Becker Urges NYU Stern Graduates to Prioritize Humility and Connection

NYU Stern

Long-term professional success and personal resilience depend on practicing gratitude, building a personal board of directors, and embracing vulnerability rather than projecting unyielding strength.

AI-assisted summary of Keynote Speaker: Dietrich Becker (MBA ’91) | NYU Stern MBA and PhD Convocation, Class of 2025 — original source. Check the original for full context.

Source published: 2026-09-22

Key ideas

Dietrich Becker addresses the NYU Stern Class of 2025 exactly 34 years after his own 1991 MBA graduation, distilling three decades of M&A advisory experience into six life lessons. (0:00)
Becker highlights humility and gratitude as essential counterweights to professional pride, citing long-time partner and Wall Street veteran Joe Perella as a primary exemplar of modest leadership. (2:15)
Graduates are advised to assemble a deliberate personal 'board of directors' consisting of five to six mentors and role models to evaluate major professional and personal junctures. (6:20)
Warning against burnout driven by extreme work hours and sleep deprivation, Becker urges graduates to actively protect health, relationships, and well-being alongside career ambitions. (7:52)

Detailed notes

## Background Published on YouTube by NYU Stern on September 22, 2026, this video features the convocation address delivered to the MBA and PhD Class of 2025 on Friday, May 16, 2025. The address is delivered by Dietrich Becker (MBA ’91), Founding Partner and President of Perella Weinberg Partners and Chair of the NYU Stern Executive Board.

## TL;DR Reflecting on 34 years since his own graduation, investment banker Dietrich Becker distills his career and personal insights into six core lessons for the graduating class. He advises graduates to prioritize daily gratitude, lead with humility, and embrace vulnerability to foster genuine connections rather than transactional networking. Becker also urges the audience to assemble a personal board of directors for key decisions, courageously embrace technological and geopolitical disruption, and rigorously protect their physical and mental health against burnout.

## Atmosphere & style The address carries a warm, candid, and self-effacing tone, combining dry humor about banking stereotypes with genuine paternal affection. Becker's narrative style is reflective and disarming, openly unpacking his past struggles with imposter syndrome in aggressive corporate environments rather than presenting an idealized success story. The speech builds an uplifting emotional arc, culminating in an energizing, optimistic rallying cry that leaves the audience inspired to lead with humanity.

## Bulletin - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=0s) Dietrich Becker addresses the NYU Stern Class of 2025 exactly 34 years after his own 1991 MBA graduation, distilling three decades of M&A advisory experience into six life lessons. - [02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=135s) Becker highlights humility and gratitude as essential counterweights to professional pride, citing long-time partner and Wall Street veteran Joe Perella as a primary exemplar of modest leadership. - [06:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=380s) Graduates are advised to assemble a deliberate personal 'board of directors' consisting of five to six mentors and role models to evaluate major professional and personal junctures. - [07:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=472s) Warning against burnout driven by extreme work hours and sleep deprivation, Becker urges graduates to actively protect health, relationships, and well-being alongside career ambitions.

## Key takeaways - [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=0s) Dietrich Becker returns to NYU Stern 34 years after his 1991 graduation to offer advice aimed at preventing poor choices in career and life. - [02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=135s) Gratitude should take precedence over pride, serving as a daily practice that removes stress, builds resilience, and keeps professionals grounded. - [02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=135s) Humility remains the most appealing and effective leadership quality, elevating professional success rather than diminishing it. - [02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=135s) Joe Perella exemplifies how world-class dealmakers achieve monumental corporate success while remaining profoundly humble. - [04:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=278s) Early-career imposter syndrome and feelings of inadequacy are universal, even within high-pressure environments dominated by alpha personalities. - [04:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=278s) Embracing vulnerability fosters authenticity and trust, transforming transactional networking into meaningful personal connections. - [06:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=380s) Major life and career turning points typically trace back to a small circle of five or six influential mentors and role models. - [06:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=380s) Professionals should intentionally assemble a personal 'board of directors' to seek guidance on key decisions like job changes, starting businesses, and personal partnerships. - [07:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=472s) Stern graduates possess the agency, resources, and training needed to actively shape change rather than fear disruptions from AI or geopolitics. - [07:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=472s) Extraordinary career success demands hard work, but identity should never be defined solely by job titles, wealth, or accolades. - [07:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=472s) Neglecting sleep, exercise, and proper nutrition risks burnout and can derail even the most talented professionals.

