MPA/PPA Commencement Comments
“Values Based Leadership”
Lynn Utter
May 21, 2004
This is such an exciting evening! My heartfelt Congratulations
go out to you, McCombs’ Graduating MPA and PPA students of 2004!
The strong reputation of the McCombs School draws heavily from its
legacy as not only one of the best business schools in the nation, but
as THE best accounting program in our great country. I expect that
this class of graduates may well set the standard by which other
leaders in the field of accounting will be judged for years to come.
Congratulations.
Certainly there are a number of others present here this
evening who also deserve a hearty “Congratulations.” I refer to the
illustrious faculty, administrators and staff who maintain – no –
DRIVE excellence in these great programs year after year. You
deserve to take pride in these excellent graduates, and I hope you do
so.
I would be remiss if I did not also acknowledge the friends and
family who join in the celebration here tonight. For many parents
this is a bittersweet event. Many of you were certain this day would
come . . . others perhaps less so. But you have been there,
supporting these students on their quest for not just any education,
but the best possible education in their chosen field. It is no easy
feat to raise a child in this day and age, much less to see one
graduate from such distinguished programs as the McCombs’ MPA
and PPA curriculums. My children are still in elementary school and I
must admit that I dream of one day cheering as their diplomas are
conferred upon them. I know that it will take a lot of work to get my
kids to where yours have already come. Congratulations, to all of
you.
When the McCombs administration asked me to deliver this
evening’s Commencement Address, I must admit that I was both
honored and stumped. The Congratulations part is easy to deliver
because it is so heartfelt. But moving into the arena of “sage advice
giving” was another matter altogether. So, frankly, I abandoned the
role of “sage advice giver” and decided to stick with the notion of
speaking from my heart. I’m going to address a topic that I have
been working on since I crossed this very stage 20 years ago. The
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topic is values-based leadership, and I guarantee that it is a topic
that I have not yet mastered—not by a long shot. But there is no
skill set more important in Corporate America – or in all of America,
for that matter—than strong leadership. And I truly believe that
value-based leadership is what differentiates great companies and
great organizations from the otherwise good ones.
VISION
The first attribute of great leadership is Vision. The ability to
see beyond the here and now and envision the possibility of what
could be. At the risk of sounding self-indulgent I want to share a
story. A few years ago I was given responsibility for a glass
manufacturing plant. The best way to imagine what that facility was
like is to imagine something out of a Charles Dickens novel: a hot,
grimy workplace staffed with dissatisfied employees who felt
forgotten. Productivity was lagging, quality was abysmal, and even
the plant’s safety record was poor. You get the picture. Not likely
the kind of work environment that would be proudly touted in glossy
recruiting materials in the Ford Career Center. In fact I can pinpoint
the day, a few months into that assignment, when I realized I wasn’t
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proud of either the facility or its output. I realized that I didn’t want
to be associated with that type of operation, and that it was up to me
to make things better. So I started envisioning and talking about
the kind of place that I did want to work, and I even began using
terms like “world class manufacturing facility.” At first no one
listened. But I stuck with it. And I’m here to tell you that four years
later that plant is leading the industry on virtually all metrics. New
capital was justified and installed, and if you were to walk the floor of
that facility today people would look you in the eye and smile.
I share that story not because I deserve the credit for the
turnaround, but because I believe the pivotal point came when we
began to imagine the possibilities of what could be — when we
began sharing a Vision. Listen, I’ve got a lot of business school
friends who wouldn’t find managing a small glass plant in
Wheatridge, CO very exciting. But I know that the turnaround in that
facility will go down as one of the most satisfying experiences of my
professional career.
By the way, the importance of having and sharing a Vision isn’t
only a professional concept; it has also been important in my
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personal life. Now, I don’t expect you to have a well-articulated
vision of what success looks like at this stage in your life. But I
challenge each of you to start developing your personal vision of
what success looks like. Why? Because every one of you – let me
repeat that – every one of you has the potential to be successful.
Frankly, relative to the standards that are often used to measure
success, you’ve already achieved goals that are beyond the wildest
dreams of most of the world’s populations.
