A Journey from MBA to CEO
MBA Commencement Address
William R. Johnson

Thank you and congratulations to all of today’s graduates. I am, for many reasons, proud and delighted to speak to you.

I am delighted because, like so many of you in the audience, I am a parent of one of today’s MBA graduates. Brad did not want me to talk about him, so I won’t. His sister, Tracy, is also heading to an MBA degree, but at Northwestern rather than my alma mater McCombs. My wife, Susie, said it would embarrass Tracy if I mentioned her and she said Brad would not like it either. As you can see, I always listen to Susie’s advice.

Returning to Texas is something I love to do:

• Virtually every member of my family was born in Texas;
• My father went to Texas A&M (a youthful indiscretion, but I won’t mention that because he and my mother are also in today’s audience);
• My Uncle Gilbert was an All-American quarterback at SMU;
• My grandfather was an executive at Humble Oil (that sounds like an oxymoron);
• Our family moved to California when my father joined the NFL as a player for the San Francisco 49ers, but we returned to Texas every summer and I was born in Tyler, and;
• After UCLA, I came back to Texas and the MBA program at UT.

Right about now, many of today’s newly minted MBAs are getting a bit nervous, and for good reason. They have many questions, including: “When will this guy ever finish speaking? If I listen politely, will he give me a job?” More importantly, they’re thinking: “What job offer is right for me? How much money can I make? Should I take a year off? What do I need to do to be successful?”

From now on, your success will be determined as much by the questions which you ask, as well as those that you answer. Up until this point, defining success was relatively easy. Collect so many credits, earn a specific grade point, finish your papers by a certain deadline and your wish for an MBA degree will be granted. Another McCombs success. And, it’s that accomplishment that we are celebrating at this very ceremony. Yes, you’ve achieved success.

But, your MBA degree is just the first stop on your journey. Continuing will require constant learning and hard work.

This fact was illustrated several years ago, when San Francisco Giants manager Dave Bristol said to his struggling team, “There are two buses leaving the hotel for the ball park tomorrow. The 2 o’clock bus will be for those of you who need a little extra work. The empty bus will be leaving at 5 o’clock.”

I think I’m safe in saying that none of us ever wishes to ride on an empty bus or ever admit that we don’t need the extra work on our life’s journey.

Now that you’re ready to begin your journey, you are wondering: “What lies ahead?” For each of you, the questions -- and the answers -- are different and unique…for the journey before you is yours alone. No one else can travel it for you and there is no map, no timetable, and no clear path to success – primarily because your definition of success will change quite dramatically as you continue on your life’s journey.

Thirty-one years ago, for me and my fellow graduates, the road ahead was just as uncertain – but the state of affairs was, in many ways, eerily similar.

• There were monumental ethics scandals, but these were in the Oval Office not the Enron Front Office.
• A war was being fought and debated – in the battlefields of Southeast Asia; today we fight in the Middle East.
• America faced an oil crisis and an energy shortage. OPEC was founded and promptly raised oil prices 10 percent. The government imposed a 55-mile-an-hour speed limit to conserve gasoline, causing at least one Texan to sport a bumper sticker that said: “Drive 100 and freeze a Yankee.”
• Globalization was an ethereal concept represented by live – but snowy -- TV pictures transmitted, for the first time, via satellite, across oceans and time zones. Today, it’s a part of everyday life, with the Internet making it possible to instant-message friends, whether they be in New Delhi, New South Wales or New Orleans.
• The regulatory environment was changing and government involvement in business increasing. The Nixon Administration enacted wage and price controls as a band aid against festering inflation. Today, we have Sarbanes-Oxley.
  Speaking of regulation . . . at your next barbecue, when you’re topping your hamburger with Heinz ketchup, consider this: More than 41,000 federal and state regulations apply to this common sandwich.
• And, one more reflection on 1974: The McCombs faculty had just launched a program to produce graduates with, I quote, “the ability and imagination to compete in a world of reality.” A stretching goal which has been met with great success. Just last month, a poll by USAToday, showed the University of Texas and the University of Chicago tied as the number-one source of new Fortune 1,000 CEOs.

My bet is that many of you in this graduating class, along with thousands of other newly graduated MBAs, are also setting your sights on that corner office. The demands and sacrifices along this journey are many, and few will attain the title. But, remember: It’s the journey, not the title, that matters.

Ambition is great – but, enjoy the journey. E.L. Doctorow once said: “You may be able to see only as far as your headlights, but you can make the whole trip that way.”
Look and study what’s in your headlights. I guarantee that throughout your journey you will encounter surprises, disappointments and set backs but you will also experience joy, satisfaction and pride.

U.S. Labor Statistics tell us that you may change jobs 7 to 10 times in your lifetime and chances are great that many of those job changes will represent totally new careers or moves to exciting new places.

When Susie and I left Austin, we began a career journey that has culminated in my current position. Little did I know when we pulled away in our 1972 Pinto (yes, the ones known for blowing up if you were hit from behind) that we would move eight times and that I would become CEO of a Fortune 200 company. Frankly, I never obsessed over the title but always tried to do my best in whatever job I had.

So, my first bit of advice is: Don’t spend too much time planning every career move; don’t set your sights on a single destination; and always give your best in whatever you do.

What is the value of a McCombs MBA? I can testify to the fact that you have all received excellent preparation for your journey. The University of Texas has terrific programs in accounting, finance and marketing – and you have learned from a world-class faculty. But, there are also qualitative, intangible skills – people skills – not usually found in B-school curriculums. These life lessons you must learn for yourself.

