15 Dec 2005

Winter Conferring Ceremonies at University College Cork (UCC), 15 December

Winter conferring ceremonies continued today (15 December 2005) at University College Cork with over 500 students conferred from the Faculties of Commerce, Food Science, Science and the College of Arts, Celtic Studies & Social Sciences.  The Conferring addresses were given by Maureen Gaffney, Chair of National Economic Social Forum (see below) and Conor Doyle, Member of UCC Governing Body, who delivered the encomium for the conferring of an Honorary Master of Arts Degree on Michael Geary, Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Cork Chamber of Commerce (see below).

Conferring Address at University College Cork by Dr Maureen Gaffney, Chair of National Economic Social Forum
President, Deans, distinguished members of the Faculty, honoured guests, parents, families, graduates; I am honoured to be with you today at this graduation ceremony from such a fine university, and my own Alma Mater.  

Gathered here before us today is the face of the New Ireland. Over the next thirty years, the men and women here will shape Irish society. You will decide how the world of business and commerce will fare. It is you who will decisively influence the advancement of science here.  It is you who will shape the cultural front - in music, arts, theatre. You will manage the cultural and the physical landscape. You will be the ones influencing the next generation of young people.  

And that journey starts here today - as, for most of you, you take the first steps into your life as a young professional.  But it is an educational and developmental journey that started a long time ago, in a very different and poorer Ireland.  Most of you were born in the early 1980s when Ireland was entering one of the bleakest periods; economic recession, high unemployment, massive national debt, huge emigration, industrial unrest. The journey started the first day you went to school, holding tightly on to your mother's hand at the classroom door. A day of intense and personal hope; that you would settle in school, that you would be a good student, that you would overcome whatever hurdles and set-backs might lie ahead and that, one day, you would go to university and graduate.  For those parents who were themselves graduates, they hoped you would follow in their footsteps. But even more poignantly, for those parents who never had that chance, they hoped you would, you have. Today, that dream is realised.  

All the days sitting in classrooms and lecture theatres, all the hours studying, all the preparation and anxiety before major exams, all the group projects and dissertations - it has all paid off.  But also, all the support you got at home: the endless hot meals and cups of tea, the reassurance, the financial sacrifices, the anxious enquiries about how you were getting on, the phone calls, the prayers, the occasional anxious nagging, the expectations and dreams that were invested in you - they have also paid off. This is a day for you - but also for your proud families.

So, with the indulgence of the President, I ask the new graduates here today to get to their feet, turn around, face your families and thank them from your heart for those years of support in the time honoured way by giving them a resounding round of applause.

Even though I am honoured to be here, I am also a bit worried about what it is I have to say to you. Being the mother of two recent graduates, I am all too aware of the danger of sounding preachy or - in your own parlance - sad as I try to articulate what life lessons I have to impart.  But here goes. I have four principles or guidelines to propose to you.

My first Principle: Each and every one of us, every individual sitting here today, has been put into the world to do something unique, to make a difference, to carve out a totally individual path. Your most important task in life is to find out what that is.

Each of you has not just a unique blend of natural talents, personal strengths and skills - but even more importantly a set of experiences - in your family, with your friends, in your mental, psychological life and imaginative - that is not and cannot be replicated by anybody else in this world.  Sometimes, in moments of self doubt, or when comparing yourself unfavourably to other people, this package of experiences does not seem worth much to you.  Other times, it ticks along but with no great passion.  But, there are magic occasions when the package seems to come together in such a way that you know you were at your personal best; that you are doing what you were put into the world to do, when you sing the song you were destined to sing. These are moments that are characterised by three things: you are conscious of using your strengths; you feel a great surge of passion and energy; and other people experience what you do as constructive for them. It is your most profound responsibility to yourself to find that best self; to identify those special talents you were given and find a way to express them in the world for yourself, for your profession, for other people.  

How do you identify that unique self?

