Thank you very much. Mr. Chancellor, Mr. President, Mr. Provost, Distinguished Deans, Members of the Faculty and the Administration, Family and Friends, and Dear Class of 2018, thank you for this terrific recognition and honor. I would also like to say a special thank you to Professor Emeritus Ed Jernigan and Professor Paul Fieguth for the generous contribution of their time in helping craft the curriculum for our engineering program at Ashesi University.
Class of 2018, congratulations on arriving at this day in your life’s journey. I am so pleased for you. You look sharp. Exactly a week from now, I will be speaking to Ashesi’s own Class of 2018, as they celebrate their Commencement. Both here, and in Ghana, we have been waiting to celebrate you. We are confident that you will write the future history of our world through your collective leadership and actions. And so it is with some humility that I speak with you, new architects of the world order, to share some thoughts on leadership and teamwork.
When you step off this campus, most of you will not start off at the helm of an organization – not unless you’re starting your own business immediately. Instead, you will join teams of people engaged in a variety of human endeavor: pursuing further study and research, working in the corporate world, in the government or in the social sector. The way you engage with those teams will make a difference in the trajectories of those organizations.
I would like to share with you this afternoon, leadership lessons from one of the most memorable team experiences I have ever had: participating in dragon boat racing during my days in Seattle. Once a year, the karate dojo I belonged to, the Washington Shotokan Karate Association, participated in an amateur dragon boat race. It was a sprint. Speed mattered, staying on course mattered, and to achieve those, precision of execution mattered.
Our team was often among the top three each year. The other two were the firefighters team, and the Starbucks team. The fire fighters were usually the fittest guys in the race, and uniformly so. It was not surprising that they were so competitive. The Starbucks team consisted of young people who probably drank a lot of coffee. I guess, there’s no surprise there either.
So what was it about our team, that got us included in this group of high performance teams? Sure, we were fit too. After all, we practiced karate regularly, and we had a camaraderie forged out of a demanding martial arts training. But our team was quite diverse in strength and skill. We ranged in rank from white belt to black belt; men and women; young and old.
Sensei, our Captain
I believe the first thing that made a great difference on our boat, was the captain of our ship. We had an excellent leader: Sensei Dulce, who sat at the bow facing us, synchronized our rowing by beating a drum and counting out our stroke in Japanese, same as he did during our martials arts drills: Ichi, Ni, San Shi! Ichi, Ni, San Shi! One, Two, Three Four. He seemed to have a lot of fun!
Sensei paid very close attention to all of us paddlers. He called to specific rowers by name if he noticed them starting to get tired, urging them on before they started to lag in their stroke. Sometimes, he would slow the count for the sake of rowers who were really struggling to keep up. It was better for all rowers to paddle in unison, at a slower beat, than for us to paddle at different rates; because in this race, it was not about how fast the individual members of the team were paddling, it was always about how well they rowed together. The eighteen members of our boat had to row as if we were one person. All paddles had to enter and leave the water at the same time, and we had to row with equal force. If anyone rowed even slightly out of synch with the rest of the team, the boat immediately slowed –we could feel it—or worse, it changed direction. We had to row as if we were one, and our sensei helped us do that.
Our captain’s leadership was not only exemplified by his actions once the race had begun; it was demonstrated by his planning and his thoughtful communication with the team before the race. He made sure to pair us up on the boat so that rowers sitting next to each other were well matched in weight, strength, and spirit. In this way, he ensured that the boat was balanced. He took the time to explain how he would count during the sprint so we would not be surprised by changes in his rhythm.
He gave the sweep, the person who controlled the boat’s rudder, authority to adjust the course of the boat if necessary to avoid a collision.
Which brings me to another interesting aspect of our boat. The captain was not the only leader on our vessel. We had other leaders whose actions could significantly affect the performance of our team.
The Sweep
The first, was the sweep, who controlled the rudder. He sat at the back of the boat and looked forward, facing the captain. He had to be constantly aware of the boat’s surroundings; and between the captain and he, they had a 360-degree view of the race. They were jointly responsible for keeping the boat on course. The captain depended on the sweep’s attentiveness, calm nerves, steady hand, and judgement.
