Max York
Former Chief Executive Officer, General Electric Australia
Ceremony: 11 October 2018, 10:30am - UTS Business School, Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
Speech
Before I start, I’d like to acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation upon whose ancestral lands this university now stands and pay my respects to the elders past, present and emerging. Chancellor, Vice Chancellor, Faculty Dean, staff, distinguished guests, family and friends, it’s fantastic to be with you all here today and it brings back very, very fond memories of a very, very long time ago when I was sitting in the chair you’re sitting in, and let me tell you, before you know it you’ll be up here giving an occasional address.
So, congratulations. It’s the end of a long road and the beginning of the next chapter in your lives – in fact, the fun really starts now. If you think had a lot of fun at university, it only gets better. You can carve out your own path in the world, which is very, very exciting. So, when I was putting this speech together, I was sent a list of things I had to think about and they were very useful and one of them was the UTS values. Now, I’m sure you’ve studied these things very closely in the last couple of years, the UTS values: discover, engage, empower, deliver, sustain. All good organisations have values. You might not realise it, they might not publish them, but they do. You should have your own values.
I’ve worked in organisations like GE that had very strong values. In the Navy. Very strong cultural norms. Honesty, integrity, courage. These things are important, and when you select your career, choose your company, go with a business partner, a personal partner, think about your values. What do you really believe in? What is important to you? And do they align with the career, the company, the people that you’re thinking about engaging with? It’s very important. It will set you on a course, and if you choose wisely, you will be very happy and do very well, because you’ve been equipped with an amazing head start in life. The fact that you’re sitting here, a lot of things had to go right. You had to be here in Australia; you had to have a very supportive family, either here or somewhere else; you had to be blessed with natural gifts that the Pro Chancellor mentioned; and you had to work very hard. All these things had to go right.
So, you have had a magnificent head start. The world is very complex, uncertain, variable, ambiguous, but you’re equipped as well as anyone on the planet to not only deal with it, but to lead in it. And that is the expectation of society, given the gifts that you’ve been given, the hard work you’ve put in and the achievement you’ve reached today is that you can go out and lead and make the world a better place, and I think that’s really exciting. That’s a challenge for you, but something nobody else is able to do, really. You guys are it.
So, I can’t remember – an occasional address? A special occasion, obviously. Occasionally you might remember something that was said? I can only hope. I can’t remember the person who gave my address or what they said. It doesn’t matter, really. But I know that all the experiences I had at university, including that occasional address put something into my head. It may be just something you’re unaware of, but it’s there. And like most of you, I was young and excited and just happy to have finally graduated. I was looking forward to discovering the many things that the career I’d chosen had to offer, finally have some money, planning where I was going to celebrate tonight – I know that’s what you’re thinking about right now – where to live and all those important details of life. But I’m sure, like I said, what was said in the address and what I experienced at university was in my consciousness somewhere. The speech was probably meant to inspire me to great things, now that I’d been equipped with such a special degree from such a prestigious institution. It probably said that I should be grateful my parents and carers sitting next to me who supported me through my schooling that probably got me into university in the first place, helped me through my studies, and are probably sitting there a bit shocked and relieved that it all actually eventually worked out.
So, this speech is hopefully a bit of a metaphor for your experience at uni and to some extent your life and career to come. You won’t always remember what was said here today but you might remember how you felt. Your experience here might have planted seeds or something in you that will be activated later. A lot of what you’ve spent the last few years doing you won’t remember in detail after a very short time, but you will have a fertile brain that will be receptive to engage with things that will be thrown at you later in your career and in your life that the experiences here will have prepared you for, whether you are conscious of it or not. And to the extent you immersed yourself in the experiences here, you’ll be empowered to deal with these things and turn them into opportunities and value and joy.
So, while you may have learned a lot that you’re aware of, there are probably many things that you’ve been subliminally exposed to here that will be very beneficial. So, the challenge I put to you, when you leave this place, is to allow all of that to emerge. To be questioning of your first reaction to things. To dig a little deeper. Ask a few more questions. To not be afraid. To challenge the status quo and discover new things. One of the best pieces of advice I got from someone was ‘turn up’. Just go. Be there. You might want to go home, you’re tired, you’ve had a long day. Go to whatever it is that evening. You’ll meet someone, you’ll learn something, you’ll make a connection, your life will be better for it, even if it’s just the pub. Go.
The late Steve Jobs of Apple was wandering around campus one day after he dropped out and happened up on a calligraphy class. Hands up all those who’ve been to calligraphy class? Thought so. He was intrigued by this even though he had no reason to be there, really. Later at Apple he used what he had learned to make the lovely fonts that you may enjoy on your Mac and your iPad and your iPhone. Who would have thought that? So be open to discover new things, as you never know when they may become very helpful. You are also actually capable of a lot more than you think. You’ve already achieved a lot, but you can do much more than you actually give yourself credit for. Most people sell themselves short. Don’t do that. I never dreamed of having nine children and being a CEO – they left that bit off. But you can. It really depends on how hard you work; how you make decisions, and your values will guide those decisions, so think about your values; and how much luck you have.
I think the Pro Chancellor talked about luck. It does play a big part, but you can increase your luck. There are two things I really like – two sayings I really like around luck. ‘The harder I worked, the luckier I got’ – you do create opportunities and luck by just being there, turning up, as I mentioned, and by having done the preparation. The other saying I like is ‘Don’t try to predict weather; just build arks.’ I think Warren Buffet said that, the legendary investor. Very hard to know what’s going to happen, but you can prepare. You can plan. You can position yourself, and the hard work that you’ve done already has positioned yourself beautifully for your careers.
So, continue to do that. Continue to think about what could happen in my life, how do I want it to turn out, how do I position myself, what is my ark? In other words, work hard, be prepared by keeping on learning, don’t stop lifelong learning – I’m sure you’ve heard of that, and good things will happen. A lot has been invested in you by the fact that you are here, hence much is expected of you to deliver a better world that can sustain life in a better way in future. You’ve earned the right to go out into that world and make it a better place and make use of all the ingredients you’ve received here and elsewhere, even the ones you can’t remember, like this speech. So, take a big swing, remember deep down that you have what it takes, even if you’re not sure why. Good luck and thank you.
About the Speaker
Max was previously the Chief Executive Officer of General Electric Australia. Prior to his appointment in 2017 and since 2003, he lead the General Electric Aviation business, comprising commercial engines, services and systems in Australia/New Zealand & South East Asia, the South Pacific, Hong Kong and India.
He was General Electric Aviation’s sales director in Sydney for two years, before leading the six sigma business process improvement team, within General Electric Aviation’s global Sales & Marketing Division, in Cincinnati in 2002.
Max joined General Electric in 2000 after 18 years as an officer in the Royal Australian Navy, reaching the rank of Commander. He specialised in combat systems and integrated logistics management, serving in various leadership roles afloat and ashore in Australia, Washington, DC and the Persian Gulf.
He was awarded two Flag Officer’s commendations and the Australian Service Medal (Kuwait clasp). In 1997, he founded the Mine Warfare Class Logistics Office, and in 1999 was a member of the Tomorrow’s Navy Team, advising the Chief of Navy on options for Navy futures.
Max currently sits on the Advisory Board of the UTS Business School and holds a Bachelor in Engineering (Electrical) and a Masters in Engineering Science, Electronics and Communications from the University of New South Wales. He also holds a Graduate Diploma in Management from the Australian Graduate School of Management.
Max is a member of the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Institute of Company Directors and the Australian American Chamber of Commerce.
