Utah State University
Commencement Address
May 2008
Dr. James H. Quigley was the Utah State University commencement speaker on May 3, 2008. Dr. Quigley is CEO of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, Deloitte's global organization. He gave us permission to post his prepared remarks.
Thank you for that kind introduction. And President Albrecht, thank you for inviting me to speak at this commencement.
To our Graduates today -- and to those who helped you on your journey and are here with you to celebrate your achievement -- Congratulations!
Education is very much a team sport.
You are lucky to have spent your university days here. What a beautiful setting --the mountains and this valley are very special and I am sure filled with memories for each of you.
I appreciate the support of my family . . . and especially Bonnie. We attended USU together, and we sat where you do today, 34 years ago. I was a lucky man to share my college years with Bonnie. And her tireless support enabled all that I have accomplished.
We are a team as we raised our children, and as we lead Deloitte.
I am proud of my Utah State roots. My two older brothers graduated from USU. My father and mother both graduated from Utah State in 1939. I am proud of them and grateful for the traditions they instilled in me. In many ways I feel the honorary degree is in reality an honor for my mother today and my father posthumously.
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My Father did not come to USU directly from high school. He worked in the CCC camps - the Civilian Conservation Corps -- for a year, and followed that with a year as a heavy equipment operator building roads in Utah's mountains as he put together the money needed to enter college.
Even though the depression was raging, college education was important to my parents and each obtained the first college degrees of their immediate family. And they instilled in me and my siblings a can do attitude.
With the privilege to speak today, I considered many options.
I have decided to share three simple lessons that have provided the foundation for my life and for my career.
Lesson one - Treat Others with Respect
Each of us has some fundamental human needs . . . as important as food, clothing and shelter. We each need to be respected, valued and appreciated. I learned this lesson from my father who I honor today.
I was raised with 5 siblings. My father was a Forester. My mother a schoolteacher. Dinner at the Quigley household was an active experience as the eight of us gathered.
As a youngster I decided one evening I would provide the dinner entertainment.
Rex, my Father's foreman, spoke with a very pronounced lisp. And I decided I was going to provide my best imitation of him. My older sisters snickered, but my father did not even crack a smile.
He simply looked at me and said: "Jimmy you do not know or appreciate all that Rex does for the Forest Service and how important he is to me."
The entertainment was over.
Rex was loyal to my Dad. There was nothing my Dad would ask of him that he would not do. I once naively thought Rex's loyalty was the result of my Dad's position as the Ranger. But experience and reflection has taught me that he was loyal to my Dad because my Dad provided him with respect.
I am sure the speech impediment that Rex carried with him his entire life made him the target of many jokes, but never from my Dad.
Treat others with respect and you can be an effective member of a team.
Treat others with respect and they will follow you, you can be a leader.
Treat others with respect and you can sell your company's products and services.
I have watched some enormously talented partners fall far short of their potential, because they did not learn this simple lesson.
Treat others with respect . . . and they will return that favor to you.
Lesson Two - Life is filled with opportunities not entitlements.
I respected my USU accounting professor Larzette Hale. But I did not fully appreciate her until many years later, when we moved from Salt Lake City to New York, and later St. Louis, as my understanding of the world broadened.
I saw firsthand the price some are required to pay to obtain opportunities. Dr. Hale retired several years ago. I respect her, as an accounting professor, and as an African American woman CPA. She obtained those honors in Georgia in the 1950's and 60's.
I was a strong accounting student. It came easy to me. I sat on the back row in her class, and did little to contribute to the classroom discussion. I consistently scored the highest in the class on exams. I was confident I was entitled to an A in intermediate accounting.
I will never forget my surprise and disappointment when I went to Dr. Hale's office door where the grades were posted and found next to my student number an A-!
I was both disappointed and felt wronged when I saw that six of my classmates had been awarded a solid A.
Anxious to help Dr Hale see the error she had made, I made an appointment to see her. I sat in her office and expressed my surprise and disappointment at the A-, particularly when I had the highest average in the class on the exams.
She simply said: "Mr. Quigley, do you feel you earned the true A?"
She did not offer to adjust the grade. She believed in the message she was sending, and simply left me to ponder her question.
The quizzes and classroom discussion obviously mattered to her. Dr. Hale expected me to give my very best, and she was not interested in rewarding "entitlement thinking" that she believed I demonstrated.
I had scored well on her exams, and I felt I was entitled to the A. She believed she gave me an opportunity to do my very best, and she believed I did less than that and gave me the reward that matched my effort.
When I have the privilege of speaking to young people at Deloitte, or on any campus, I work to convince them that life is filled with opportunities, not entitlements.
To the extent you have entitlement thinking in your head, remove that thought.
I urge you to open your eyes and your mind to see the incredible opportunities this world has to offer, and give your very best.
Those who give their very best have a much richer set of opportunities than those who simply do the minimum to get by.
On a global basis, we hire over 25,000 recruits each year. Some sit back and expect to be handed plumb assignments they feel entitled to receive. Others demonstrate a very different attitude. They hustle and seek opportunities to learn, to team, and deliver value to our clients.
The options available to entitlement thinkers are dramatically more limited than those enjoyed by opportunity seekers.
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Lesson Three - be a life-long learner.
Professor Underwood taught me both calculus here at Utah State . . . as well as a valuable life lesson.
I liked calculus, but what Professor Underwood said about my college degree dramatically influenced my thinking and actions. He described the degree as the key that would open the door to obtain an education.
It seemed counter intuitive to me. I thought my college degree was the key to a job and career, not the key to obtain an education.
I have since concluded that Professor Underwood was absolutely right, and I committed to be a life-long learner.
A friend advised me early in my career that I should leave public accounting when I was no longer learning. I accepted his advice, and I believe today 34 years later that I continue to learn, every day.
I have made career moves by answering the question: Where can I learn the most in the next two-to-three years?
I have moved my family six times in the course of my career. I was at the World Financial Center on the morning of 9/11. I saw the very best and the very worst of the human experience. I have learned countless lessons in meetings with the business leaders of our generation. I have traveled to dozens of countries, and learned from their business and political leaders.
Being a life-long learner has paid dividends.
If you want to enjoy the fruits that life's opportunities will provide, it is not complicated.
Treat others with respect
Remember Life is filled with opportunities, not entitlements. . .
Go with confidence and optimism. You now have the key to obtain an education as a life-long learner.
Congratulations again!
Enjoy the journey in front of you. You can accomplish anything you set you mind to.
Thank you.
Pictures by Donna Barry