no matter what our chosen profession. It also requires us to consistently behave as a standard of trust in order to build social relationships that are committed to supporting our passion and cause.
The Four Pillars of Relationship Capital Leadership are:
- Character
- Competence
- Good Intent
- Proactivity
Congratulations to you the Class of 2017 on receiving your degree. Take a serious look at the PeerSaaS platform as part of your continuing education to earn relationship capital; thus building credibility and reliability with your peers. As you move forward in your journey of purpose, making relationship capital deposits may be more significant to sustaining your success than even your bank account. Happy to be of service to you. Let me know how you are doing.
www.StandardofTrust.com
