[ Applause ]
>> Good evening everyone.
Chancellor,
Deputy Vice Chancellor,
Members of the Senate, Members of the executive
Graduands,
family and friends.
It's a great honor for me to speak to you
on this day of celebrations.
To the graduands
Congratulations
you've made it.
After all those years of hard work.
You may be wondering what
could possibly lie ahead.
Well, if I may
let me tell you a few stories
of my journey.
On September
on November 17 1997
I took a trip,
my story begins here in this Great Hall.
I finished my last exam at law school,
picked up my backpack
and then headed to the airport with some friends.
We flew directly to Africa
and traveled around Zimbabwe,
Zambia, Botswana, you name it.
Armed with t-shirts,
good sheer sleeping bags in a tent
and an Australian sense of adventure we set off.
A plan was vague at best.
We actually didn't have one
but we had a great time
and for someone whose main idea
of going overseas was going to Rottnest Island
it was an eye-opener.
We learned so much about every country we went to.
We didn't have any money
though we didn't need any.
We saw a lot
on our travels.
We saw poverty,
we saw people
living in in shanty towns,
we even saw violence
but we also saw incredible beauty,
We saw happiness,
we saw people living and thriving,
we saw people helping each other.
With no plan and no money we drifted
around Sub-Saharan Africa
for some time
relying on our ability to make friends on the way.
It worked out perfectly,
I think sometimes you don't need a plan.
You just need to experience.
Our travels in Africa
meant that we also learned something
about ourselves
we were curious people,
we enjoyed learning,
was also interesting
the different cultures,
experience, sense of adventure
it was infectious
and over the years
I've noticed that people who travel
are more worldly,
more accepting, more patient
and more open in their thinking.
If you can
please travel
you'll be richer for it.
However by the time I'd finished
my traveling in Africa,
Europe and America
for returning home I was very much the poorer for it,
in the monetary sense
time to start work
much of the horror of my parents.
I arrived back in Perth the day
before starting at Clayton Woods
jet-lagged a bit disheveled
I rolled up for work at St Georges Terrace
for induction training.
However
rather than being tired
I couldn't contain my excitement
at the new challenge ahead of me
working as a young lawyer
was exciting, hard work
steep learning curve sometimes tedious
but mostly fun.
I felt our mission was to help people
and were part of a dynamic and successful team
I learned early on that
if you've got the chance to work on a good file
it was it was best not to give it up.
So when I got the chance to work
on a on a file I would say
I've got this
and try and keep working on the file.
One day a file landed on my desk
that looked fairly straightforward.
I've got this I thought
however after delving
deep into the file I appreciate its complexity
it dawned on me that
what appeared to be a simple file on the surface
was in fact horribly complex and problematic
to some minutes or less I needed help
and approached the senior solicitors.
The outpouring help I received was amazing.
Colleagues who loved what they were doing
were experts in their field
and despite being extremely busy were happy to help
and with their help
and their guidance
the case was a success.
So I learnt early on
not to be afraid to ask for help
and I sincerely doubt
that anyone here
in this Great Hall
would refuse to help you if you asked.
We turned a challenging situation into success
and more success flowed from that success
Its then I started to realize
that sometimes a challenge
is really an opportunity
in disguise.
Challenging situation
is an opportunity
because a lot of folks don't bother with it,
or they give up right away,
they pass the file on.
so next time you face a challenge
it might actually be an opportunity
take a good hard look
and see how you can make the most of it.
My next story is about jumping
out of your comfort zone,
taking the leap.
When I was at school
I aced Maths, Physics
and Chemistry
and somehow
bumbled my way through English and Humanities.
As a lawyer I enjoyed the problem-solving
but I was always curious
about other careers involved Maths.
The truth was,
although I was a trained lawyer
I have a passion for the sciences.
Whilst I was working as a solicitor
I even did a night class of html programming
and this was pretty out there at the time
because in my day we didn't even have email.
I was curious about Investment Banking
not that are really existed in
Western Australia back in those days.
I research the hell out of it
and talk to as many people
in the field that I could to learn
and one day a friend set me up
with a Senior Banker traveling
to Perth from from the east coast.
We had breakfast
and he offered me a job in banking
Just like that.
I discussed this with my girlfriend at the time Jill
now my beautiful wife
and mother of my three wonderful children.
She thought for a while and said
let's do it.
Now opportunities don't come up every day.
I find they tend to just pop up
randomly and you need to react to them
when this happens my suggestion is this.
Stop what you're doing
and look very carefully at them
because sometimes need to dig a bit deeper
to discover how good they are.
Weigh the risk, weigh the reward
and then make a decision
make the call
and don't look back
seize the opportunity.
So we set sail for Sydney
from Perth for a new job.
However there was a few
miscalculations lost on the way.
First one is I had to take a pay cut
because I was starting again at the bottom.
The second one
was that I was starting again at the bottom
which turned out to be quite irritating.
Thirdly the rent in Sydney was very high.
Starting out at the bottom was not fun.
I was a senior person sitting with all the graduates
and they were much better than me
at the computer modeling.
I was forced to learn
the very basics of modeling
forced to learn how to value a business
from first principles
and I was way out of my comfort zone.