## Detailed walkthrough ### [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=0s) Opening and Context: 34 Years Since Stern

JP Eggers opens the convocation by introducing Dietrich Becker, who takes the podium to address the graduating Class of 2025. Becker begins with warm congratulations from the bottom of his heart, humorously acknowledging that the graduates are now ready to head into the workforce and "show us old people how it's done." Reflecting on the setting, he notes that it has been 34 years since his own NYU Stern MBA graduation in May 1991, which took place about 20 blocks away from Madison Square Garden rather than within its current grandeur. Standing before them is an enormous honor, and he frames his remarks around a single guiding question: what insights would he have wanted to know back in 1991 that might have prevented poor decisions and eased difficult moments in both his professional and personal life?

To ensure his advice remained relevant to today's generation, Becker sense-checked his thoughts with his four children. His eldest daughter, Alessia, had sat in the very same seats just one year earlier upon completing her own Stern MBA, and Becker jokes that she was present in the audience to celebrate the class and "roll her eyes at her old man." Looking back over 34 years in mergers and acquisitions, Becker admits that the profound insights he accumulated are few enough to fit comfortably into a ten-minute talk. He adds dryly that some lessons might seem surprising coming from an investment banker, given that bankers "are rumored not to actually have" a heart.

[02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=135s) Lesson 1 & 2: Practicing Gratitude and Staying Humble

Becker presents his first lesson: practice gratitude. While earning a graduate degree from Stern is an impressive achievement that justifies immense pride, he emphasizes that graduates are also exceptionally lucky and possess a great deal to be thankful for. Being part of an elite community equips them thoroughly for the world's challenges, but he urges them to prioritize gratitude over sheer pride. Admitting that gratitude was a sentiment he embraced far too late in his own life, he now celebrates it daily as the predominant emotion that grounds him, removes stress from the system, and builds resilience and perspective.

Moving to his second point, Becker counsels the graduates to stay humble. After repeatedly outperforming the competition and earning credentials from one of the premier business schools on the planet, it would be natural for them to feel "a little bit full of yourself right now." Yet across decades of advising corporate leaders, founders, entrepreneurs, academics, and politicians, Becker has found humility to be the single most appealing and effective attribute. He highlights his nearly 30-year working relationship with Wall Street legend Joe Perella, an architect of the modern M&A advisory business who led some of corporate history's most transformational transactions. Despite his stature, Perella remains the humblest leader Becker has ever known, continually reminding colleagues that humility does not diminish success, but rather elevates it into true leadership.

[04:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=278s) Lesson 3: Embracing Vulnerability and Real Connection

The third principle Becker shares is to embrace vulnerability. Entering Merrill Lynch in New York directly after business school with high ambition, Becker found himself thrust into a cutthroat environment dominated by "extreme alpha personalities." Feeling obliged to project unwavering strength and confidence, he silently grappled with intense self-doubt, feelings of inadequacy, and severe imposter syndrome—especially during phases when his career was visibly thriving.

Only much later did Becker discover that vulnerability is not a liability. Because everyone secretly shares those anxieties regardless of how smart or assertive they seem, opening up and showing vulnerability did not undermine his career; instead, it established genuine authenticity and built deep trust. This realization fundamentally changed his view of professional relationships. The transactional exercise of traditional "networking"—which he describes as trying to impress important individuals—was replaced by forging authentic personal bonds. Waiting until his late 40s to realize that vulnerability sparks connection, and that connection drives long-term personal and professional success, is one of Becker's greatest retrospective regrets.

