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Neemat
Frem, President of the Association of Lebanese Industrialists and INDEVCO Group
CEO & President,
addresses attendees of George Washington University 2012 graduation dinner
on 29 June.

He
implored graduates to become leaders and explained how truly successful leaders
serve others, as well as adhere to a high set of morals and strong internal
value-system. Frem’s speech aroused much applause from the audience. Professor
George Jabbour, Director of the Specialized Program, presented Frem with the
Honor Shield and a certificate of appreciation, on behalf of George Washington
University.
The
dinner brought together graduates from diverse backgrounds and nationalities
along with their families, as well as senior representatives at the World Bank,
officials of donation funds, and US development bank employees.
Read
Neemat Frem’s Speech at the Event
“Thank
you, Dr. Jabbour, Dean Guthrie, distinguished faculty and staff. Family
members.
And Graduates! As we say
in Lebanese, Alf Mabrouk! One thousand congratulations to each of you. It’s a
pleasure to be with you this evening.
I don’t have any advanced
theories, best practices or case studies to share with you tonight.
Thankfully. Right?! But I’m not here to sing for you either; I do
have some heavy points.
In fact, sometimes lessons have
nothing to do with what we’ve studied.
So I’d like to focus on two
simple ideas I think are essential to the success of economic models
as much as political systems. And you can add personal ambition as well.
No doubt most of you here will
experience success, wealth and maybe fame. You will be asked to
lead. You will be leaders.
Leaders are those fishermen
that stop fishing fish one day, and start fishing men and women, inspiring
them, driving them, but above all serving them.
So, the first idea I want you
to leave with you tonight is the concept of Servant Leadership.
Whatever you do in your high
profile positions, remember that all the mistakes and horrific things
perpetrated by leaders happened when they forgot that their duty is to be at
the service of their mission, whether be it their people, their company,
their market or their nation.
They reverse the
normal order of things. Their duty is to be at the service of their
mission. They put their mission at their service!
When I think of a servant
leader I cannot but think of my father. Georges Frem dreamt of and built a
multinational manufacturing group from Lebanon, a small country about the size
of Rhode Island.
His personal philosophy became
our corporate mission: “What is good for the community is good for the
company.” So we grew both vertically and horizontally, based on
actual needs – sometimes very basic needs – of the communities around us.
Today, this mission binds over many nationalities and languages across our 60 companies worldwide. We have a team responsible for cascading this mission and our values throughout the organization.
My father always believed that in the absence of self-administered values, no law or regulatory body or even sanction can protect a system from the vice of human weakness.
Today, this mission binds over many nationalities and languages across our 60 companies worldwide. We have a team responsible for cascading this mission and our values throughout the organization.
My father always believed that in the absence of self-administered values, no law or regulatory body or even sanction can protect a system from the vice of human weakness.
In fact, just think of Communism.
That was supposed to be a virtuous idea of sharing; it ended up being the
instrument of so much horror and deprivation.
Look at Capitalism, this
wonderful invention for unleashing the full potential of human capital. It also
caused so much pain and desolation; from the gloomy days of the 1929 crash to
the latest 2008 global financial crisis.
From all this, we can
definitely say, that breakdowns in economic systems are the result of greed
and selfishness laid in the heart and souls of the trusted ones.
The pinnacle of human weakness
is in full display in the political world: especially in the Middle East.
How many opportunities have we missed because of the lack of values in the
hearts of our leaders?
May the Arab Spring
we’re observing today - with a mixture of hope and cautiousness - blossom a new
breed of leaders who understand the splendor of being servant leaders!
As Jesus said, “There is nothing outside a person, that by going
into him, can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what
defile him.” Mark 7:15
The second idea I’d like to
share with you tonight is Modesty.
Now we all believe in the drive
for success. You would not be here celebrating if you didn’t!
There’s nothing more
invigorating than the adrenaline rush of challenge or the power you feel in
achieving what you dreamed.
However, sometimes it can “go
to your head”. The dizziness of glory! This is one of the diseases
that make you destroy the ladder you are climbing on and you collapse without
noticing.
It destroys your immune system
against all sorts of irrational judgments. [PAUSE] Disproportionate actions and
foolish challenges.
It makes you flash instead of
glow.
George Washington, after whom
your great university is named, could have become a king. But it was his
choice of duty and honor as a modest citizen, which propelled him to the rank
of a “Founding Father”.
What a sensible
trade-off. A flash of a decade for an eternal glow.
If you want to build a better
world, if you want to glow permanently, tame yourself first, be in control.
Adam Smith in
“The Theory of Moral Sentiments”. What does he say about Self-Command,
his cardinal virtue?
That we have the ability to
rein in our impulses and to regulate our behavior.
That we can restrain the
passion for our own self-interest.
In fact, history tells us that
it is not always the strongest or the smartest, but men and women of character
who are the most successful leaders.
If you think of respected
leaders – the people you equate with greatness – you’ll find that they have
been able to balance competing desires.
As future leaders, I would like you to remember that:
Immediately next to the
greatest success lies selfishness
Next to charisma, arroganceNext to entrepreneurial spirit,
egocentric behaviorAfter all, everything starts
with your inner-self
In closing, when you think back
to this dinner I hope you will completely forget the bugger that kept you
waiting to eat this long, but please remember these two values: Servant
Leadership and Modesty.
In being both, you remain
teachable.
You remain students forever –
for your sake, and for the good of your company, your community, your nation.
Thank you and God bless you
all!”
Truly inspiring..
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