Commencement Speech -- On Great Leadership

Today, I had the great privilege and honor of delivering the commencement speech at the diploma ceremony in honor of the recipients of the Master's degrees at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg in Sweden. There were a total of 105 graduates, ranging from Accounting, Finance, International Business and Trade to Economics and Transport and Logistics Management.

The theme of my speech was On Great Leadership. In my speech, I emphasized the importance of innovation and creation, doing the right thing, making opportunities for others, recognizing the achievements of others, supporting diversity, and remembering where you come from. I also noted that Great Leaders must be resilient, need to be great communicators, both in word and action, and keep their integrity. I highlighted both Swedish and US innovators and great leaders.

The full text of my commencement speech can be downloaded here.

The program of the ceremony is below.

The venue was a majestic University of Gothenberg building on Vasagaten. The photos below were taken at this very special event.

Congratulations to all the graduates -- I wish you all well on the new stage in your life's journeys!

Thank you for the great honor and opportunity to speak to you today.

Special thanks go to Dr. Maureen McKelvey, who is stepping down as the Dean of the Graduate School, and who has done so much for the school over the past 5 and a half years. Also, special thanks to Dr. Johan Malmsten, the Chair of the Board of the Malmsten Foundation, for the great support of the school, its programs, and its students. Today, he awarded checks of 10,000 kroner to each recipient of the best Master's thesis in a concentration.

Preparing a Graduate Commencement Speech -- From the Isenberg School of Management to the School of Business, Economics and Law in Sweden

Now is the time for college graduations and, in Massachusetts, over the past several days, we have been the scene for numerous ones -- from the UMass Amherst graduations to graduations in Boston and to even the Smith College graduation last weekend at which Arianna Huffington gave the commencement address. And Oprah Winfrey will be speaking at Harvard University's commencement on May 30.

Last, year, I was honored to give the commencement address at the Master's degree graduate commencement ceremony at the University of Gothenburg's School of Business, Economics and Law on June 14, 2013. My speech was on Life as a Network and it can be accessed here.

A writeup on the speech appeared in the UMass Amherst's In the Loop.

When I received an invitation a few months ago from Dean Maureen McKelvey of the University of Gothenburg to give this year's commencement speech, I immediately agreed.

Giving a commencement speech in the US is one thing -- giving a commencement speech in another country is a truly special experience.

I had the great experience of giving the commencement speech at the Isenberg School's undergraduate commencement in May 2003, which took place at the Mullins Center, so I can say that I have given such speeches on 2 continents.


This will be my fifth visit/stay in Gothenburg, since 2012, and,  as a Visiting Professor of Operations Management there, through its unique Visiting Professorship Programme, Gothenburg, Sweden has become my second home.

I will be delivering my commencement speech on June 12, 2013 in Gothenburg and my theme this year will be Leadership.

I will speak on what makes a great leader -- one of many themes that I have been writing about on this blog and will also bring personal experiences into the text.

I plan on emphasizing resiliency, creativity, communications, diversity, and integrity, and, as I did last year, I will share with you photos from the ceremony.

I Will be Blogging from Sweden

Tomorrow I am flying to Gothenburg, Sweden where I will continue my faculty appointment as a Visiting Professor of Operations Management at the School of Business, Economics and Law at the University of Gothenburg.

I am very much looking forward to being back at the university that I spent two weeks at back in March.

On June 14, I will be giving a commencement speech there to those receiving Masters degrees form the School of Business, Economics and Law.

I have been working very hard on my speech and am putting the finishing touches on it.

Having heard various commencement speeches recently at graduations at UMass Amherst, including the special Isenberg School of Management one,  and at Deerfield Academy, just this past Sunday,  I have been enveloped by the spirit of graduations and the accomplishments of the graduates.

I will be blogging from Sweden over the next few weeks.

So Looking Forward to Graduations and Giving a Commencement Speech

May and June are the months for graduations (at least north of the equator) and with spring in full bloom the excitement surrounding the marking of such milestones is palpable.

Living and working in Amherst, Massachusetts with the 5 colleges (UMass, Amherst, Smith, Mount Holyoke, and Hampshire) plus numerous colleges in our knowledge corridor and in Massachusetts and neighboring Connecticut, this marks a truly special time of the year.

I am very much looking forward to the UMass Amherst graduation, both the undergrad and grad ceremonies that will be taking place on May 11, 2012.

I am so proud of all that our undergraduate students at the Isenberg School of Management have accomplished as well as the graduate students. This year, my PhD student, Min Yu, will be receiving her PhD, and her family is traveling from China for the graduation ceremony and festivities.

The Isenberg School has been graduating 25% of the UMass Amherst graduates -- an amazing number and our students are outstanding with several Jack Welch Scholars and recipients of the Leaders for the 21st Century  Award.

The Isenberg School will be sending off its  graduates in an additional special ceremony on May 12 at the Mullins Center,

I am also looking forward to high school graduations and, especially this year, since my daughter, Alexandra, will be graduating from Deerfield Academy. You can view some photos of graduations that I have enjoyed at Deerfield Academy and UMass Amherst here and here.

As for commencement speeches, which are supposed to be inspiring, Ted Koppel, the renowned journalist, will be speaking at UMass Amherst.

This morning, I accepted an invitation to be a commencement speaker at graduate graduation ceremonies at the University of Gothenburg School of Business, Economics and Law in mid-June.

Having given a Isenberg School of Management undergraduate commencement speech  a few years ago, I am very much looking forward to inspiring graduating students in Gothenburg, Sweden!  I have become enchanted by that institution.

Congrats to all the graduates and their family members!