Dr. Gordon Gee's speech notes

The Ohio State University President Dr.Gordon Gee spoke to my EMBA class (class of  2009) on Friday, April 3rd 2009.  His speech left a lasting impression on me and some of the things he discussed are very profound.

Below are the notes from that speech:

1. Learn from your mistakes.  Calibrate yourself and don't get too ambitious too soon.
2. Get comfortable with who you are and try not to be one who others want you to be.
3. Need to have a thick skin, be humorous and have a sense of humor.
4. Feel confident about your decisions and stick to them.
5. Its all about talent and culture. Don't tolerate mediocre performance. Strive for and expect excellence.
6. Greatest personal mistake - love my work too much. Don't become a workaholic. Keep your balance.

Most of these things appear to be common sense. But, when you sit back and think about them, each one of these items have a very deep and profound meaning.  Personally, I am trying to follow them as much as possible although most of you who know me personally already know that I lack a degree of sense of humor :)