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Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor…
I think Silicon Alley Insider (SAI) is crackadelic. It is my #1 source for keeping my pulse on everything and anything going on with businesses in today’s digital-dog-fight world. Their style is bullshit-free rapid fire reporting — just how I like it. It’s like an all-you-can-eat fast food restaurant but the quality of what you consume is hot, fresh and energizing.
Last week SAI had an edgy piece called Magna Cum Lousy — Where Today’s Bad CEOs Went To School. The story is brought to life via a slideshow. There is a slide for each school including the University of Chicago, NYU, Columbia, U Penn (Wharton), Princeton, Dartmouth, MIT, Yale, and Harvard. Each slide highlights a list of the fat cat graduates who are responsible for the current economic shitshow the world is facing. The lists includes prominent bankers, politicians and regulators, all of whom had their hands on the wheel when the USS Titanic hit an iceberg the size of Mars. Notable titans include MIT graduate and Former Merrill CEO, John Thain, NYU graduate and Former Lehman CEO, Dick Fuld and the “Decider” himself, Harvard’s George W Bush.
I can’t help but chuckle when I see something like this. For the record, I went to a less than notable state school. Back in the day, it was called Southeastern Massachusetts University and has since been renamed the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. I grew up in a single working mother household long before single working mothers were a common thing. My Mom worked like a dog to raise three kids on a secretary’s salary. She would take the bus into Boston five days a week from the suburb we lived in, work her tail off, and then ride the bus home at night. By the time she got home she was exhausted. She didn’t have the education or energy to keep tabs on my school work. As such, school just wasn’t a priority for me. At the time, I didn’t know it needed to be. I’m not even sure my Mom saw all my report cards because I used to make my sister stand by the mailbox and grab them before my Mom got home from work. I think the only reason I even got into college was because I could play basketball.
My Mom may not have taught me that education mattered, but what she did teach me I have found to be far more valuable than the imparted wisdom of an Ivy League school. She taught me that everyone matters, particularly those who are less fortunate than me. She taught me to always stand up for the underdog…probably because she was one herself. She taught me resiliency and as Churchill said, “Never, never, never give up.” She taught me — unknowingly and through her own actions — my work ethic will always say more about me than I can ever say about myself. And she taught me that everyone in life needs a break and to give opportunities to those who have had to push a boulder up a hill for most of their life, something she knew how to do all too well.
Why the eff am I telling you this? Because I never seek out the best educated person when I am looking to hire. As a matter of fact, I usually look for the person who went to a state school — someone who never had anything handed to him or her. Someone who has student loans up the ying yang. Someone who doesn’t have an endless list of prominent alumni to call to help get a plum job. Someone who just needs a chance and will deliver beyond my wildest dreams because the opportunity I just gave him or her is something they have dreamt about for a long time.
Every time I hear the line from nineteenth-century American poet Emma Lazarus’ “The New Colossus” I can’t help but think it’s how I approach hiring and how I live my life. As she so eloquently wrote, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free…” It’s ironic that these words appear on a plaque at the base of the Statue of Liberty, a stone throw away from where so many of these greedy CEOs sought “the best of the best” in their hiring and then brought them and their families to the bowels of hell.
Disclaimer: I realize the majority of graduates from the prominent schools cited above are nothing like the fat cats listed in the SAI slideshow and many come from modest or challenging backgrounds themselves. This is yet another example that we should never judge an entire category of people based on the extreme actions of a few.
March 29th, 2009 at 5:35 pm
Hey Kel,
This is one of my favorite posts. It is funny how our parents might not have been well-educated but they sure knew about what was important in life. They lived by a moral compass that defined right & wrong. Unfortunately, society has become so far removed from these simple principles. Let’s hope that if anything good comes out of this whopping mess, it’s that we will get back to the fundamentals in life.
March 29th, 2009 at 5:47 pm
michelle, thanks for your thoughts. i couldn’t have said it better myself. moral compass is exactly what these peeps need to find their way back. i believe it’s never too late to change course.
March 29th, 2009 at 6:04 pm
Great post, Kel. My own mother, who worked in the education system throughout her entire career, always promoted the lesser-known, less expensive schools. It’s not where you go, but what you make and take out of it. (exactly what some of the “bad ceo’s” the news is overwhelmed with now did not do.)
March 29th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
holly, i agree. i know way too many people who were educated in the best private high schools and colleges who have done nothing with their life. on the flip side, i have one employee who never even went to college because she didn’t have the chance and she is a rock star.
March 29th, 2009 at 7:09 pm
Imagine how different and how much better our world would be if business leaders had this perspective. We desperately need more leaders with heart. Thanks for a great post!
March 29th, 2009 at 7:39 pm
benjapon, thanks for your comment. it made me smile. my hope is the current economic climate will remind people to be more humble and compassionate. the emergence of these two attributes alone would make a world of difference.
March 29th, 2009 at 9:00 pm
Great post. I live in a huge college town/community and see a lot of graduates from extremely expensive schools languish. I have also seen hard working kids who pay their way through state schools prosper. I place a lot of value on a good education, but yes–a good work ethic is hard to ignore. Hopefully other business leaders will see that it’s the people with hustle & focus who can tip the scales, regardless of their alma mater.
March 29th, 2009 at 9:23 pm
karen lynn, thanks for taking the time to comment. i appreciate your insight. i too place a huge value on a good education and to me it’s one of the greatest gifts i am giving my kids. the key is combining that education with high integrity, a kick-ass work ethic and good heart — it would make for a killer employee…and human being! to hell with entitlement. btw, i love your “hustle & focus” comment. brilliant!
March 30th, 2009 at 11:23 am
Last nite @ family dinner my dad joked me that I am the only college grad to work for our family business in 51 years – Fresno State thanks to tennis & loans… The school of hard knocks is how to get ahead – hard work, common sense, honesty and integrity. My dad still in your last interview has you wait while he “secretly” checks out your car – if it is clean inside & out you are hired – if it is dirty you are not because it shows you are lazy and won’t take care of the computer/tools we give you. I would love to see Forbes stop publishing the 100 Weathiest people and start only publishing the Top 100 Philanthropic People/Families… Striving to help others and acts of selflessness…
March 30th, 2009 at 12:58 pm
julie, i think i would enjoy having a beer with your dad. what a hot shit! the only religion i have in my life is baptism by fire. congrats on all your accomplishments. your parents must be so proud. btw, i think your forbes list suggestion would actually change behavior. love it!
April 2nd, 2009 at 9:18 am
Great post, I have been hearing a lot of people talk about this lately. I can really relate to this story as well. I really like the way you think.
April 2nd, 2009 at 11:57 am
Kel, thanks for this post. It’s inspirational and I’m forwarding it to my boyfriend who’s had a quite a ride in the web dev/web marketing job market recently.
I want to add to it and say that the people that really succeed are the go-getters. Your post made me think of this article from the WSJ – http://tinyurl.com/c6b9wo
I think in times like these, having the ‘go-getter’ attititude and mindset is an important determinant of success.
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:12 pm
brennan, thanks for taking the time to comment. i appreciate the time you spent reading this post and hope to see you commenting here again in the future. peace out.
April 2nd, 2009 at 4:15 pm
christopher, hey thanks for sharing that link! i think go-getter will trump any degree from any college on the planet. tell your boyfriend to keep the faith. my experience has been that the bumpiest of rides are often followed by the greatest landings. all things happen for a reason and sometimes it just takes a bit of runway to figure out what the heck those reasons are!
November 30th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
[...] My Mom was a single working Mom long before it was commonplace. [...]