Good morning everyone. It is indeed nice to be home and see so many friendly faces.
Pennsylvania will always be home to me - a community where I have so many friends I treasure and where I learned so much that continues to shape my personal and professional life. So thank you for asking me to be with you.
As I looked over the program I noticed that my talk this morning is advertised as, "Morning Wake Up Call". Nobody asked me but I think that sounds a little off putting. Think about it - who really wants to be giving a wake up call to folks on a [beautiful] Saturday morning after a night of partying, although admittedly a talk entitled the complete history of trigonometry would be worse.
Feeling slightly chagrined, I looked over the rest of the IMPACT 2 program and then I really began to wonder. First I wondered why we can't all get to the heart of the matter and listen to the panel discussion that promises - no, excuse me, not just promises but guarantees to tell us all how to be, and I quote, "Filthy Rich by Forty." Because being rich just isn't any fun. It is only when you are filthy rich that you actually enjoy having too much discretionary income.
My wake up call to you this morning will attempt to serve two purposes and let me put my cards on the table - nothing I am about to say will help you to get rich or avoid a retirement on Ramen Noodles.
I'm going to begin by taking a moment to say something that is very general, but very important about your work as professionals. Like other professionals all of you can be divided into two groups. On the one hand, there are those of you who feel quite good about yourselves and your work.
Your lives are in sync and you feel as though you are on the right track. To all of you who feel this way let me offer a word of advice - based on what I have learned in my own career - Don't be fooled. However happy and comfortable you may feel today - this is only the beginning.
Don't stand still.
Keeep moving - keep asking questions - keep looking for new opportunities - inside and outside your field of endeavor.
For those of you who do not place yourselves in this group perhaps it is fair to say that you are still searching for a professional track that is fulfilling, still hoping to find a particular job or career path that is a good fit. My advice for you is equally straightforward.
Relax.
Take a breath.
Breathe.
Don't settle for something that doesn't challenge you. Whatever job you take be sure to measure it by the following question - does it allow you to grow? If it doesn't - move on.
All of us - wherever we find ourselves - either in sync with our work as professionals or not - all of us need to remind ourselves of two fundamental truths that I believe are the key to a life well lived.
First. Change is good. We need to be open to new experiences and we must overcome our fear of failure. Every organization - from the federal government to Fortune 500 companies is saddled with individuals who have stopped moving, hunkering down to stand still for the sake of comfort and security. Many of these people do their jobs adequately - that is, well enough to get by. But too often they have stopped thinking creatively - stopped challenging themselves to try something different. They find it easier to maintain the status quo. Learn this lesson now and learn it well - there is always room for improvement - always innovative ways to think and to act wherever you find yourself on the professional ladder.
Second - and this may strike you as counterintuitive. Time is on our side. If we accept the need for change and if we are always striving to challenge ourselves and to grow - there is always enough time to become who we are. As professionals we too often succumb to the temptation to be in a rush - always striving to do more and to do it faster. Too often we don't stop and think and reflect. We lose sight of the big picture. We become functionaries rather than critical thinkers and we fool ourselves into believing that we don't have the time or the energy to stop and ask ourselves - what am I doing and why am I doing it?
My wake up call to you this morning is going to focus on just that - the need to keep track of the bigger picture.
Perhaps you were expecting me to share with you a formula for professional success or offer some advice on how to become better and more efficient over-achievers and networkers.
To be perfectly honest - I think most of you have the nuts and bolts of professional life figured out. In fact I'm sure of it. You're smart enough and disciplined enough to be here so I want to pursue a different line of inquiry with you - one that doesn't get talked about often enough.
I want to urge each and every one of you to realize and to remember that there is something far more important than climbing the ladder to success - something far more important than pleasing the Donald Trump's of the world, no offense Raj.
That something is what makes each of us who we really are - persons with the capacity to do much more than be professionally successful - for we are all persons who are talented and generous and able to change the world.
Hello?
Good morning?
Are you still there or have you checked out?
I can imagine what some of you are thinking. What's going on here? Isn't she going to talk to us about getting ahead in our professional lives - How about helping us know how to find our way into the realm of movers and shakers - giving us some tips and insider information about how to become people who make it to the top?
