(Listen to Don Ritter's speech)
Dr. Ruud, Thank you for the honor and the generous introduction. Thirty-seven years ago, I was sitting where you are sitting. I am embarrassed to say I have no idea who the speaker was for graduation. It was not their fault. I was spent from a week of too many finals followed by a week of too many beers. The only burning memory I have from graduation is showing my Mom and Dad my diploma — which was not in the nice blue cover, but in its place a parking ticket for $6 and a note that I could retrieve my diploma upon payment at the business office. My Dad had a good laugh. My mother was not impressed. Neither one had a high school diploma. That is a little about my two main influences. Hopefully, I’m making up for it today with a new diploma and they are both looking down and smiling this time.
You all have a tremendous foundation of knowledge freshly acquired from Marietta. It will serve you well as it has for myself and many others who have sat in your chairs previously. My mission here is to give you some wisdom, my problem is I don’t have much. What I’ve got I learned from others and a majority of it from a healthy reading habit. In fact, I’ve been in a book club with one of my MBA Profs from Southern Methodist University, several of my classmates from there and my wife. We have read 10 business books a year for the last 17 years. It has been one of my most rewarding experiences. The thought that six people could read the same 170 books over 17 years and develop a “common wisdom”, or as some call, a “mastermind” is a powerful experience. So I’ve decided to share some of that “common wisdom” with you today.
You will find a stack of books under your chair. These have been chosen to give you some direction and a place to start. To sum up my discussion today it is:
- You need a destination;
- You need a plan to get there; and
- You need a partner or two along the way.
So let’s get started.
Book #1 — Strength Finders by Gallup Corp.
Bottom line — you are all unique. Your set of strengths and their relation to who you are gives you a unique view of the world. You need to know them, and you need to know yourself. The premise of this book is that you have strengths and that by building on your strengths, not fixing your weaknesses, you will have a better shot at success. Many of the books covered today will help you learn more about yourself, but this one gives you an online survey to take and trust me-it is accurate. This is your baseline and a good place to start before picking your destination
Book #2 — Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
Written in 1937 after the great depression, it is as valuable and insightful now as it was then. This is a real source of wisdom, gathered from the most successful business leaders of the times-Ford, Edison, Carnegie, Schwab, JP Morgan, 500 in total. This is where you begin to set your destination, whether it is a net worth to achieve or the financial freedom to pursue any calling. I have read this book at least ten times, and have found something new every time. You will find the secret to making as much money as you wish (more on that later), or really the secret to achieving any worthy goal.
This book gives 13 steps to Wealth. But it contains so much more about the human spirit — it literally is a handbook on how humans operate. The Bible (or your favorite religious text) may be the only book to rival it for insight into the human soul. One concept covered in this book is the “mastermind”, where you stretch out your mental capacity by including a key circle of others you respect and can call on for a “common wisdom”. I’ve told you about my own example and challenge you to find your own.
Book #3 — The Law of Attraction by Jack Canfield
This is a handbook of exercises that will take what you learned in book #1 and #2 and put it into a plan. One of the exercises here was one that literally changed my life. It has you write down 101 things to do in the next ten years if money was no object or really anything except some physical limitation (ie no 5-foot-8 centers in the NBA). This is where I set a net worth goal, a goal to give Marietta a million dollars, to be a trustee, to get an MBA, to create a brand, to take a company public (still working on this one), all while I was an engineer at Mobil. I would have to quit Mobil to do most of these things, and that is the point — I had to make a dramatic change to accomplish the goals on this list. It expanded my thought process so much I had to go back to school and then change careers. I wish I had done this exercise much earlier — I may have had even more success.
Book #4 — The One Thing by Gary Kellar
This is a direct follow-on to the law of attraction. It starts with a Russian proverb — “He who chases two rabbits catches neither.” It lays out the principle of setting a large goal, then doing the one thing each day that moves you towards that goal. This is also known as the domino effect — as every action to take towards a goal builds exponentially. This keeps you in your area of control, your “3-foot world.” It breeds action. It drives you to completion. This is the most valuable skill in business — its called Execution. You get paid to execute — you get fired if you don’t. It is that simple.
Book #5 — The 10X Rule by Grant Cardone
I love this book. It is the most compact set of guidelines to get your shit together ever written. The two main messages are: You need to make 10X sized goals to stretch your capabilities and most importantly, you have to work 10X harder than the average person to succeed-not 2x or 5x but 10X as much. Everyone on the planet should read the chapter on no excuses. This is actually a sales training book-everyone needs to learn how to sell. I give this book to every one of my employees.