Become aware of what really motivates you; what you will always do willingly, with determination, with passion, with high energy, when you don't count the time of effort involved. The labours of love.  Is it a need to discover? An endless curiosity about ideas?  A passionate need to communicate? An urge to nurture and care for other people? A determination to seek justice and fair play? A capacity to manage crises? To create enjoyment for yourself and others?  

It is very rarely one thing but more often a combination of one of two qualities you need to express. And that combination is your personal mission statement in life. Out of that flows the possibility of a way of being and living that is in harmony with your inner authentic self and will make a real difference in the world.  And out of that will also flow all kinds of possibilities for work and professional life.  Don't let yourself be moulded by the world but rather by the journey of self discovery, of finding and honouring your best self. Do what you love. Do what you were put into the world to do.

My second Principle: Honour your failures. How you deal with failure will shape your life just as much as your talents, your intelligence, and your successes. Sometimes even more than your successes. They are the most reliable route map to true wisdom.

No matter how bright, hard working or organised you are, things will occasionally go wrong. You will fail and feel terrible, humiliated, disheartened.  The temptation is to get trapped in the moment and lose heart. The awful thing about failure is that it seems endless at the time. But remember this. Failures are an absolutely inevitable part of the cycle of experimenting, of taking risks, or being bold and brave. Things come right in the end if you use your failures as precious learning opportunities.  I used to be very hard on myself when I made mistakes. I would mentally berate and criticise myself. Until one day I sat down and reflected on my many failures and realised that some of the most valued insights I have about myself, other people and life in general came from those failures. So when I failed, I learned to say to myself 'Don't worry. I always learn a very valuable lesson from my failures'. To learn to reassure yourself like that will provide you with that vital confidence to start again, to try again, to persist in the face of frustration and difficulties, and in the end to succeed. And that kind of success, born in failure, is often the success we value most deeply in life. The wounded heart is the source of our greatness.

My third Principle: Don't wait for the world to come to you or define you. Define your own journey and your own vision of success and work backwards from that vision.

Benjamin Zander, the great American conductor, has developed an extraordinary reputation talent for teaching and developing the talent of young musicians.  He has a very unique way of motivating them. At the beginning of each semester. He awards each student an A. But here's what they have to do. During the first two weeks of the semester, they have to each write him a letter, post-dated to the end of the semester, which begins with the words 'Dear Mr Zander, I got my A because... and in this letter they are to tell, in as much detail as they can, the story of what will have happened to them by that time that will have merited this high grade. In other words, they have to place themselves in the future, looking back, and to report on all the insights they acquired and milestones they attained during the year, as if those accomplishments had already happened. What  Zander is especially interested in is what kind of person they have become. In the attitudes, feelings and worldview of that person, who will have done all that he or she wishes to do or become everything he or she wanted to be.

One of his students, a talented musician from Taiwan, explained the effects on him of being believed in this way. He explained:

'I was Number 68 out of 70 students (in Taiwan). I come to Boston and Mr. Zander says I am an A. Very confusing. I walk about, three weeks, very confused.  I am Number 68, but Mr. Zander says I am an A student...I am Number 68, but Mr. Zander says I am an A. One day I discover much happier A than Number 68.  So I decide I am an A.

So, like Mr.Zander's students, award yourself an A today and live up to that award.  

Look back from that future.  That is what I invite you to do today.  Award yourself an A now - and them imagine yourself here on this stage at UCC in the future telling the students of the future what you did in life to merit that A.  

My final Principle is this. Never lose your capacity for joy, or your zest for living. Being young in today's Ireland is full of opportunity. But being young is also like it always was: occasionally feeling overwhelmed, making stupid mistakes because of lack of experience, being disillusioned when expectations are not met, full of the irritations of very day frustrations. Again and again, young people feel overpowered by the intransigence of parents and teachers, the fear that life is passing them by.  But they also have something special - a capacity to occasionally catch a glimpse of the world as perfect.  That is a capacity that can dim with age and experience. So, treasure that capacity.  Never lose that glimpse of the world as perfect.

I wish you every joy and success in your lives

Thank you.