[06:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=380s) Lesson 4: Finding Your VIPs and Building a Personal Board

Becker's fourth piece of guidance is to actively find your "VIPs." Looking back at the turning points, crucial career choices, and breakthroughs in his life, he traces nearly all of them back to a tight circle of five or six individuals who served as role models, mentors, and influencers. Becker acknowledges that discovering and keeping these people in his life was largely fortuitous—joking that "one of them I liked so much, I married her."

If he were starting over today, Becker explains, he would approach this process far more deliberately. He shares a framework borrowed from a fellow Perella Weinberg board member who teaches at Harvard: assemble a personal "board of directors."

```mermaid flowchart TD accTitle: Personal Board of Directors Framework accDescr: A diagram illustrating the selection and role of personal advisors during key life transitions. subgraph Selection["Assembling Your Board"] A["Identify Mentors & Role Models"] --> B["Select for Knowledge, Humanity, & Experience"] end subgraph Execution["Key Life Junctures"] B --> C["Seek Counsel on Critical Decisions"] C --> D["Career Moves: Taking or Leaving a Job"] C --> E["Entrepreneurship: Starting a Company"] C --> F["Personal Milestones: Marriage & Life Choices"] end ```

He advises students to deliberately choose people they admire for their wisdom, humanity, and experience, and to consult them directly whenever facing major life forks—whether deciding to take a job, leave a position, launch a company, or choose a life partner. Senior leaders and mentors genuinely love being asked for guidance, Becker stresses, urging the audience not to delay building this sounding board.

[07:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=472s) Lesson 5 & 6: Embracing Change and Looking After Your Health

Turning to his fifth principle, Becker tells the audience to embrace change. While human nature is divided between those seeking to alter the world and those clinging to the familiar, Stern graduates are uniquely equipped with the education, perspective, and drive to act as agents of change. Acknowledging that change is accelerating across technology, culture, and geopolitics, he touches directly on contemporary anxieties—such as whether artificial intelligence will take their jobs or run the world, or whether geopolitical instability will disrupt their plans. Rather than succumbing to the discomfort of uncertainty, Becker reminds graduates that their daily choices, careers, votes, and financial resources give them immense leverage to shape outcomes during an unprecedented era.

Finally, Becker delivers a crucial warning: look after yourselves. While acknowledging that extraordinary career success demands intense hard work with zero shortcuts, he observes that the most compelling and impactful leaders are never defined solely by titles, wealth, or accolades. Instead, they protect time for physical fitness, good nutrition, emotional awareness, family, friends, and creative outlets. Having witnessed immensely gifted peers derail their careers through burnout, poor diet, and sleep deprivation, Becker urges the graduates never to use lack of time as an excuse to neglect their well-being: - Exceptional work ethic is required, but ambition alone should not define personal identity. - Common habits leading to burnout include neglecting exercise, skipping healthy food ("to eat vegetables, whatever"), and chronic sleep loss. - Physical and mental health are irreplaceable assets that must take precedence over career pressures.

Becker closes his address with an enthusiastic rallying cry to the Class of 2025, urging them to step forward as optimistic leaders who will change the world, keep it safe, and maintain lifelong connections with one another.

## Notable quotes > [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=0s) show us old people how it's done — Dietrich Becker

> [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=0s) roll her eyes at her old man — Dietrich Becker

> [00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=0s) are rumored not to actually have — Dietrich Becker

