Editor’s note: This article was first published in May 2013, and its “last week” (Hoffman’s speech) and “the crisis” that upended graduates’ plans refer to that month and the Spanish economic crisis of the time.
Most university students have no idea what they are going to do from here on. They have a degree, drive and probably a lot of talent, but the crisis has torn up their plans. Those are their weapons, but the university forgot to give them the ammunition and teach them how to use those weapons. I have always said that one of the biggest differences between Spanish and American universities is that here we prepare people for civil-service exams and for being employees, while over there they prepare entrepreneurs. What’s more, they prepare them for success on graduation day itself, since they usually hear a talk from great business leaders showing them the path to take, in a speech most of them carve into memory so they never forget it.
Perhaps one of the best speeches I have ever heard was the one given by the late Steve Jobs, in which he told students at Stanford University his story and how he got started. If you still haven’t seen it… it is simply a must (see: Steve Jobs’s Stanford speech). Jobs says the best thing that ever happened to him was being fired from his own company.
Last week LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman also gave a speech to recent graduates, in which he made some remarks many university students will relate to, and at the same time gave three very simple recipes for success in life, in your career or in business.
Reid Hoffman warns you that you won’t find the keys to success in books, and university won’t help you succeed in life, although it is an added ingredient.
“The working world is a constant competition in which everyone will want to take the job you are competing for. That is hard, it is stressful and agonizing, above all knowing that even if you have better qualities than others, even if you consider yourself much better than other people, the job may go to someone else.
It took me a while to realize this, as I drifted from company to company, until I had an idea. The idea was to start my own business. That way I could prove what I was worth. A piece of advice: you will never start down the road to success until you are completely, absolutely clear about what you really want to do in life. Once you are clear about it, you may succeed or you may fail, but the goal itself doesn’t matter as long as you enjoy the process. The three keys to success are:
- Gain a competitive advantage.
- Build a good network of contacts.
- Take risks.
When you see that the competition is too tough, you need to gain a competitive advantage over everyone else. If everyone is competing to head for the mountains, the biggest competitive advantage is to head for the beach. There is always something you are good at and enjoy doing. Whatever you feel real passion for is probably where you have a competitive advantage. Have aspirations and set yourself realistic goals. Never lose sight of your goals, and don’t let anyone influence you negatively.
Build a good network of contacts, and if possible find good mentors. Surround yourself with intelligent people who have aspirations. Don’t do what everyone else does, and don’t waste time on the things everyone else wastes it on.
And take risks. If you want to succeed, you will have to take chances, but try to take risks intelligently. Most people don’t succeed because they don’t take risks. We created LinkedIn right after the dot-com crash, when nobody trusted a technology company. Everyone told us it wasn’t a business, that it wasn’t worth it, but we surrounded ourselves with professionals, gained a competitive advantage in our niche and took a risk. It could have gone wrong, but it went well, and regardless of the outcome, it was worth trying, even if we had failed.”
Neil Gaiman: whatever you do, make art
Gaiman also gave a speech to recent graduates, and his message was simply that whatever you do, you have to be an artist if you want to succeed.
“I hope you all make lots of mistakes, because if you are making mistakes, it is a sign that you are doing something. And mistakes in themselves are very useful, because they are a way of learning the lesson much faster, and the bigger the mistake, the longer we will remember it.
Remember that in any discipline or any career, whether you are a musician, a dancer, a photographer, a designer, whatever… we all have something that makes us unique, and that gives us the ability to make art.
Life isn’t always easy. Things can go wrong for us in love, in business, in friendship, in health and in anything else that can go wrong. When things get really hard, make good art.
I mean it. If your partner leaves you for someone else, make good art. If you break a leg falling down the stairs, make good art. If someone on the internet thinks what you do is silly and that you won’t succeed, never mind, make art. Things will end up going well or they will end up going badly, and we will only know when the time comes, but until that time comes, do what you are good at and turn it into art. That is where success lies.”
Jeff Bezos: everything you are comes from your choices
Bezos gave a masterful speech to Princeton’s new graduates.
“Everything you are comes from your choices. You will discover that when you reach a certain age. And everything you will become will depend on your choices and options.
Don’t let inertia be your guide; follow your passions.
Don’t follow dogma; be original.
Don’t choose a life of comfort; throw yourself into adventure.
Don’t wilt under criticism; follow your convictions.
Don’t shield your heart against rejection; act when you fall in love.
Don’t play it safe; take risks.
When things get really tough and difficult, don’t give up; be relentless.”
When you are 80, you will sit on your sofa and ask yourself: did I take risks or did I play it safe? Did I give up when difficulties appeared, or did I keep going? And so on…
Those were the options, and our destiny will depend on the choices we make. We are the ones who build the story of our own lives.
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- 18 business lessons you will learn sooner or later
Featured image: Robert Scoble, CC BY 2.0, via Flickr.