The Pacers
Second, we had a pair of rowers on the boat who were pace setters. They sat at the front of the boat. They rowed hard and amplified the instructions of the captain. Their spirit infected the rest of the team. If their spirit lagged, so did the rest of the boat. If they fell out of synch with the captain, they would throw the rest of the team into confusion. But if they stayed in close harmony with the captain and executed with enthusiasm, the boat surged.
The Rowers
Finally, I dare say, through our actions and our effect on the paddler sitting next to us, each of us exercised some measure of leadership on the boat. It was extraordinarily important that we stayed in synch and that we encouraged each other to be our best selves during the race.
What It All Means
Of course, life is a lot more complicated than boat racing, but the lessons I learned during those dragon boat races have served me well in my career and in life. When you begin your careers, you will be starting off as paddlers, pacers, sweeps, and for a few of you, captains. Over your lifetime, you will probably serve in all four capacities. Let me share with you just a few examples of how lessons learned in boat racing have translated in my work.
First, as an entrepreneur, especially during the early years of Ashesi University, there have been times when I served simultaneously as paddler, pacer, sweep and captain. Those of you who go on to start ventures will find yourselves in this position. Those of you who join fledgling companies may face the same. It can be exhausting, but you will probably have no choice. Over time, as your team grows, you will need to have better defined roles for yourself and for others. Delegating tasks to others will be critical for the long-term success of the organization, and it is a skill that can take many years to learn. Ultimately, you should aim to be just like the captain of a dragon boat, setting the boat’s direction and rhythm, thumping on a drum, and hopefully, having fun!
Second, as I work with people with different strengths and weaknesses, with rich and varied perspectives, I am constantly reminded that I work with multiple leaders on my team. There is no one successful way for a team to execute a mission. And so I have to always be aware of the crucial importance of making decisions about strategy, the team’s pace and the team’s output, based on available resources and the individual capabilities of the people on my team. As our Sensei did on our boat, I constantly have to pay attention to how our teams are evolving, what new skills are being gained and which skills are being lost; so that at any point in time, we can make better decisions about our pace, and stay on course. This is an important lesson for you, especially because as you leave Waterloo, you must be prepared to face new ways of working that you have not previously encountered. In those cases, be patient enough to learn why the teams you join have chosen to work the way they do; don’t assume there must a better way, simply because you are unfamiliar with the existing. And remember to look out for each member of your team, strive to engage all skills, and prioritize the success of a common mission.
Third, working in diverse teams is not easy, but it is necessary. Diverse teams tend to be more successful over time than others because they have the strength of multiple perspectives. When you join a team, be willing to share the perspectives that only you can bring; but try not to do so in a way that throws the boat out of sync. Be gentle in your words and be kind in your thoughts. You may encounter teammates that row out of synch with rest of the boat; understand that they may still mean well. Be humble to enough to ask them to share their perspectives with you; be kind enough to share your own, and ultimately help each other get back in synch. Take time in between sprints to be a genuine friend, to really get to know each other and form the relationships that help you perform even better as a team.
Depending on organizational size, your role, regardless of whichever one you have on a boat, sometimes goes beyond directing one boat, to directing a fleet of boats, each with its own heartbeat, with their own captains and teams. As you progress in your careers, some of you will find yourselves in positions of leadership that cross organizational boundaries, industries, or even national boundaries. In those situations, you will be exercising leadership across boats not directly under your own command. You will need to collaborate with the captains, pacers, sweeps and paddlers of other organizations, communities and nations. The success of those collaborations will require mutual respect, trust and empathy. It will require deliberate thought and action, and deliberate teamwork.
Class of 2018, you are about to join the leadership ranks of this space ship we call Earth. You will experience different leadership roles throughout your careers and your lives. As you step forward from here, see the world for what it is: a fleet of boats carrying all of humanity and life as we know it. And in this race, focus not only on your own boat winning, but on helping all other boats reach the finish line. I urge you to reach across cultures in writing the next chapter of human history, confident that the education you have received at Waterloo has prepared you to lead.
I wish you well, and I wish you Godspeed in your life’s journey. Congratulations, and Hail Waterloo Warriors!