One of New York’s most successful leaders embodies these people skills. I’m not referring to Michael Bloomberg, Rudy Giuliani or Hillary Clinton. I’m referring to the manager of the New York Yankees, Joe Torre.

Joe Torre enjoyed a lengthy and highly successful career playing baseball, but he was not, initially, particularly gifted in managerial skills and was fired in succession by the New York Mets, the Atlanta Braves and the St. Louis Cardinals.

At age 55, Torre had managed or played in 4,200 games – all without ever winning a World Series. However, in his journey, he grew and he developed skills and knowledge that prepared him well to deal with the mercurial George Steinbrenner. Torre developed a Zen-like style to manage the egos of not only Steinbrenner but also highly paid All Stars, nervous rookies, and the rough-and-tumble New York sports media. With this skill, Torre, in 1996, led the Yankees to their first championship in 18 years. What’s more, he repeated that success three times.

Leadership and people skills are essential to your journey and you will need to build and develop them for the rest of your lives.

The first stop on my journey was Cincinnati, where I signed on as an assistant marketing manager at the Drackett Company which, by the way, no longer exists. Susie and I packed up our apartment, rented a small U-Haul and carted all of our belongings to Cincinnati….never realizing that corporations actually pay moving expenses. The people in Cincinnati must have wondered who they’d hired!

In the thirty-one-year journey since I earned my MBA, I’ve had the opportunity to observe and learn from some great leaders – including those in business, government, and sports, and from everyday folks, who are perhaps our best teachers.

It’s presumptuous to tell you that you can learn from my experiences, but I have tried to distill a few tips into what I’ll call the 5 C’s:

• Concentration,
• Creativity,
• Contemplation,
• Courage, and
• Confidence.

The first C is concentration. Success requires desire, effort, and heart and you must be prepared to sacrifice for it. You must have the passion, energy and stamina to stay the course – even in the face of adversity.

Many of you may not know that Henry J. Heinz went bankrupt in 1875. He overextended himself by contracting for too many cucumber pickles . . . and, no, I’m not going to make any puns about being in a pickle. The point of the story is that -- instead of giving up – young Henry regrouped, redoubled his efforts, and repaid his debts.

In one of my favorite movies, Hoosiers, Gene Hackman’s character Coach Norman Dale, urges his small-town basketball team to win by focusing on “fundamentals and defense.” And, by stressing concentration. He encouraged the Hickory High team with these words: “If you put your effort and concentration into playing to your potential, to be the best that you can be, I don’t care what the scoreboard says, at the end of the game, in my book, we’re gonna be winners.”

While you’re concentrating on your career, you also need something to keep you grounded and provide perspective. For me it was a great family and a spouse who did not care what I did for a living. No matter how impressive my title or how critical my decisions might be on a particular day, Susie keeps me focused on my responsibilities as a husband and father and still reminds me every Monday to take out the trash.

The second C is creativity. New ideas create growth; they also create stress. Ideas don’t simply appear and they don’t guarantee success, but, without them, we don’t move forward and we don’t make progress.

Fuel your creativity by exposing yourself to fresh thinking and diverse ideas. Engage leaders and people from other fields to broaden your horizons. Expand your reading beyond business publications, research papers and textbooks.
I found that some of the most creative people are those profiled -- not in Harvard Business Review or the Wall Street Journal -- but in People, Time or even Road & Track.

The third C is contemplation. Some folks call it intuition, while others see it as clairvoyance. I have never consulted a fortune teller and, frankly, I don’t know a CEO who has a crystal ball. Rather it’s that feeling or instinct that an action or decision is right…or not right. It’s often called judgment or sometimes “street smarts.” After all, if research were always right, no one would ever make mistakes. Years of learning have taught me to never go against that feeling in my gut.

A most important C is courage. I am really referring to moral courage. A leader who lacks character and principles will never earn trust and respect. Leaders must have the moral courage to do what is right. It’s that simple.

I think former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson said it best: “If you have integrity, nothing else matters. If you don’t have integrity, nothing else matters.”

And, lastly, you must possess confidence. Believe in yourself, be true to your values, and remember an occasional self-doubt is not only normal but healthy.

When I think of a leader with confidence, I think of legendary British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The daughter of a grocer, she shaped her nation with both determination and dignity.

Former President George Bush often recounts a conversation he and Lady Thatcher shared during the Gulf Crisis. President Bush had just outlined strategies for handling Iraqi ships bound for ports in Yemen. The Prime Minster agreed with the U.S. decision. But, in closing the conversation, Lady Thatcher offered a cautionary post script. “Remember, George,” she said, “this is no time to go wobbly.”

As I said, self-doubt is normal and healthy, but just don’t “go wobbly.”

The one C we can do without is the “Celebrity CEO.” CEOs were, for a short while, mysteriously conferred superstar status by analysts and writers. Unfortunately, that status was misplaced and, during the past several years, we’ve seen some CEOs exchange cufflinks for handcuffs and pinstripes for orange jumpsuits. Alan Webber, editor of Fast Company magazine, recently editorialized that: “It’s time to shift our respect to leaders who do the right thing, rather than the celebrity thing.”

That’s why, when my career with the H. J. Heinz Company comes to a close, I hope my legacy is defined in three simple words: Leadership with integrity.

In closing, I hope that each of you has an enjoyable and memorable journey. Remember: Keep your eye on what is visible in the headlights, believe in yourself, and:

• Concentrate,
• Be creative,
• Be contemplative,
• Be courageous, and
• Have confidence.

Congratulations on your success at McCombs. I wish you nothing but fair weather, good mileage, and a loving companion on your journey ahead.
 

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