But now comes the hard part. And if you think the last few
years were a challenge, buckle your seat belts. Because the reality is
that every one of you is talented, and most of you are ambitious.
Unlike most of the rest of the world, you will have opportunities. And
with those opportunities will come the need to make choices. I
speak here of those elusive work-balance issues. Choices about
whether or not you should accept that promotion that you’ve worked
so hard for, even though it involves relocation issues that impede
your spouse’s career; choices about whether to return to work after
maternity leave; or even choices about whether to ask your wife to
give up her job and stay home with the kids or whether you should
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be the one to forego your next career move, even though fewer than
2% of college educated men are making that same choice.
I’ve worked through major capital investment decisions,
workforce reorganizations and downsizings, mergers and
acquisitions. And yet the really tough calls came when I faced work-
life balance decisions. Take it from me: the toughest decisions I’ve
had to make in the last 20 years were on topics that I didn’t study in
business school. Again, these decisions aren’t talked about a lot
because relatively few people in our society are lucky enough to have
to make these decisions. But lucky you—you’re part of the few that
are likely to face these dilemmas.
So what counsel can I offer to each of you –men and women
alike – as you face these forks in the road? Start with your own
definition of success. Set a vision; your vision. And stay true to it.
The hard part is to be honest with yourself about what matters to
you – not necessarily about what someone else or society in general
declares successful.
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PACE
Not only do great leaders establish Vision for themselves and
their organizations, but the really outstanding leaders have also
developed the talent to Pace themselves and their teams
appropriately. Indulge me in another story. A few years ago I was
promoted into a role that afforded me the opportunity to work with a
great, new boss. I remember vividly preparing for our first one-on-
one, carefully laying out plans for my team, preparing stretch goals
against which I was eager to be evaluated, etc. So I get into his
office, and a few minutes into my “schpeel” he stops me dead in my
tracks with one very clear question that lives with me to this day,
“What Legacy, Lynn, are you trying to leave?” There I sat, totally
absorbed in short term issues, without having given any substantive
thought to the longer term.
The good news is that through the school of hard knocks I’ve
learned to tackle the forks in the road that is my life’s journey one
juncture at a time. I guarantee you that if you’d have told either me
or my Harvard MBA husband that he’d be a stay at home dad at this
point in his career path, neither of us would have made that trip
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down the aisle. But I’m glad we did (and I think he’d say the same).
We’ve learned to take each decision one day at a time, but without
losing focus on what we, together, deem to be important to our
Vision of success.
In the business context, it is extremely tempting to focus only
on short term results; I expect you’ve read the case studies on
companies that sacrificed the long term health of their companies by
feeding the quarterly earnings monster. But who can blame them
when consistent failure to deliver short-term results can be equally
deadly. The art is in appropriately balancing short term and long-
term performance expectations. Some races are sprints; others are
marathons. Great leaders know in which race they’re competing.
ACTION
OK, so now we’ve got a Vision, and a healthy sense of the
appropriate Pace needed to attain our goals. Now what? Well, my
next observation of effective leaders is that they Take Action. Talk
about stating the obvious. But bear with me for a moment, because
I think this is particularly relevant for those of us who are analytical
at heart. Having the right answer is not enough. Having the right
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answer and being able to Take Action is a different matter. So how,
exactly, do leaders consistently make and act upon good decisions?
You start with what Jim Collins described in his best
selling book “Good to Great” as the Brutal Facts. The Brutal Facts
are essential. There is no way that any executive in this country can
consistently make not just good but great decisions without looking
the Brutal Facts squarely in the eye.
As Dean Gau noted in his kind introduction, I’ve had essentially
four careers in the last 20 years. I’ve been a strategy consultant, a
sales manager, a manufacturing executive, and I’ve now come full
circle: I’m back to corporate strategy. Now, you may have noticed
a glaring omission: I’ve not actually practiced accounting. But I’ve
certainly relied on the accountants in every organization I have been
a part of to not only keep me on the straight and narrow, but to arm
me with the insights that enable me to make sound decisions.
Yet facing the Brutal Facts is often easier said than done.
Addressing the Brutal Facts requires accuracy of information,
translation of that information into insight, maturity, and teamwork.