> [02:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=135s) a little bit full of yourself right now — Dietrich Becker

> [04:38](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=278s) extreme alpha personalities — Dietrich Becker

> [06:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=380s) one of them I liked so much, I married her — Dietrich Becker

> [06:20](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=380s) board of directors — Dietrich Becker

> [07:52](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag&t=472s) to eat vegetables, whatever — Dietrich Becker

## Mentioned JP Eggers, Dietrich Becker, NYU Stern, Madison Square Garden, Alessia Becker, Perella Weinberg Partners, Joe Perella, Merrill Lynch, Harvard

## Video description Dietrich Becker (MBA ’91), Founding Partner and President of Perella Weinberg Partners and Chair of the NYU Stern Executive Board, addresses Stern's MBA and PhD Class of 2025 on Friday, May 16, 2025.

[Source](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rbJdLAYwsag)

中文简报

Becker勉励NYU Stern毕业生：当以谦逊与真诚联结为重长期的职业成功与个人韧性取决于常怀感恩、建立个人“顾问董事会”，以及勇于展现脆弱而非一味展现强硬姿态。在自己毕业34年后回顾过往，投资银行家Dietrich Becker将自身的职业与人生感悟总结为给毕业班的六大核心建议。他建议毕业生将每日感恩放在首位，以谦逊之道行事，并勇于展现脆弱以建立真诚的人际纽带，而非进行功利性的社交。Becker还敦促在场听众组建一个用于重大决策的个人“顾问董事会”，勇敢面对技术与地缘政治变革，并切实保护身心健康以防职业倦怠。 Dietrich Becker在自己于1991年获得MBA学位整整34年后向NYU Stern 2025届毕业生发表致辞，将三十年的并购咨询经验提炼为六条人生智慧。 (0:00) Becker强调谦逊与感恩是制衡职业骄自大的必要力量，并以长期合伙人兼华尔街资深人士Joe Perella作为谦逊领导力的主要典范。 (2:15) 毕业生被建议精心物色五到六位导师与榜样，组建一个个人“顾问董事会”，以评估重大的职业与个人关口。 (6:20) 针对由极长工作时间和睡眠不足引发的职业倦怠，Becker告诫毕业生在追求职业抱负的同时，必须主动呵护健康、维系人际关系与身心福祉。 (7:52)

Reading summary

Drawing on a 34-year career in mergers and acquisitions, Dietrich Becker argues that enduring professional achievement and leadership depend far more on emotional grounding, deliberate mentorship, and personal well-being than on technical ambition or self-promotion alone. Emotional Grounding: Gratitude, Humility, and Vulnerability (2:15) Becker advises graduates to counter the pride of elite academic achievement with intentional gratitude and humility. Reflecting on his late adoption of gratitude, he characterizes it as a stabilizing force that mitigates stress and fosters resilience. He highlights his nearly 30-year collaboration with Wall Street M&A veteran Joe Perella, arguing that Perella's humility demonstrated how modest demeanor elevates rather than diminishes executive authority. Addressing interpersonal relationships, Becker cautions against the conventional impulse to project absolute confidence. Recounting his early career at Merrill Lynch, he describes concealing intense imposter syndrome amid aggressive peers. Only later in his 40s did he realize that acknowledging vulnerability establishes trust and authenticity, transforming transactional networking into meaningful professional bonds. Structuring a Personal Board of Directors (6:20) Becker identifies a small circle of five or six mentors and role models as the primary catalysts behind his major career transitions and life decisions. Rather than relying on chance to discover these allies, he advises early-career professionals to deliberately construct a personal 'board of directors'—a model borrowed from a Harvard-affiliated Perella Weinberg colleague. Under this framework, individuals assemble trusted advisors selected specifically for their wisdom, humanity, and experience. Becker encourages consulting this board at critical junctures, such as evaluating job offers, launching ventures, or weighing personal milestones, noting that senior leaders routinely welcome requests to provide substantive guidance. Agency in Navigating Technological and Geopolitical Disruption (7:52) Acknowledging modern anxieties surrounding artificial intelligence, job displacement, and geopolitical volatility, Becker urges graduates to view change as an operational reality rather than a threat. He asserts that business graduates possess the training and resources required to act as agents of change. Rather than reacting defensively to structural turbulence, graduates should deploy their careers, capital, and voting power to influence how emerging