I was hugely honoured to be asked to deliver a speech at the Northwood Boys High School annual speech day yesterday… When I walked with all the teachers and head staff on stage who wore their colourful academic gowns and regalia I felt like a mud bream in a tropical fish tank…..and, it also triggered a return to my years in high school, where I had rebelled against authority figures…probably because of the absence of one in my life…at that time…..I soon settled, but nevertheless felt the pressure of the responsibility of addressing young men whose futures lay ahead of them… I was introduced by the deputy head who read out all the awards and accolades that my recent work had achieved ..…I was relieved as there can be no more boring and enduring a 20 minutes than to listen to someone gloating and talking about their own achievemnents…. My angle was not necessarily to connect with achievers… of which in any school system, there are only a handful… top academics, sportsmen… those who excel naturally or to those who are by nature, self motivated..... but, rather it was to speak to young men who may often find themselves asking ‘where do I fit in.. in all of this… I’m not going to play for the Sharks or become a chemical engineer or head up a large corporation’… I thought…not everyone needs motivation, but everyone needs inspiration..!! I raised the issue of the one dimensional or rather standardized education system model… which prevailed at the time when I was at school, and to this day, I feel, still prevails, albeit to a lesser extent…..how Maths, Science and Accountancy, while critically important subjects, hold higher perceived value than those of the Humanities… art, drama, dance, theatre…… !! I quoted Ken Robinson, an educationalist who cites the example of a young Gillian Lynne, who at the age of eight, in the 1930’s, struggled with her grades at school, couldn’t concentrate and fidgited a whole lot. Her mother took her to a doctor to try and determine what the problem was…The doctor told Gillian that he and her mom were going to the next room to discuss her issues, and offered to turn the radio on to keep her occupied in their absence… in leaving the room they turned and noticed young Gillian was dancing to the music on the radio… she danced away… the doctor turned to her mom and said, ‘Gillian isn’t sick.. she’s a dancer, she likes to dance’. Her mother enrolled her at a school for dance…Gillian eventually danced for the Royal Ballet and choreographed CATS and Phantom of the Opera, the two most successful musicals in the history of theatre… and went on to earn millions...One wonders what would have happened to Gillian Lynne if in those days, we had discovered ADHD and she had been sent back to her old school with a prescription of Ritalin and Concerta.. I asked for a show of hands to indicate who would like to be the next Tiger Woods, Rafael Nadal or Springbok rugby captain, the next head of Anglo American.. and there was no shortage of raised hands…and that was wonderful… but, then, I asked who would like to be a dress designer or to soften the blow, especially in a boys school…..a fashion designer… not one hand was raised, at least outwardly… but, in that audience, there could just be the next Yves St Laurent who could go on to make more of a success of his life than most….he could create the next leading luxury brand to rival the handful that dominate …. Or, there could be an Al Pacino sitting there with a Scent of a Woman speech just waiting to be unleashed..… So, my message in short, to quote from Steve Jobs’ 2005 speech to the Stanford University graduates… was to ‘follow your heart and find out what you love… and, if you cant find it, to never stop looking, because if you eventually do, you’ll never work a day in your life..!!’ At the end of the proceedings one boy sheepishly approached me and said ‘ Sir, I really enjoyed what you had to say… it was very meaningful for me’…!! If I had just touched one heart… I am hugely honoured and grateful for the opportunity to have addressed these young men..
Posted on: Sat, 19 Oct 2013 11:09:16 +0000
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