Book #6 — Great at Work by Morten Hansen
This is another book built off research of 5,000 highly productive employees, so it is 10X the number of people that Napoleon Hill researched in the Think and Grow Rich study. It was published in 2018, so it is hot off the press. It covers many of the same topics covered in the previous books but looks at them in a novel way. Morten lays out the importance of doing two important, but nearly opposite traits in combination to get superior performance. For example, his first observation was to do fewer things (the one thing approach) but obsessing over those things (the 10X approach). Another is p squared (passion and purpose). His research shows that the most successful people link those two together — I can probably site a personal example here. I have a passion for music that ties into my purpose of supporting Music Therapy, both through Blue Star Connection and Marietta College.
So this book is to show you how to combine these different strategies into a skill set that improves both your personal skills and your interactions with others.
Book #7 — Shackleton’s Way by Margot Morrel
This is the best leadership story ever told. Ernest Shackleton was the captain for an expedition to the South Pole in 1914. His ship, the Endurance, was stuck in the ice, and the tale of survival for his crew over two years in the Antarctic is amazing. All survived. Shackleton is my leadership hero, and I suggest you all find one of your own to help guide you in the business of leading people. I even named my company after his ship, Endurance Resources III.
There is an old Native American saying that if you wish to go fast, go alone. If you wish to go far — take others. When I look around at the Marietta grads I know in the oil and gas sector, they are all leaders. When I look around at my fraternity reunions and really any gathering of Marietta alums, they are all leaders. Marietta has a way of producing leaders in all fields. This is evidenced by Marietta being in the top 10 of colleges when accessing mid-career salaries. You’re going to be starting alone or following, but eventually, you will be leading others. It is a rare skill to be a good leader. It’s one that requires work, study and desire.
My Investment
I hope you will invest the time to read through these books and acquire the knowledge, wisdom, and habits they expound. I found them later in life. I wish I had read them sooner, I might have reached a different destination by now. I might have set my net worth goal much higher and would have had more available to give to Marietta.
So I have a challenge for all of you today. I have invested about $100 in each one of you. In 10 years I would like to see a 10X return for Marietta (10x-sound familiar). So I lay out the challenge for each of you to donate $1,000 over the next 10 years — this would equal a class gift of $250,000 to Marietta, the largest class gift ever made at a graduation of any class. This is not hard to do, because if you have read these books, practiced their teachings, then you all will be very wealthy within ten years and will easily afford to give Marietta $1,000 or even more. Or look at it this way — it is 28 cents a day.
So there you have it. No excuses. No problem to pay your student loans back. Every tool you need to be a success is sitting under your chair and under your cap. You only have to visualize your goal(s), commit to working towards it every day and be willing to put some 10X effort out there — the returns will be far beyond your dreams.
Partners
Oh, that thing about a partner. Let me say a little about that. Pay attention — this part is not in the books. Remember I said something about if you want to go far, take others. I’ll add a little of my own wisdom here — if you really want to go far-start by finding a good partner (or two). This goes for a life partner or mate, but also a business partner, or capital provider, or a cause or institution you wish to support. A partner is your most valuable asset. If you’re climbing a mountain and tied to another person with a rope — you want that person to be a good partner. Marriage the same thing. In business having someone at the partner level is invaluable to bounce ideas, complement your skills and strengths, and to be honest with you when you’re not seeing yourself in the mirror. You want someone who will be in the foxhole with you-that always has your back. You want someone with a shared vision who shares your values and way of doing things, not just your destination.
I would not be here today without the partners I have had (I just happened to meet them here!) My first business partner, Kean Weaver, Class of 1984, got me to leave corporate America and come start a new company. He also introduced me to Leslie, my wife and my current business partner, life coach, and best friend. I have found many others to partner with on friendships, on projects, employees, all from Marietta.
So the real wisdom to pass on here today is that you’re sitting next to your potential partners in business, future mates, or life-long friends. So take a minute to look around and see it for yourself. These are the most important relationships you will ever have. Cherish them. Grow them. Challenge them. And do your homework assignment sitting under your chair.
It will be interesting to see how this class does and if you all create a “mastermind” together over the coming years with this common homework assignment. Maybe I’ll stop by at your 10-year reunion to see how my investment is doing. I’ll even buy the beer.
We both want to thank you for this honor and experience to address the Class of 2018. We are proud to join your class as the latest members of The Long Blue line.
And the 101st goal on my list 19 years ago was to get a Doctorate degree-funny how that list works…….