If I were in your seats I would be thinking the same thing. Because stereotypically that's what a Young Professionals gathering is supposed to be all about. But for those of us who are Young Professionals - we know that there's much more at stake.
As a still young professional I've discovered that there is something far more important at stake than becoming the world's best networker and most successful and richest over achiever.
Like all of you I am an ambitious person. I want to excel. I want to make a real difference in my profession. I work hard day and night and I push myself to be the best I can be in my field. I am always on the watch for the chance to create new opportunities for success .
Like many of you I have a blackberry loaded with an endless directory of names. I breakdown those names in the following way. There is first and foremost a very select and very small group of trusted friends. Second there is a much larger group of folks who I think matter for one reason or another and finally -- the largest group of all consists of names and contact information for people who I think might be helpful to me someday.
You know the kind of person I am talking about - someone you meet at a cocktail party or on a plane or at a meeting. You exchange cards, you dutifully enter the information and then one day when you're scanning for someone's digits in the blackberry you see a name your likely to say "Who is that?"
Now there's a word we don't hear very often.
Humanitarian.
But to be a humanitarian is the sine qua non for success if we define success as living a life well lived - a life full of generosity and service and love. A life lived for those who number among our families and friends to be sure, but for our community as well.
Let me begin by stating the obvious. Many if not all of you are well on your way to being true humanitarians. You are here because in fact you share a set of attitudes and values that go far beyond climbing a professional ladder. There are issues and questions that you truly care about. This organization is more than a network - this organization is dedicated to harnessing your power to make a difference in the local community and across the Commonwealth. The committees you serve on and the projects you support are truly for the greater good.
If you know the true meaning of the word professional this makes perfect sense. We almost never think about it but the word professional has deep spiritual roots that speak to our generosity and commitment to service. The word first appeared in English in 1420 but the Latin term dates back centuries. The term professional referred to men and women who left the secular world to join religious communities, professing their lives to prayer and charitable works.
Professional also has a secondary meaning, one that continues to be cited to the present day. The term professional refers to one's vocation or calling or purpose in life.
My professional life involves thinking, writing and speaking critically about the political issues and political figures of our day. I spend most of my waking hours coming up with questions - questions that will help us understand political power and the way it is being applied across a wide spectrum, that and being yelled at by Ann Coulter and trying unsuccessfully to get a word in edgewise with Chris Mathews.
I love my work.
I find it challenging and rewarding.
I am privileged to be engaged in a profession that places me at the intersection of politics and media - the juncture where it is always a challenge to keep one's eye on the prize of objectivity by resisting the spin which deflects the light of truth from the contours of our political landscape.
And yes I want more than that. I want to matter - I want to make a contribution that is not only important and valued but one that will be remembered. Just like each of you I want to count in this world. I want more.
Why? And how can I achieve still greater success?
Money?Awards?Articles? That's not bad.But that's not enough.Yourgrowing success has to be coupled and mated to a growing humanitarianism becauseit's the Humanitarians have real power - the power to effect change and to transform the lives of others.
The surprising thing is that success and humanitarianism can co-exist. Do not separate the two. Don't spend 60 years making a pile of money, then give it away at the end, thinking that you've thereby struck a balance. You have to blend the two each and every day, from this day forward.
Funerals in our society are complicated affairs. Because we as a people are so focused on measuring our lives in terms of success there is enormous pressure to turn every funeral into something of an Academy Award presentation. (Don't laugh) - you know exactly what I am talking about. I don't know about you, but I've gone to my share of funerals - sometimes for loved ones but more often for relatives of friends, business associates and colleagues.
Here's what I have observed. There are funerals people attend because they feel it is important to be there. This is not a bad thing. Most of these people empathize with the loss involved but their real reason for attending is because this was a person who mattered in their world or, even if she was peripheral to their world this person mattered to the world at large as a figure of importance and power. Unfortunately it is also true that many such individuals were not known in life nor remembered in death as great humanitarians by those who knew and worked with them.
And then there are funerals of people who have lived lives of relative anonymity. And sometimes these are the funerals packed with people who crowd a sacred space not just to fulfill a social obligation but to express heartfelt love and gratitude for a life well lived. When we witness such an event, we know, that the person being remembered was a humanitarian someone who had the power to touch and transform the lives of others.
