Tip: Highlight text to annotate itX
Guests, I would like to invite Todd Greenberg, Head of Football for the
National Rugby League as our guest speaker. Mr Greenberg is a proven leader in
the sports management industry
in his current role with the National Rugby League, the NRL,
it is his responsibility to develop and lead football strategy and operations
across the whole game.
This includes leading and governing the NRL
elite competitions along with an overcited cross game development,
pathways and participation. Prior to joining the NRL,
Mr Greenberg spent six years as the Chief Executive Officer of the
Bulldogs Rugby League club making him the youngest CEO
in the National Rugby League at the time. Mr Greenberg is a strong advocate
for elite athletes,
using their profile and reach within the broader community
to enable positive change. This has been demonstrated through partnerships with
not-for-profit organizations
like Camp Quality. In 2009 Mr Greenberg won the prestigious
New South Wales Sports
Administrator of the Year award and in 2011 was named as one of
the Sydney Morning Herald's 100 most influential people.
Mr Greenberg has been an Australia Day ambassador since 2010,
helped to promote the celebration of Australia Day at community events throughout New South
Wales.
He holds a Bachelor of Sports Science degree and a Master of
Sports Management. Please join me in Welcoming Todd Greenberg
as our guest speaker today.
Chancellor, Vice-Chancellor,
academic colleagues, distinguished guests, ladies, gentleman
and most importantly the graduands. It is indeed a great pleasure and honour to be
here with you this morning
to provide this occasional address. Inspiring,
thought-provoking to be a part of such a grand occasion
in your lives as you come together on a day that I'm sure that will resonate in
your memories
for a lifetime. Across communities,
far and wide, today and every day is an opportunity to learn,
it's also an opportunity for each of us to either share that learning
or build that learning with others and learning has
so many different facets, so many different applications
that the award of your University degree today is really,
I assure you, just the beginning. I gave careful consideration to what I would
say to you today
to attempt to do justice to the complete honour
and privilege that it is to stand before you. I considered words of wisdom,
I considered words of reflection, I considered words of motivation
but all seemed lost in translation
because ultimately watching you graduate today
is defined in your actions and those actions are what will define each of you
in the years ahead. As you sit here today in front of family and friends,
take time to reflect on where you have come from.
Take time to reflect on the effort and the sacrifice that it's taken to be here today
and take time to reflect
on how genuinely special this achievement is.
During that reflection I urge you to look at those people
who have been your support network. Your parents, your partners,
your siblings, your educators and in many cases your extended families.
It is often said that good fruit
rarely falls far from the tree. Understand that this applies today
as your parents and partners watch over you, admiring your achievement
and your many talents. Some years ago,
my young son attended preschool and kindergarten for the very first time,
a similar scenario plays out for many families across this country
every year and I'm sure all too familiar for the many parents
that sit here today. My son's name is Cooper,
beautiful blonde hair courtesy of his mum and dark olive skin.
After his initial few weeks of preschool
settling in my wife and I continued to hear the stories of new friends,
new lessons and new adventures. We heard the usual stories of music,
games, paintings and the excitements of
new surrounds. One friend in particular
received constant attention and mention.
His name was Jimmy. Jimmy became his best Friend,
they ate lunch together, they played on the swings together
and I was told they had rest time together. It was great, obviously, to see our son make
new friends and we're intrigued
with little Jimmy. We asked what's he like, where does he live
and for anyone in the room with young boys, they will tell you that detail rarely
flows from those inquisitive questions. The responses were simple,
yet informative: 'He's exactly like me Dad, he
looks like me, likes playing on the swings like me and
loves watching the footy like me." After a couple of months we were invited
to our first parent teacher night at the preschool, an opportunity to see the kids in their
classrooms and the artwork
and to meet teachers and other parents. After some initial introductions, we
noticed our son Cooper in the play area outside
with another young boy. They were sitting on the side of the playing equipment
talking like a couple of old men. When I approached
my son introduced me to his friend, "Dad, this is Jimmy."
The infamous Jimmy we had heard so much about. As I took a closer look,
I was slightly confused. From the descriptions, I expected a blonde haired
little boy in a rugby league jersey.
Instead little Jimmy had dark straight hair,
he was Chinese and he spoke very little English.
We later learned that Jimmy was new to this country,
that Jimmy's parents were originally from China and had moved here only weeks
before the preschool intake.
Jimmy's mum spoke very little English and Jimmy himself spoke
very little English. When I asked my son later that night why
didn't he mention that Jimmy was Chinese, his response
was staggering. "Sorry dad, I didn't even realise.
I suppose I didn't notice" he said, "he is just a nice boy and I like playing with him."
Somewhere on some level is a very simple message within the story.
It's a uniquely Australian message too. A message of acceptance,
a message of cultural diversity, a message of understanding,
a message of tolerance and above all else,
a message of inclusiveness.
As Australians we all have a duty to our communities
and ultimately to our country. The duty is simple, to
be kind and be generous and when the going gets tough in times of adversity,
we turn to each other for such support. For assistance and
for the solidarity of mateship. I myself have been fortunate to enjoy some
amazing opportunities both personally and professionally
and I have a lot to be thankful for but my own
university education is a very big part
of the reason why. The pillars of history,
of education and opportunity are trademarks
of University life. Trademarks that account for the values of life well beyond
any lecture or any tutorial.
But remember in most cases, talents
are to some extent a gift, whereas good character by contrast
is not given to us. We have to build that piece by piece.
By thought, by choice, by courage
and by determination. Ultimately the highest reward
for your toil is not what you get for
it, it's ultimately what you become from it
and in my own day to day professional career and working in sport it is easy
to be defined only by a teams win or loss
or what is generally debated in the media.
The role provides a very public performance review
that takes place every weekend
but I will continue to say that collective success must be defined more
than simply
what you see on the field, the legacy we are looking to leave,
we are custodians of a proud and historic game and we must leave it in better
shape
than we first found it. In the modern era,
we hear a word, 'culture,' mentioned in so many sporting and business analogies
that it has become a term I doubt many people truly understand.
The term culture is hard to define because you can't see it,
it's hard to define because you really can't touch it and ultimately it's
hard to define because you can't hear it. But to build any high performing team
or successful organization you must try to strive to be your best self
and instil a strong and resolute culture.
It's the most important thing any leader can do because ultimately culture
drives behaviour, behaviour drives habit
and habit creates results
and you create a collective mindset in the organization that will
expect
great things to happen, even during those challenging times.
You expect people to be their best, you make it a priority to coach them to be
their best
and most of all you create the environment that allows them to be the
best they can possibly be.
It creates the expectation that everyone in an organization is committed to
excellence,
it means you don't just bring in the best people,
you bring out the very best in those people.
Sounds like common sense, usually the best ideas are.
If organizations expect people to be their best we must invest time and
energy and help
to in order to allow them to be the best they can be.
At the National Rugby League, we're investing in this on a daily basis
developing our own internal brand of accountability
and respect for others, continually recognizing our past
but remaining focused on what's in front of us.
In closing, can I say thank you for the opportunity to provide this address.
It's been a great honour to stand in front of you today and for you affording me this
Privilege.
Graduands you are about to embark on a great journey.
Whilst today might feel like the end of a significant chapter,
let me assure you it is the beginning of what promises to be an exciting period
in your life.
Only you can determine the words for the next chapter.
Stay true to your beliefs, follow your passion,
believe in your own ability and dream that everything
and anything is possible. Thank you.
