July 24, 2012
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Thanks for that generous introduction, Dr. Nichols.
On behalf of UPS, I applaud you and your team at The Piney Woods Country Life School, along with Mr. Brown - a gentleman who has a great last name by the way - and his team at AmeriCorps…and Marsha Meeks Kelly of the Mississippi Commission for Volunteer Service.
Dr. Nichols, I know how much you believe in community service. And you certainly have a distinguished leadership background with service organizations.
You've used that expertise to work with AmeriCorps to create an outstanding…innovative…and groundbreaking, “Community Service Partnership Program.”
My friends in Louisiana have a French word that I think fits this community service program very well.
That word is lagniappe (lan-yap). You may know it. It means something extra.
The something extra here is the special spirit and energy of you young people gathered here in the Chandler Library…the 47 members of The Piney Woods School senior class…the “Changing the World” team.
You gave nearly 10,000 hours of your time - more than 450 hours each - in the service of others.
When most everyone else on the Gulf Coast was gearing up for Mardi Gras festivities this year, you spent the week before Fat Tuesday in Waveland committed to “Katrina Recovery Clean-up.”
Among other outreach activities this year…
You've helped a lot of people who've really benefited from your efforts.
And… you've put a smile on a lot of faces as well.
You've brought further distinction to an already highly respected tradition here at The Piney Woods School.
And I want you to know, we at UPS are proud of your efforts, too!
And we've been proud to be associated with The Piney Woods School since 2001.
You senior students remind me of another student who sat in a Mississippi high school…nearing graduation like you…a few years ago.
That student came from a small town in Mississippi - Greenwood - that was probably not unlike the small towns a few of the 13 of you from Mississippi might relate to.
Like many of you, that student wasn't wealthy. He'd never traveled north of Memphis. He came from a family who loved him. But no one from that family had ever had the means to go to college.
Then, as it happened, he was offered a helping hand… a scholarship to attend the local university.
There… he thought about a career as a teacher or professor in Mississippi.
But he joined a company to help work his way through college. He liked what that company stood for. And he decided to stay on after college.
That student - some of you may be guessing - was ME!
OK… it was more than a few years ago! That part threw you off a little, didn't it?
I tell you this story because I'm in the Chandler Library with you today…enjoying the privilege of representing UPS - a $49 billion dollar company serving 200 countries - because of that college that helped me - Delta State University in Cleveland.
And… I'm here because of the encouragement of my family, my teachers, my mentors, and my friends, who all took an interest in me at a time when I couldn't imagine what the future could hold.
What a gift it is to all of us when people extend a helping hand, as you students have done this school year.
If there's an earthly force for change and harmony more powerful than helping others I don't know what it is.
You know, when people think about the concept of power, whether it's in government, business, or in any walk of life, they often think about authority and control.
But that's not at all what real power has been about in my life.
And that's what I want to discuss with you for a few minutes. What is power really about? And what are the true sources of it?
For me, four sources of power stand out.
A big source of power comes from people who support you.
That's power source number one. I know many of you and many of your family members and sponsors have made great sacrifices for you to be here at this outstanding boarding school.
I see a few parents are with us today. You should be very proud.
For you seniors, it took great courage for you as a young teenager to leave home for a high school a long way from home. I'm not sure I could have done that when I was your age.
A few of you even come from another continent, Africa…You've traveled to a completely different culture, at a very young age.
Some of you come from the heart of cities like Chicago and Los Angeles…Piney Woods is a little different than that, isn't it?
I know the circumstances that brought each of you here are different.
But you all have family and friends back home who helped you get here and who miss seeing you.
Maybe they wanted you to be out of harm's way. Maybe they had dreams for you to have a chance at a better life.
They've sacrificed for you. You're sacrificing for them. That mutual support can be a source of great power and inspiration for all your life.
Don't ever take it for granted. Don't ever let out of sight be out of mind. Let those who love you know you appreciate what they do for you.
And don't forget your teachers here at Piney Woods.
Soon you will graduate and leave here. Maybe you can't wait to get on with life where there are more bright lights. Fair enough.
But I have a prediction. You may one day live in the most glamorous city in the world. But even if you do, you're going to look back on your days here with great affection and feeling, because your teachers, your counselors, and your classmates here are some of the best friends you'll ever make.
Cherish them. Don't forget to stay in touch with them when you leave here either. They want to keep up with you.
A second source of power in my life and my business career has been the blessing of a strong set of values.
A primary source of values - of course - comes from our loved ones and our faith. But there are other sources we can draw on as well.
You may not yet fully appreciate it, but the values you're gaining here at this school are going to serve you very well for a lifetime.
One of the things I noticed at your school's Web site is that your section on athletics has an entire page devoted to sportsmanship.
That page recommends respecting your opponents, and even applauding them for outstanding performance.
You don't see that on too many school athletics Web sites. It's impressive!
Does it mean you can't excel as an athlete?
I don't see Tiger Woods trash talking his opponents. But I feel pretty certain they know he's there!
One thing you may not know is The Piney Woods School and UPS got started at about the same time.
UPS was founded in 1907 and celebrated its Centennial Anniversary last year.
And The Piney Woods School was founded in l909, and celebrates its one-hundredth birthday next year.
Not all that many companies - or boarding schools - manage to survive and thrive over a century.
Are there any similarities between your school and UPS that make that longevity possible?
Each had humble beginnings…the Piney Woods founder, Dr. Laurence Jones, began teaching young people who wanted to learn to read under the shade of a cedar tree. He used a fallen log as a desk.