Service is essential to realizing our full potential - our purpose -- as professionals. Last year's Tony Award for Best Musical went to a show called "Avenue Q". For those of you who haven't seen it, "Avenue Q" is a musical comedy with puppets, a grown up version of Sesame Street that tells the story of Princeton - a recent college graduate who is finding his way in the world. Princeton is searching for his purpose in life and at a critical point Princeton turns his back on a key relationship in his life - one that made him truly happy -- convincing himself that he can't be involved with another person while he is engaged in searching for his purpose.
Princeton learns the fallacy of this strategy the hard way but in the end he comes to see that none of us can find our purpose in life alone. There is no point in striving to become who we think we should be at the expense of the relationships that are essential to our happiness. Princeton discovers that there is never a reason to "check out" of the stuff that truly defines who we are both as individuals and as members of a community. Princeton makes this discovery by experiencing the pain of loss and isolation but in more important ways by being of service to others - by showing them the ropes and by doing so in a way that is compassionate.
One of the key questions that I think Princeton makes us wonder about, is... who is humanitarianism for? Is it just for others? Or is it for ourselves, too. Humanitarianism is for others and ourselves, for both. It's one of the great hybrids. Princeton teaches us that when you shortchange others, you lose the best parts of yourself. And without the best parts of yourself, you're less able to enrich the lives of others.
As I said earlier, my work is all about understanding politics. And when I think of some of the political figures who I admire the most I see them all as humanitarians - individuals dedicated to public service because they truly care about finding ways to make this world a better and more compassionate place.
Time for some practical advice. Wherever you are in your career path I encourage you now to take the time to become active, more service oriented, more compassionate in your lives.
You have the power to transform the world around you. Begin by finding time in your life and your career to become politically active. Work on a campaign - join a movement or a cause - serve on a local community board or board of education - or find a position on the staff of a government official. Better yet - think about running for office. Every level of government from the town council to the state legislature here in Pennsylvania -- to the Congress and the executive branch -- needs individuals like you with your talents and energy.
I don't need to tell you that we live in a very difficult time. I know how easy it is to turn off the news because so much of it seems so bad. From the war in Iraq to the tragedy of New Orleans to the spiraling deficits that keep growing exponentially to the ever present threat of a terrorist attack - take your pick. But our strength and our greatness as a people - our character as Americans - is all about facing adversity and turning challenges into opportunities. It may sound like a cliché but it's true - every epoch of history brings with it struggles and challenges - every moment in history is the best of times and the worst of times - every generation faces down new challenges that seem to threaten its survival.
I am not pessimistic. I know and you know that we will endure because we have the power to face the time in which we live with honesty and integrity, returning to the values that shaped us as a nation. Values of fairness and equity, values of compassion and generosity, values of courage and strength.
Armed with such values you have the power to be of service by taking up a cause in your community and making a difference in the outcome of an issue that will change lives. You have the power through service to others of learning the skills of leadership and consensus building.
And when you do this with others - your power - your strength as humanitarians -- will increase exponentially.
Margaret Mead, a pioneer in the field of anthropology studied how people come together to make a life that is rich in strong relationships and joy. She gained powerful insights from her work about human behavior. Among her many writings there is a line
that I always turn back to - ""Never believe that a few caring people can't change the world. For, indeed, that's all who ever have."
As I look out at all of you this morning I think of those words and I imagine how much service can come from this room - how much power you possess collectively to change your communities and to touch the lives of so many people in ways that are important and meaningful.
I encourage you to look around and to see in each other what Margaret Mead saw - the energy of caring people - the only ones who can in fact change the world.
You have the power. Despite all of the bad news take the time and in a disciplined way think positively about our government and about our way of life each and every day. Treasure the freedom that we have as individuals and as a community. We live in a democracy that has not only achieved greatness but done so in a spirit of compassionate service to others here and abroad. Don't take our freedom for granted and don't impugn the character and values of those who take views opposed to your own. Find ways to strengthen that freedom in your own lives and in the life of your community.