It also felt
like the last three and a bit years of law
were completely wasted,
was boot camp and it was tough.
But it's amazing how quickly we can adapt
sure enough after a while
got the valuations are modeling correct
and I'd experienced it firsthand.
That ability to model the value of a company
is something I carry with me every day
and without that learning I would never
have been able to make the judgements
around risk and value that I need to make
as a senior banker.
However
as I mentioned things in Sydney were expensive
to make ends meet
I started doing rules and conveyancing
at nighttime.
I registered my own law firm.
The Prestigious Wood & Co
and started giving out very basic advice
to make ends meet.
This was in addition to working
investment banking hours.
Having two jobs was tiring but I got to see
what a new business owner faces
when they start their own business.
This hands-on experience helped me relate to
to clients looking at startups.
later to become a boom industry.
and then we had the market crash of 2002.
Things are very tricky now
as people were being let go across the street
it was actually a scary time
but then
something strange happened.
Clients needed a lot of restructuring advice
and instead of my legal skills being wasted
they were now needed.
I was busier than ever
and formed some great relationships with clients.
As we fought side by side
to help get their company out of the holes
that they were in.
I even got promoted
client worked increased and we're doing okay.
I'm always grateful
for the opportunity given to me
by my first Investment Banking boss.
He took a chance on me
and I'll never forget that.
However
I'm also thankful that I could find the courage
to try out a new career
and thankful for the support of my family and friends.
To take that chance
to make the leap.
A couple of words on family.
Your family has invested a lot to get you here tonight,
my family included again
so be thankful
and to all the friends family and colleagues here tonight.
Thank you for coming.
It's great to see so many supporters here.
My final story is about leadership.
In 2010 I changed firms
to work a Bank of America Merrill Lynch
and in 2013 I was appointed
head of Investment Banking for Australia.
I had plenty of training I was
previously deputy head investment banking
I had a mentor
but nothing really prepares you
for stepping with the spotlight
and taking charge.
there's no hiding
because everyone sees everything you do.
I was 37
it was a great honor
but we had an enormously complex business
and a very competitive market operate in.
We also had a smaller team
to some of our competitors.
How would we win
one thing I did was to reach out
to some of the best X bankers
I knew on the market seek advice.
There are many points of advice but
Number 1
Focus on culture, the team with the best culture
has so many advantages over team with poor culture
people feel better.
Good culture means happy employees
people looking out for each other,
being safer, working harder, winning together
and best of all celebrating
those successes.
Number 2
Hire a diverse team.
If you have too many like-minded people
you'll miss out on the opportunity
for new ideas
and you will most likely fail.
We each have a role to play
and so diversity is strength.
Diversity comes in many forms,
diversity of origin is as important
as my travels through Africa,
India and Asia have taught me
thinking differently
about Indy about issues
and challenging each other's thinking
leads to a better outcome.
Sadly in our society today
racism is real.
So please fight this.
Don't judge people when you see them.
Judge them by what they say,
what their values are and how they act.
You will be the winner
with better relationships,
better judgment of people
and you will be a global citizen.
Diversity of discipline is also important
one point for the Arts and Design graduates
graduands here tonight
as the robots and artificial intelligence
continue to do many of the tasks we perform
in our daily lives
the one area they cannot excel in
is creativity.
In fact in many of the tech companies I know
some of the highest valued employees are the
creative design teams
who can take an ordinary product
and make it beautiful.
As a leader you need to empower this team.
Would also add that people value being appreciated
it's a little things you do as a leader that add up,
It's a personal touch,
because being personal means something to people
If you respect your team
they will respect you and if you
and if you care about your team
they will care about you.
One of the things I've always loved about
University education is the high value
that's placed on independent thought.
As a leader you need
to have your own independent view
you must have one
and express it.
So make time
to research and think about
the important issues
Invest in them and
express your views as a leader widely.
Back at this time
I was also given a mentor
he's a great man and a great leader
and one day
when I was discussing a business issue with him
I made an excuses as to why it didn't work out.
His response was vociferous
don't ever make an excuse
you're the leader you need to own it
this is something I think about every day.
Owning it
because that's what leadership is.
Owning it
and for then on in
every mistake was mine
and every success
rightly belonged to the team.
Final story
one day when in the middle of a trade and
a trade started to go wrong.
I remember I had to rush back from
a family holiday in Fiji
and then head over to New York
to work very hard
early in the morning every night.
One night I was working in the office in New York
it was very dark,
it was very late
and my boss came in.
It was close to midnight
he was wearing t-shirt, shorts, joggers
sat down in front of me
bought me a can of coke
things were looking bad as I
briefed him on where we were
he looked at me and he said
hmm
That does not sound good
but don't worry
we've got more fight in us
and we've got more stamina in us.
than them
and with that
he fell asleep right in front of me
on the desk
I kept working as he slept
snoring
but with him just being there I felt better
he gave me strength,
he lifted my spirits.
We didn't give up,
we hung in there
and eventually
the deal was okay.
Because sometimes
being a leader means just being there for someone.
Simply by being present
you can give someone hope.
The next few years will be very exciting for you
and very fast moving.
So have a go,
have fun,
embrace experience
and please don't pass the file on.
Thank you and Congratulations.
[ Applause ]