UPS's founder, Jim Casey, began his company as a messenger service business with a few young men riding bicycles on the streets of Seattle.
But despite the humble beginnings, both founders established a legacy of strong values from the beginning.
Dr. Jones established Piney Woods on the principles of academic, moral, and spiritual excellence.
And UPS's founder, Jim Casey, established a UPS - company culture of discipline, teamwork, and integrity.
I don't think it's a coincidence that each of these organizations has attained such longevity, and that each is rooted in such a strong value system.
In fact, I'd like to share a personal story that will help illustrate my point.
During a Bible study that I attended years ago, one person after another stood up to talk about the ethical challenges they had faced in business. They talked about actions that conflicted with their own personal values of doing what's right.
My response was that UPS had never pressured me to do anything that I knew was dishonest or unethical throughout my career. I further explained if I ever did decide to do such a thing that I would be asked to leave the company.
I do believe that UPS principles and values possibly saved me from potential ethical lapses in my life.
Acting on a defined value system has made it easier for me to do the right thing and the smart thing.
And… I can tell you from personal experience that it's amazing how many times the right thing is the smart thing.
When you leave here, one of the great gifts you can take away from The Piney Woods School is the value system you've been part of here.
If you keep that with you your whole life, you'll be a lot wiser, more successful, and happier for it.
My third power source brings me to the reason we're all here today. And that is the power that comes from giving.
It's still another thing The Piney Woods School and UPS have in common.
Jim Casey realized UPS's success as a service business would depend on the social well being of the communities we served. Helping to strengthen those communities made good business sense.
Jim launched The UPS Foundation in 1951 to develop and champion innovative solutions to social problems.
The Foundation's focus is closely aligned with the UPS vision to make a difference in the areas of economic and global literacy, environmental sustainability, helping non-profit organizations to operate more effectively, and strengthening diversity and safety in communities.
Many of these solutions involve financial assistance.
But they've also involved the time and talents of UPS people, just as you students have demonstrated this year.
Each year in October, for example, UPS sponsors a Global Volunteer Week.
Much like you seniors did in Waveland, many of our employees devote that week to community service.
Last year, they donated more than 100,000 hours of service throughout the four corners of the world.
During Global Volunteer Week, our CEO spent time in rural China doing carpentry work to build a new school and computer lab.
We have many, many stories of remarkable employees - from drivers to senior leaders - who distinguish themselves in serving their communities.
One is Suzanne Richard, a supervisor in Ohio. Suzanne grew up in an atmosphere of family violence and poverty. She had to defend herself at a young age and left home at 17 in search of a better life.
Her own marriage failed, as it too became abusive.
Despite all this adversity, Suzanne has devoted more than 20 years of volunteer service to First Step, a shelter and full-service agency for families dealing with domestic violence.
She's even created a foundation to provide scholarships at Bowling Green State University using her company bonuses in UPS stock.
The UPS Foundation now matches Suzanne's continuing contributions through the UPS Matching Gift program.
My wife, Sherry, and I sponsor an annual International Symposium at Delta State. Each year, I cover topics with the students I hope will help them to better compete in today's global environment.
We also bring in International experts who give their insight and advice. The students have been very appreciative, and have said the Symposiums have made a difference in their lives.
Giving back gives you an important perspective on life. It helps you see what's important and to shed what's not.
My final source of power comes from seeing each new step in life as an adventure, and with an open mind.
When I joined UPS after college in the late 1970s, I had no idea
of all the journeys my career would take me.
I didn't think I'd work anywhere outside UPS's Mississippi or Southeastern operations. In fact, our family has moved eight times, and we've lived in six different states.
The approach we always took is that each new experience would be a new adventure. Each step along the way opened new opportunities for meeting great people and learning new things.
That's how we approached it. And that's how it's worked out.
Your world ahead is going to be one of lifetime learning. A lot of the technologies you'll be using in five years or so haven't even been invented yet.
One thing's for sure, you'll be working in an age that demands more knowledge of you.
State borders and even national borders won't matter so much, as we already have the means to send information thousands of miles in an instant.
What will matter, as New York Times columnist David Brooks recently pointed out, is the last few inches of those information journeys - between an individual's eyes or ears and that individual's brain.
Who will best understand the information? Who will have the expertise to use it? It won't matter so much where on the planet that person calls home.
That's why the coming age has been termed the knowledge age. And that's why education is so important to America's future and yours.
Whatever you choose to do, you're going to be part of an increasingly connected world economy.
So, as you go on to the next step in life - to college for most of you -- whatever you can learn about other cultures and languages will serve you well.
Life is a journey full of different adventures every day. Enjoy the ride and don't take yourselves too seriously.
Those are my power sources. But I still haven't answered the question of what is real power?
It has several dimensions.
For one, knowledge is power…you can't gain too much knowledge in an era of global connections - especially when it comes to learning about technologies, cultures and languages.
Also, a strong value system is power…Values help you make the right decisions and the smart ones.
And giving is power…even in the most adverse of circumstances.
As a gentleman who came of age in my neck of the woods in Northern Mississippi, and who has his photo out in the foyer right here in the Chandler Library lobby - Morgan Freeman…once put it.
“Even in the harshest places on earth, love finds a way.”
You students have proved the truth in that statement in a number of places that needed you this year. You've made a real difference.
Congratulations on your outstanding work…You are the kind of role models a new generation of America needs!
Continue on that same path. If you do, you can achieve your dreams. You have a very bright future ahead…I wish you all the best.
Thanks very much!
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