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Now, let’s be honest, where in an organization do the critical
Brutal Facts often reside? In the accounting organization. And when
I look at failures in corporate America, I often see that one of the
above elements broke down: either someone didn’t have the right
brutal facts available to them, someone didn’t have the maturity to
request, hear, or deliver the brutal facts, or silos were built between
those who had the facts and those who were making decisions. You
all will find yourselves armed with information that organizations
need to make great decisions. Your challenge goes beyond just
compiling accurate information; your challenge includes being heard.
Communication
Analytic roles (like accounting) are, in my estimation, 50%
Analytic Rigor and 50% Herding Cats. As I said earlier, coming up
with the right answer is only the beginning. Thinking through how
one can be heard is equally as important, and often times more
difficult. I’m not suggesting that tough messages be watered down .
. . remember I genuinely believe in the importance of the Brutal
Facts, be they uplifting or challenging. But writing up a memo and
dropping it on someone’s desk is seldom sufficient. The ability to
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work one’s analysis into a meaningful communication is a talent that
should be – and will be – highly valued.
Given that you’ve all had your final –and I do mean final --
exams, I won’t push my luck by asking you to repeat the four traits
that I’ve named thus far as essential for great leaders. (But I know
you could!) To repeat, I’ve touched on Vision, Pace, Decisive Action,
and Communication. The final point I want to touch on is, in my
experience, the most important: Truly great leaders are guided by
and act in accordance with a strong set of values.
Values
Whether you’re navigating professional or personal
decisions at the end of the day your values will mean more than your
knowledge of GAAP accounting principles. Said another way, I’ve
been blessed with the opportunity to work for some truly great
bosses, many of whom are the smartest and most intelligent people
I’ve ever met. But they don’t stand out in my mind because of their
IQs; they stand out because they led with their Values front and
center.
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Earlier this year The University of Texas affirmed a set of core
values when the current honor code was endorsed. I strongly
support those values, particularly for an institution of higher learning
such as UT.
I encourage you to think about and define what values you
aspire to hold true on your life’s journey. In my life integrity,
courage, compassion and generosity provide the points on the
compass that I rely upon to keep me on the right path.
• Integrity is the cornerstone from which all your business
decisions can and must be made. Particularly in your
chosen field of accounting, integrity must prevail.
• And while I wish it weren’t so, true leaders must often
call upon courage in order to do the right thing. There is
no doubt but that there are issues I often encounter
wherein it just seems easier to walk away. And, frankly, I
often see executives work really hard to side step the
tough calls. But leaders muster the courage to do the
right thing.
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• That said, integrity and courage could be misguided
without compassion. I’ve learned to face the brutal facts
and make tough calls when necessary. But the day I do
so without compassion is the day I fail at being a true
leader.
• Last but not least is the value of generosity. I endeavor
to be ever mindful of the blessings that have been
bestowed upon me. I’ve been blessed with an education
that I think is second to none. I’ve got great friends, a
healthy family, exciting career opportunities, and the list
goes on. It isn’t my intention to brag. Instead, I am
acknowledging fact that I live a charmed life in the eyes
of many and I have no reason whatsoever to complain.
These blessings are the reasons that giving back to the
communities in which I have been educated, lived, and
worked is important.
I’ve consciously chosen to close my comments on the
importance of values in general, and on generosity in particular.
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For several years now you have sung “The Eyes of Texas are
Upon You.” As you depart this great campus, I implore you to
keep Your Eyes on Texas. Never forget the value of education;
of the opportunities – and yes, difficult decisions – that lie
ahead of you. Never forget that UT and the McCombs School
have helped prepare you for those forks in the road. I know
you will come to appreciate, if you don’t already, that this great
institution has taught you a great deal, both in the classroom
and in the rich interactions you’ve had with friends, faculty and
administrators. Find ways to keep engaging with this great
institution. Keep Your Eyes on Texas. I guarantee your
generosity will be rewarded.
Hook ‘em!
“The core values of The University of Texas at Austin are learning, discovery,
freedom, leadership, individual opportunity, and responsibility. Each member of
the university is expected to uphold these values through integrity, honesty, trust,
fairness, and respect toward peers and community.”
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