Boone Pickens Homepage           Electronic Publishing Center
	REMARKS FOR THE GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF GOVERNMENT & BUSINESS COMMENCEMENT EXERCISES WASHINGTON DC MAY 8, 1988

20 MINUTES

Thank you, Dean Loeser (Lows-yer)

[Handwritten addition: And thank you Pres. Elliott for my award today. I now have more than a bare robe to wear at graduations.]

I [Text stricken: love] [Handwritten addition: enjoy] speaking on college campuses. . .more than 80,000 students [Handwritten addition: and graduates] in past five years.

[Handwritten addition: This is a big day for all of us.]

What I see with today’s young people is a new entrepreneurial spirit, a return to free market principles. . .students look the same from coast to coast, same goals. . .good standard of living. [Handwritten addition: —a good quality of life and to live in a free country, and I detect you have a dislike for the bureaucracy.]

[Text stricken: New breed. . .truly] [Handwritten addition: You are] the leaders of tomorrow. . .not 59-year-olds.

More opportunity today than ever. . .public and private sectors cutting bureaucracy, downsizing for efficiency. . .returning to basic principles that made [Text stricken: the U.S. great.] [Handwritten addition: this country great—]

Students ask [Handwritten addition: me] how to succeed.

[Handwritten addition: You know a few tips—not many just a few real quick—I may have them for you.]

[Handwritten addition: I use a] Simple philosophy [Handwritten addition: it has] served me well; [Text stricken: helped] in [Handwritten addition: both] business, [Text stricken: government] and [Text stricken: even] family[Handwritten addition: .] [Text stricken: involvement.] [Handwritten addition: Now for a few tips.]

[Text stricken: [Handwritten addition: You are ready now to go out and do something.]]

[Text stricken: Learn to analyze well.]

[Handwritten addition: Analyze well—] [Text stricken: [Handwritten addition: You are prepared now to put it to work.]]

Assess [Handwritten addition: your] risks and prospective awards

No substitute for good research

Don’t get emotionally involved

Be [Text stricken: willing] [Handwritten addition: ready] to make decisions. . .most important quality in a good leader:

[Handwritten addition: After you have [Text stricken: analyzed any question] made your analysis]

Avoid the “Ready-aim-aim-aim-aim” syndrome

Be a team player. [Handwritten addition: —You can not lead if you are not willing to play on the team.]

Be patient. I have to remind myself and our people at Mesa about the old adage “Patience is a great virtue.”

Be realistic. . .Dream, yes, but don’t be a day dreamer.

Learn from mistakes. . .not just a cliché: Maybe the most important advice I give today; remember the doors, [Handwritten addition: (] fingers.[Handwritten addition: )]

[Handwritten addition: When you can] keep government out of business. . .except to ensure a free market, which will determine the course of business.

[Handwritten addition: I am a global economy advocate—competition is the name of the game—] [Text stricken: Steel industry example; each steel job saved through protectionism costs $750,000.]

Especially avoid protecting business leaders from market forces, including shareholders.

[Handwritten addition: Our bus. Leaders are paid well and need no protection.]

Stay fit. . .[Handwritten addition: very important to your success. Competitive—must be fit—why do I stay fit—simple answer, again—I don’t want to get old] don’t want to get old and feel bad! [Handwritten addition: (explain)]

Practice moderation. . .balance family life and work; the key is organization. . .plenty of time for play, but [Text stricken: plan it.] [Handwritten addition: you must plan it—]

If you’re organized, you’ll find time for everything...[Text stricken: take as big a bite of the apple as you want. . .that’s what’s great about America.]

[Handwritten addition: Don’t discourage the entrepreneur—keep them working 20 hrs a day if possible—they make money, create jobs and pay taxes—that’s good for all of us.]

[Handwritten addition: But you take as big a bit of the apple as you want—that’s what’s great about America.]

Keep success as well as failure in perspective:
—Don’t ever get [Text stricken: to the point] where you can’t go back to eating hamburger. . .[Handwritten addition: we’re] learning that lesson [Text stricken: in TX.] [Handwritten addition: today in Texas.]

Most important. . .always play by the rules:
Never think you have to cheat to win; don’t even need to bend your principles

[Handwritten addition: Life is a lot] Like sports. . .Cheating to win is a hollow victory, [Text stricken: at best. . .But most of all, you won’t feel good about yourself.]

There’s a lot of talk about an ethics crisis in America:
—No ethics crisis. . .[Text stricken: if anything,] it’s a leadership crisis

It all goes back to the top. . .must lead by example.

[Handwritten addition: I was ask along time ago “When will you pack it up—when will you quit?”. . . .when ceases to be fun.]

In [Text stricken: a nutshell,] [Handwritten addition: conclusion,] if you [Handwritten addition: stay fit] work hard, analyze well, organize [Handwritten addition: your] time and play by the rules, I promise you you’ll succeed and have [Text stricken: a ball] [Handwritten addition: fun] doing it.

[Text stricken: Now go out and get ’em!]

Thank you and good luck.