Humanitarians find government service attractive because they are by definition generous people. Are you a generous person? If you answered yes come up and give me $20 dollars just to prove it to yourself. I kid. But Do you push yourself to give more - to give back to your community and to the institutions that brought you to this moment in time? Do you see our nation as a generous place where we truly reach out others as we move through life?
I think the depth of outrage over what happened in the wake of Hurricane Katrina is best understood not just as a response to the destruction and suffering left by the storm but also as a natural response of a frustrated nation that wanted to be of service. Bureaucracy and ineptitude got in the way of what should have happened for the people of New Orleans and the Central Gulf Coast making it impossible for Americans to be who they are - a generous people committed to serving each other in a time of need.
There are countless other opportunities to be of service beyond the political sphere. Working with young people in tutoring programs, helping the elderly in our communities, taking the time to protect our ecosystem are all examples of service. I know that many if not all of you are already engaged in such work - now is the time for you to find ways to assume leadership positions so that others like you may find more opportunities to do the same.
I've been talking a good deal about the value of service and its place in defining us as humanitarians. One can do service for many reasons - some of them good and others that are more about self aggrandizement or worse yet a sense of condescending pity for those who are less fortunate. There is one way to insure that our service to others always reflects the best of intentions.
Always serve in a spirit of compassion. For many of us compassion seems to be a passive concept - one that doesn't involve action but rather calls forth a state of mind or attitude towards what is happening around us. Actually both service and compassion involve active and passive responses. To truly be of service we need to be thinking about what it is we are doing and why we are doing it - service involves reflection, a conscious choice and then the act of doing something. The same is true of compassion. To be compassionate is more than adopting a stance or posture or attitude towards the world in which we live, although that is certainly very much part of it. To be compassionate always involves a response that is active, one that is marked by generosity and tolerance. We could all use a good deal more of such compassion in America these days.
We are constantly reminded of the fact that America is a divided nation. Red states and blue states, divisions and fissures that divide us over issues related to the economy, end of life issues, questions of marriage and sexual orientation, the war in Iraq - the list goes on and on. But I wonder how often any of us takes the time to realize that we are of service to others when we listen with compassion to their beliefs and opinions, especially when they are on "the other side" of a question. Believe me, sometimes compassion gets put to the test, like when Pat Buchanon is yelling at you on live tv.
To be compassionate means to be listening in a way that is more than respectful and tolerant of another's opinion - it means listening and acting in such a way that we understand where that person is coming from and why she feels so strongly about the issue at hand. Compassion means going beyond a person's politics, and getting to their humanity, commiting yourself to finding and assisting the angles of their better nature, even if at times you secretly suspect they might not have any.
When I think of compassionate service I am reminded of the story of Ruby Bridges. At the age of six Ruby Bridges was an over-achiever. Her test scores were so high that when the NAACP sought to integrate the public schools of New Orleans in 1960 they chose her and three other girls to be the first African American students to enter a group of designated all white, segregated schools. Ruby was ordered by the court to attend the Franz Elementary School and on the first day of school she set off. But this was not an ordinary day for Ruby or for anyone in New Orleans. Ruby went to school on that day and the days that followed accompanied by federal marshals and police. When she arrived at her school building she was surrounded by an angry crowd of white parents chanting, "Two, four, six, eight we don't want to integrate".
The pictures of her on those days are chilling - a child dressed in her best clothes, her books in hand, dwarfed by angry adults screaming at the marshals who guarded her as they brought her into the school building. When Ruby got inside she found an empty school - she had her teacher all to herself. None of the white parents allowed their children to go to school because Ruby was in the building. Ruby ate lunch by herself and played by herself. And each day she trudged on, determined to go to her school.
A former teacher and mentor of mine, Dr. Robert Coles, a renowned child psychiatrist who taught at Harvard, went to interview Ruby.
Coles determined that Ruby, despite her tender age, understood that what she was doing was of service to many other people who deserved to attend that elementary school and were eligible to do so, but for the color of their skin.
Coles also discovered that Ruby's thoughts about those scary days were ones of compassion.
"What were you thinking about when those people were yelling at you when you went to school?" Dr. Coles asked Ruby.
"I just prayed that God would forgive them," Ruby said.