_______________________________________________________________

ENCOMIUM for the Conferring of Master of Arts (honoris causa) on Mr Michael Geary at University College Cork delivered by Mr Conor Doyle
Michael Geary was born in Cork and is the eldest of 5 children.

He started his education at Sullivans Quay CBS, where his classmates included Michael Kelleher and Dermot O'Mahoney. He joined Martin Mahony & Brothers Limited, Textile Manufacturers, in Blarney as a management trainee in September 1958.  Following training in Ireland and the UK he eventually became Production Director of Martin Mahony (Weavers) Limited.  In 1967 he received a Diploma in Management from UCC.  

In 1970 he was elected President of the Woollen & Worsted Manufacturers of Ireland and a Council Member of the then Confederation of Irish Industry.

In 1971 Michael joined the then Gaeltarra Eireann (now Údarás na Gaeltachta) as General Manager of Connemara Fabrics in Kilcar, County Donegal.  In 1972 he moved to Gaeltarra's headquarters in Furbo, County Galway as a Development Executive, becoming new Industry Manager in 1974 and Investment Executive in 1976.

In 1978 Michael joined Bunzl Adhesive Materials Ltd, a subsidiary of the UK Public Packaging Company, in Macroom as Managing Director.

In 1983 Michael joined Córas Tráchtála (CTT) the Irish Export Board as Regional Manager - South West, where he played a key role in developing new exporting businesses in the region, a position he retained on the subsequent establishment of the Irish Trade Board.

From 1983 to 1995, during his time in CTT/Irish Trade Board, Michael served on the IDA Small Industry Board in the South-West.  In 1992 he was elected to the Executive Committee of Cork Chamber of Commerce, where he also chaired the EU/Overseas Trade Committee, until 1995.  He served on the Cork Electronic Industry Association from 1988/1996.

In 1989 Michael was elected Chairman of the Irish Exporters Association - Southern Branch, and in 1990 he was elected Chairman of The Marketing Institute.  In 1993 he was awarded a Fellowship in marketing by the Marketing Institute, "in recognition of his servicing the marketing needs of local businesses and stimulating enterprise through local development initiatives".

Michael became Chief Executive of the Chamber in 1996. Since then membership has grown to over 900 businesses and the stature of the Chamber has been significantly enhanced. He has served the Organisation loyally and resourcefully. He has worked successfully and harmoniously with six Presidents. His tact and effectiveness ensured that the ship always stated on course during the change of watch.

His administrative and diplomatic skills, so useful internally, were the secret behind the growth in the prestige and standing of the Chamber which is now represented on many boards and organisations. These include UCC, Cork Business Association, Cork City Challenge (where he soon takes over as Chairman). There are also reciprocal arrangements with Youghal, Midleton, Mallow and Fermoy Chambers of Commerce.

The Cork Development Forum consisting of the President of UCC, the City Manager, the County Manager, the IDA, Enterprise Ireland, and CIF was initiated and is run by  the Chamber. It is a very useful sounding board and incubator of ideas for all involved. Some significant initiatives have had there genesis there.

The coming together of so many bodies with the Chamber was very much at the heart of where Michael brought the Body. His efforts were watched with awe by the CCI and the other Chambers of Commerce in Ireland. CCI of which he has been a board member since 2001 turned to him to join its Mentoring Group to assist underperforming Chambers. He also served on the CCI Accreditation Board and its Transport Users Council. He has been Chairman of its Chief Executive Forum since 2002

Internationally Michael has utilised his experience to assist the development of Chambers of Commerce in the new accession countries of the EU through involvement in a range of EU supported programmes. These involved working with Chambers in Estonia, Latvia, Czech Republic and Slovenia. He has also worked on projects in Tirana,  Albania and Pale Chamber in Bosnia/Hertzagovnia.

Cork Chamber of Commerce will sorely miss Michael His straightforwardness and integrity were invaluable assets of the organisation and the Cork Business Community. He has served them well.

163MMcS