technologies and economic policies take shape. Preventing Career Derailment Through Health and Balance (7:52) While acknowledging that elite corporate performance requires relentless work without shortcuts, Becker cautions that ambition cannot become a substitute for physical and emotional maintenance. He observes that exceptionally talented peers frequently derailed their careers through chronic sleep deprivation, poor nutrition, and burnout. To sustain long-term effectiveness, Becker argues that leaders must treat health as an irreplaceable asset. Impactful professionals preserve time for fitness, nutrition, family relationships, and personal interests, ensuring that professional identity is not defined entirely by titles or net worth. Becker concludes with a call for the graduating class to lead with optimism, maintain their peer network, and balance rigorous work ethic with the human connections and personal health necessary to sustain a multi-decade career.

Source quotes

[0:00] Dietrich Becker: show us old people how it's done [0:00] Dietrich Becker: roll her eyes at her old man [0:00] Dietrich Becker: are rumored not to actually have [2:15] Dietrich Becker: a little bit full of yourself right now [4:38] Dietrich Becker: extreme alpha personalities [6:20] Dietrich Becker: one of them I liked so much, I married her [6:20] Dietrich Becker: board of directors [7:52] Dietrich Becker: to eat vegetables, whatever

Original transcript

[0:00] JP Eggers: I am delighted [0:08] to invite Dietrich to say a few words. [0:14] Dietrich Becker: Thank you, Dean Eggers. [0:19] Class of 2025, wow. [0:23] Let me start by congratulating [0:25] you from the bottom of [0:26] my heart on the great achievement [0:28] we are celebrating here today. [0:30] You have done it, [0:32] and you're ready to go out there [0:34] and show us old people how it's done. [0:37] 34 years on from [0:39] my own NYU Stern MBA graduation event, [0:43] about 20 blocks from here and not in [0:45] the splendor of Madison Square Garden, [0:47] it is a huge honor to stand [0:49] before you and share a few thoughts [0:52] in the hope that you might find them [0:53] helpful on [0:55] the journey that you're about to begin. [0:58] As I was thinking [1:00] about what I might say to you today, [1:02] the obvious question was, [1:03] what would I have liked to [1:05] know back in May of 1991? [1:08] That might have spared me [1:10] some bad decisions that might [1:12] have in challenging times [1:14] made things easier in my [1:15] professional and personal life. [1:17] And are these things still [1:19] relevant to your generation [1:21] and to your careers and [1:23] to the world you are about to enter? [1:25] Thankfully, I have four amazing kids [1:28] who are very much part of your generation. [1:30] And so, I was able to sense [1:32] check my remarks with them. [1:33] My oldest daughter, Alessia, [1:36] sat right here where you are now [1:38] last year when she completed her Stern MBA. [1:41] She's also here today to celebrate [1:43] you all and to roll her eyes at her old man. [1:47] The truth is that in [1:49] those 34 years as I went through my career, [1:52] which mostly but not always went well, [1:54] advising on mergers and acquisitions, [1:57] the number of profound insights [1:59] that I acquired is pretty [2:00] limited and they easily fit [2:02] into the 10 minutes or so [2:03] that I have with all of you today. [2:05] You might find some of them a little bit [2:07] surprising as they are coming from the heart. [2:10] And investment bankers [2:11] are rumored not to actually have [2:12] one of those. Here we go. [2:15] Number one, practice gratitude. [2:20] A graduate degree from Stern is [2:23] a huge accomplishment and you [2:25] all have every reason to be extremely proud. [2:28] But we Stern graduates [2:30] are also incredibly lucky, [2:32] and we have so much to be grateful for. [2:35] We are part of a community [2:37] that is immensely well [2:39] prepared for everything that [2:42] this world has to throw at us. [2:44] Yes, we worked very [2:46] hard to get here, and of course, [2:48] we are proud, but I [2:50] would encourage you to think [2:51] less of pride