Didactic Lessons

Seeing how different people communicate the same fundamental message is always a pleasant thing to experience. Perhaps that observation comes from my pride as a listener, and during the week of Feb. 22nd, I did a lot of listening. I heard speakers at three separate venues, and as I pieced together their stories, I uncovered an important truth. Please allow me to share those encounters with you.

With a year left until my graduation, I naturally decided to take advantage of any opportunity on campus during that week to interact with the world at large and squeeze the last bit of nectar out of Tulane’s proverbial academic fruits. My first stop was the presentation on “Women in Green Jobs” at Newcomb Institute on Wednesday (Feb. 24th). I am a man, but I knew from experience that any wisdom to be gained didn’t require me to be a specific gender. Overall, the panelists impressed two particular points. First, there is unlimited potential in the green industry, and second, one should get a degree tied to a solid profession (presumably they were implying something in the green industry). No problem with the second one, but I asked in response to the first, how would you let your client know that your services had unlimited potential? Answer: sufficient drive and passion — do not bog the client with the “hard-sell.”

Then came a presentation from Jesse Devlyn from Devlyn Opticos at the Business School. Mr. Devlyn shared his story of ups and downs after getting an MBA from Tulane. In his lecture, he used the Founding Fathers as an example: The Revolutionary Army had almost no material advantage to the Crown, yet through pure spirit and motivation, actually succeeded. Consequently, the key to attracting financial resources to a cause (business or otherwise) lies not in the nitty-gritty detail of “objective” models and thick proposals — but in your personal drive.

The following evening I listened to Ben Hamawy, who works with Mignon Faget, the renowned jewelry designer. He described the transformation of the firm from a one-house shop to a multi-store chain with a corporatized structure that remains thriving after Hurricane Katrina. I asked: what allowed your firm to go the corporatization route? The proud owner answered: not only was it the aesthetic quality of his work that secured the financier’s interest, but it was also his passion for his craft.

When he finished his answer, the previous two groups of speakers suddenly came to light, and the years I have spent at Tulane also flashed before me: Have I done things in the past because I wanted to please others and earn pride, or because those were the things that I actually liked? Indeed, popular writings that I came across in the past two decades on entrepreneurship, job-seeking, and interpersonal dynamics tend to link success and greatness to an exaggerated self — rather than what truly lies beneath. The 1990s fueled our generation with a drive to succeed and a, at times, boisterous self-pride. The 2000s attempted to extend that golden age, but failed miserably. Will the 2010s provide a different outcome? Hopefully. It’s undeniable that you and I will have a part in determining that outcome, and the lessons I learned in previous week told me that the common denominator for success — for putting our economy back on track — seems to be a storm of passion.

Lucas Shum is in his fourth year of the Master of Accounting program at the A. B. Freeman School of Business. He may be contacted at lshum@tulane.edu.