Ruby's response, rooted in the religious tradition of her home, speaks to the meaning of compassion. She was in a deeply antagonistic situation and yet she wasn't thinking these people "are my enemies" I wonder how many Ruby Bridge's there are in some of the more polarizing debates taking place in America today.
I mention Ruby though for another reason as well.
Humanitarians are people who inspire us. If we want to imitate them than we need to be inspired as well. We all need role models - heroes and heroines who set forth an examples for us. For some of us those role models are our parents and grandparents or our teachers and mentors. For others they are figures in our collective history like Gandhi or Martin Luther King, Jr., or Bobby Kennedy.
We all need inspiration and we all need to step back from the jaded atmosphere that makes us deconstruct heroes and reduce them to becoming indistinguishable from others by focusing on their foibles and faults. The point of a hero of course isn't the reality of his or her humanity with all its imperfections. A hero is one who is just like us in those ways but has moved beyond through acts of courage and self sacrifice and service and compassion.
None of us will experience what Ruby did on those mornings and yet there are more modest but no less effective ways to be of service compassionately as we pursue our careers. Seeking to understand where a person is in life will never work against our advancement but will engender confidence and trust in our capacity to be leaders. Making allowances for a person's individual needs and circumstances will not undermine our position, but strengthen it and change the environment for the better. Recognizing the paramount value of our families and personal relationships is a true measure of compassion and one that we need to extend to ourselves and to each other.
You have the power to be like Ruby. We have the power to be a generation known for its commitment to compassionate service. But if this is to happen then we must be tolerant and careful listeners, bridge builders and leaders who are known for building consensus among others.
Before I leave you today let me remind you of one thing. Service is a value that needs to be nourished and cultivated over time - a value that needs to be practiced day in and day out. We are not born with character - our characters are fashioned by our parents and teachers to be sure, but part of being adults is realizing that our characters are actually quite malleable. There is much we can do to strengthen and deepen our moral fiber. And here is a recommendation that might not be one you have thought about.
Read good books.
That's right. Take the time to read. Not for the sake of self improvement but for the sheer pleasure of moving from knowledge to wisdom. Read books that teach you and remind you of ancient truths and concepts of justice and harmony and peace. Pick up some Shakespeare and marvel at the eloquence that says so much to our souls. Work through the wisdom of Seneca and take its principles to heart.
We are citizens of more than this community and commonwealth and nation. We are citizens of the planet - globalized in more ways than we know - but what remains are the differences in culture that define us and our beliefs. Find books that will open you to greater knowledge about the "other" - learn about the spiritual and ethical traditions of other peoples and cultures who share the planet with us and whose lives and destinies are linked to ours.
Travel. Trade in the next vacation of leisure on the beach for one that involves exploring a place that is new and unfamiliar to you. See how other people live, read their newspapers, experience their culture first hand and talk with them about their worlds. Become a better person by learning about other people.
In that same spirit learn another language - Oliver Wendell Holmes was in his late 80s when he took up the study of Greek. Spend a few weeks getting down some basic vocabulary before you head off on that trip.
Find the time for art and beauty. Let a piece of art of music speak to you. Let it speak to your soul. Let it put the stresses of daily life into their proper place. Pennsylvania has some of the finest museums in the world and Philadelphia is home to one of the world's greatest music conservatories and philharmonics. Whatever form of art you like - pursue it - and become something of an amateur expert in it. Allow the art you see and the music you hear and the dance you watch to change you. Let it touch your soul - let yourself go in the beauty that is truly transformative.
And finally - stay healthy. Aristotle was on to something when he talked about the link between a healthy body and healthy mind. Never be too busy to play a sport or to exercise your body.
If you take anything away from my time with you today, I hope it's that each and every one of you realize that your humanitarian equity can make a difference. And it doesn't matter if your contribution is large or small.
You don't have to solve world hunger. Sometimes it's enough just giving a homeless person enough money to buy a hot meal.
Just make a contribution.
Let the words of Emerson echo in your ears as they do mine. Who you are shouts so loudly in my ears I cannot hear what you say. Who you are shouts so loudly in my ears I cannot hear what you say.
I think that should do for a morning wake up call. Let's rename it and call it a call to service - a call to become professional humanitarians. I've enjoyed being with you and I wish to each of you every success and happiness in the days ahead.