and more of gratitude. [2:54] Gratitude is a sentiment [2:57] that I embraced too late in life. [2:59] It is something that I now [3:01] celebrate every day, and it is, in fact, [3:04] the overwhelming feeling that [3:06] I have standing here [3:07] and speaking to you today. [3:08] Gratitude grounds us in the moment. [3:11] It takes stress out of the system, [3:14] and it gives us resilience and perspective. [3:18] Number two on my list is stay humble. [3:21] Here you are a group [3:24] of highly accomplished young people. [3:26] You've beaten [3:27] the competition again and again, [3:29] and you have now graduated from one of [3:32] the top business schools on the planet. [3:34] You are exceptionally qualified and very [3:37] well prepared to take on important roles. [3:40] There's no reason why you should not [3:43] just be a little bit [3:44] full of yourself right now. [3:46] And yet, in all my years of dealing with [3:49] leaders of companies, [3:50] founders, entrepreneurs, [3:52] politicians, and academics, I have found [3:54] no other characteristic [3:56] as appealing as humility. [3:58] I've been hugely privileged [4:01] to work with Joe Perella, [4:02] a Wall Street legend and [4:04] effectively one of the creators [4:06] of the M&A business, [4:07] as we know it today, for almost 30 years. [4:10] He has had one of the most [4:12] extraordinary careers on Wall Street and [4:14] has been involved in some of [4:16] the most transformational [4:17] transactions in corporate history. [4:19] And yet you will never meet [4:21] a more humble leader and advisor who [4:24] consistently reminds his colleagues [4:26] of the importance of humility. [4:28] His example taught me that [4:30] humility doesn't diminish success, [4:32] it elevates it, and it is [4:35] an essential ingredient in leadership. [4:38] Number three, embrace vulnerability. [4:43] I came out of my Stern [4:45] MBA program with purpose and [4:47] ambition and with a great job offer [4:49] at Merrill Lynch right here in New York. [4:51] I entered a highly competitive world [4:54] full of extreme alpha personalities, [4:57] and I felt a constant need to [4:59] project confidence and strength. [5:02] And don't get me wrong, there [5:03] is a place to do just that. [5:05] But in reality, I didn't often feel that way. [5:08] I didn't feel that confident and strong. [5:11] I doubted myself along the way. [5:13] I felt inadequate at [5:15] times and there were stretches in my career, [5:18] particularly when I was [5:19] actually doing pretty well, [5:20] when I suffered from [5:21] that famous imposter syndrome, [5:23] feeling the opposite of confidence. [5:26] I learned much too late that [5:28] this vulnerability [5:29] was not in fact a weakness. [5:31] Everybody, no matter how good, [5:33] how smart, how assertive, has these feelings. [5:37] And then I learned something more [5:39] profound. Sharing [5:40] these feelings, and thereby showing [5:43] my vulnerability didn't harm my progress. [5:46] In fact, it made me more authentic, [5:48] and I believe it fostered trust. [5:50] And with that came the next phenomenon. [5:53] What I thought of as [5:54] the all-important networking, [5:56] basically impressing important people, [5:58] was replaced with actually connecting with [6:01] these people on a very personal level, [6:04] building far more meaningful relationships. [6:07] I had to wait until my late 40s [6:10] to understand that vulnerability drives [6:12] connection, and that connection [6:13] drives personal and professional success. [6:16] Again, I wish I [6:18] had understood that a bit earlier. [6:20] Number four, find your VIPs. [6:24] Another key observation looking [6:26] back at my career is that I can [6:28] associate the most important [6:29] decisions I made and [6:31] the breakthroughs that I [6:32] experienced with [6:33] a very small number of people, [6:34] let's call them VIPs, [6:36] who had a really serious impact on my life. [6:40] These people became my role models, [6:42] my advisors, you would say, my influencers. [6:46] There are literally five or six people [6:48] that I could name who [6:50] either deliberately or coincidentally [6:52] have had such a profound impact on me. [6:54] It is fortuitous that somehow I [6:57] recognized them when I came across them. [6:59] And held onto them once they crossed my path. [7:03] One of them I liked so much, I married her. [7:07] If I were in your shoes again today, [7:10] I would be more deliberate about this. [7:12] One of my fellow board members at [7:14] Perella Weinberg is a professor at Harvard, [7:16] and she has [7:17] the following advice to her students. [7:19] Create a board of directors for yourself. [7:22] Pick people you look up to. [7:24] Who you value for their [7:26] knowledge, for their humanity, [7:28] or for their experience at [7:30] the critical junctures in your life, [7:32] when you make your important decisions, [7:34] should I take this job? [7:35] Should I quit this job? [7:37] Should I start this company? [7:38] Should I marry this person? [7:40] Ask them. Trust me [7:43] when I tell you that [7:43] these people love to be asked. [7:45] They love to help and often they [7:47] add incredibly valuable perspective. [7:49] Don't wait for that. Do this now. [7:52] Number five, embrace change. [7:55] You're at a school that is [7:56] all about embracing change. [7:58] The world is split between those who seek to [8:01] change it and those [8:02] who seek to keep the familiar. [8:04] Both instincts are perfectly normal, [8:06] but you are all poised to be [8:08] among those who will [8:09] drive change in the world. [8:10] You have the education, [8:12] the perspective, the energy [8:14] to have incredible impact. [8:16] Inevitably change is here, [8:19] and it is constantly accelerating, [8:21] no matter your attitude towards it. [8:23] We live in a period of [8:24] unprecedented technological, societal, [8:27] political and cultural change, [8:29] which creates huge uncertainty. [8:31] Will AI take my job? [8:33] Will AI run the world? [8:35] Will our political system, [8:37] our economic foundation, [8:38] our relationship with other countries, [8:40] our world order somehow [8:42] undermine my life plan? [8:43] Uncertainty is uncomfortable. [8:46] But trust me when [8:47] I tell you that each of you has [8:48] the power to have [8:50] real impact on how these things play out. [8:52] What you do with your time, [8:54] with your votes, with your careers, [8:57] with your money matters. [8:59] You are the agents of change. [9:02] You are the generation [9:04] that will determine what happens [9:06] during a period unlike [9:07] any other that we have experienced. [9:11] And finally, look after yourselves. [9:14] It is easy to get swept up [9:16] in your careers and long hours and [9:18] in the struggle to juggle [9:19] your personal and professional lives. [9:21] And to be clear, if [9:23] you want to be successful, [9:24] you will work incredibly hard. [9:27] There are no shortcuts. [9:29] But the most successful, the most impactful, [9:31] and the most interesting people that I have [9:33] encountered are those who [9:35] have managed to do more than [9:37] just define [9:38] themselves through their ambition, [9:39] their wealth, their titles, [9:41] their awards, or whatever other measure [9:44] of success that we might apply to them. [9:46] They are people who take time to [9:48] think about things other than work. [9:51] They find time to stay [9:53] physically active, to eat well, [9:55] to stay in touch with their feelings, [9:57] to spend time with their family and friends, [10:00] and they find and maintain creative outlets. [10:03] I've seen hugely talented people [10:06] go off the rails because stress, [10:08] bad food, and lack of [10:09] sleep have led to burnout, [10:11] mental health issues, or other illnesses. [10:13] Their excuses that they don't have [10:16] the time to go to the gym, [10:18] to eat vegetables, whatever. [10:20] Don't be one of those people. [10:22] You have the time and you have [10:25] nothing more important than your health. [10:27] So, class of 2025. [10:30] With that, go out there. [10:32] Be leaders, be optimists, [10:35] change the world, but keep it safe. [10:37] Stay in touch with each other. [10:39] You are an exceptional group. [10:40] Good luck.