Archive for April, 2011

US & Foreign Commercial Service Chief and Thunderbird friend Suresh Kumar tells graduating class: “Those who seek a global career do so at a time of incredible opportunity and change”.  Don’t obsess over your career and overplan, just pursue your passion and great things will ensue. “If I were to satisfy my parents I would have been a doctor; if I followed my grades I would have been a finance major; and if I stuck to the advice of teachers , bosses and search consultants I would not have strayed off the beaten track.  [...] Going with the flow has helped me perform better as an executive, leader, and public servant. Without a doubt, it has made me the person I am.

Some pieces of advice:

Live a Life of Purpose and Passion, and Embrace Change

Know what you seek, have a plan of action, but be willing to adapt and improvise

Trust your instinct, and go with the flow

There is a world of opportunity out there to win the future.

Plan a future but be willing to adapt and improvise.

Thank you Suresh for a memorable commencement address and for being such committed ambassador of the Thunderbird mission!

Full text follows:

Commencement Address
By The Honorable Suresh Kumar
Assistant Secretary of Commerce & Director General US & Foreign Commercial Service Thunderbird, Graduate School of Global Management Glendale, AZ April 29,2011

The Thunderbird class of 2011; proud parents; President Cabrera; members of the Board of Trustees, administration and faculty; distinguished guests and friends. I am deeply honored to be here with you today.  Thank you for allowing me to participate in your very special day.

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In my latest op-ed (El Mundo, April 26 2011, in Spanish) I describe the important role that foreign-born entrepreneurs have played and continue to play to drive innovation and business creation in the US.  Most of them came to the US to study, attracted by great universities and an attractive lifestyle. It was only after they were here that they were inspired to create a business.  When they do, they not only add their knowledge and skills to the American pool, they bring with them global social capital and a global mindset that helps make their companies, and hence the American economy, more globally competitive.

Because of cultural, linguistic, geographic and other factors, Spain, I argue, could be in a position to also become a global hub for talent from around the world.  And while unemployment and economic stagnation awakens protectionist instincts and anti-immigration sentiment, attracting talent from around the world may be a safe bet to building a globally competitive economy.

In the giant global social network for the 21st century, connectivity will determine competitiveness.

Trying to decide where in the world to invest? Wondering whether all the fuss about BRIC still stands? Here’s an idea: start by identifying nations with the most catching up to do and where people feel most optimistic about their future.  Low per capita income indicates there’s a lot of growth potential.  Optimism is a proxy for willingness to bet on one’s future.  The Global Barometer on Hope and Despair by WIN-Gallup International provides a great place to start.

If you look at the top-left (green) quadrant, here’s the list of top prospects:

• Asia: Vietnam and China
• Latin America: Brazil and Peru
• Africa: Nigeria and Ghana

In the rich world, Scandinavia would seem to be the safest bet, with Germany coming close.

Another way to slice the chart is to focus on the top-left quadrant and sort it out by population (potential consumer base).  In that case, here is the top ten:

1. China
2. India
3. Brazil
4. Nigeria
5. Bangladesh

Or you can sort it out by GDP (market size).  In that case, here is the top ten:

1. China
2. Brazil
3. India
4. Argentina
5. Malaysia

Finally, it is interesting that Iraq, Afghanistan and Kosovo are all in the top-left corner.

Thunderbird Vision 2020, Global Leadership-Global Impact, asks that we focus outward, not inward and that we find new and better ways to change lives, to empower individuals to bring about opportunities around the world by building good businesses.  Here’s one example.

By Wynona Heim, Program Manager, Thunderbird for Good

The Vital Voices award ceremony was a wonderful event, and Fatema Akbari and her daughter Shahla did a beautiful job at the acceptance speech, and as Ambassadors for the 10,000 Women program, Project Artemis, and their native Afghanistan.  Fatema stole the show when she got up to the microphone at the end of the speech that her daughter had translated for her and said in English: “I want to make a special thank you to Vital Voices, the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Women program, and Thunderbird for all of their support of Afghan women.  Next time I come to the United States, I will speak only English.”  She was the ONLY awardee to get a standing ovation at the END of her speech.

Her Vital Voices video, which includes the interview with you, is on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wt6I_KNXUZ0

A funny thing happened last night on my way to dinner. And it made me think about how technology does not always deliver on its full potential if driven by the wrong management philosophy.

A group of 20 executives attending a board meeting ride on a bus from their hotel to their dinner site.  The driver makes a couple of wrong turns and gets the group lost.  With the help of a cellphone GPS system, two passengers guide the driver and they finally make it to their destination, only 40 minutes late.  The passengers are frustrated and the driver, upset and embarrassed.

Interestingly, the bus was equipped with a GPS system.  But the system was designed to allow the manager of the bus company to control the location of the bus on real-time from his central office, not to help the driver navigate to her destination.  Technology was not used to help the employee avoid a mistake but to allow the manager to know that a mistake had been made.

Should technology be used to empower or to control?  We just read McGregor’s Theory X/Theory Y classic piece in my leadership seminar. It is remarkable how relevant it continues to be decades later!