‘The Purpose of Your Work is to Serve Others,’ Banking Leader Reminds UW-Green Bay Graduates
With a highly successful career as a banking industry and community leader, Founding Chair and CEO at Nicolet Bankshares Bob Atwell has an arsenal of stories, tips and advice to share with anyone starting their journey. But his overall reminder for University of Wisconsin-Green Bay graduates, friends, family and faculty was simple: “The purpose of your work is to serve others.”
Atwell spoke during the university’s afternoon Commencement Ceremony at The Weidner on Saturday, December 14, 2024. Atwell stepped down as Chairman in December 2023 and continues as a board member and advisor for Nicolet, and has a long history of service to others.
Mr. Atwell serves on many private company boards including as Lead Director at Ariens Company in Brillion Wisconsin, director and shareholder at Great Northern Corporation in Neenah, Wisconsin, Chairman of the board for Cash Depot, board member of Gemplers Inc, Jet Out and Promotion Management Inc. shareholder and board member of Albert Lea Seed House, which is a fourth-generation family company that is the largest provider of organic corn and soybean seed in the United States.
He has been active in numerous not-for-profit organizations including being co-founder and a current board member of Relevant Radio, a Catholic radio network which owns over 140 radio stations and broadcasts over many network affiliates. He also serves on the Board of the Shrine of Our Lady of Champion in Champion Wisconsin.
Mr. Atwell holds a BA from Beloit College and Masters from Yale University. He and his wife Sally have 11 children and 15 grandchildren (so far). Mr. Atwell was an outstanding and inspiring member of the Universities of Wisconsin Board of Regents for seven years and has a deep understanding and commitment to the power of education, inquiry, curiosity, and the search for truth.
His full remarks to the graduating Class of 2024 can be read here:
“It is a privilege to mark this great occasion with all of you today. Chancellor Alexander, thank you for inviting me. Provost Burns, faculty and staff; thank you for your work on behalf of these graduates and all of the people you serve. To all of the graduates, parents, siblings and friends. Heartfelt Congratulations!! It not only takes great courage and perseverance for graduates to arrive at this celebration, it takes great investment by a whole lot of people to help get to this point. Parents, teachers, friends as well as the faculty and staff of this wonderful university, I am grateful for you all. It takes the collective commitment of the people of Wisconsin and many community members to do the work that makes this possible. Graduates, wherever you go in this life, I hope you will have fond memories of Green Bay and of Wisconsin.
I recall the year I finally finished college. I hope you are not as nervous as I was. If you are; take heart. Despite my fear, things kind of fell into place. I really didn’t like my first year job in banking, but I learned to love my profession. Many say you should pursue your passion. There is nothing wrong with that; but don’t discount the fact you can also find passion in the adventure of each day. You can learn to love the work you must do. Learning to do well the things that must be done is a mark of great character. There is much to gain by thinking big while doing the little things of each day with genuine heart and effort. Each day you will encounter many opportunities to use your skill, your smile and presence to bring some light to others. You will also have bad days and I think it also says a lot about our character if we can have habits of generosity especially when you are feeling out of sorts.
I am very excited for you and I want to offer a few words that you may find helpful as you go forth to your next adventure! These are learnings I have found along life’s journey and some may seem somewhat counter intuitive.
- Whether you go forth to work in the private, the public or the not-for-profit, I am firmly convinced that the purpose of our work is to serve others. We succeed best by helping others succeed. I have seen many people progress through their careers. The happiest and the most successful conquer their selfishness each day. They learn to turn themselves into a person who lives for others. I firmly believe that we can’t make ourselves happy by trying to make ourselves happy. We find meaning, fulfillment and joy in relationship with others. What I see by faith is also observable anthropology. It takes great effort to invest of our investment.
- You wouldn’t be here if you weren’t smart. But brains are not a virtue; rather a tool we have received from somewhere outside ourselves. Our intelligence and our other strengths should not be cause for pride. You should rejoice in the effort you have made to arrive at this day, for it takes real virtue to apply what you have been given. Many don’t.
- Over my 50 years of work, I have observed and participated with thousands of people making many thousands of decisions. I want to offer some thoughts on how decisions are actually made. The first point is that we all long to believe the world is a more orderly place than it actually is. We are tempted to imagine that decisions can and should be made with all of the research necessary to assure the desired outcome. If the goal of your life is to be fruitful this is not a good way think about the decisions you face. There is a big difference between making decisions and pursuing foregone conclusions. Clearly there are some professions that demand we only act with maximum visibility about the outcome. Examples might be airplane pilots, aircraft controllers and trapeze artists. I was tempted to include something because inaction is very likely to result in a worse outcome. They don’t know the results of their action, but they have a clear picture of the cost of inaction. It has long troubled me that accounting methods themselves incentivize irrationally conservative decision making. The costs of mistakes made are fully accounted for. The costs of opportunities missed are unmeasurable and therefore not accounted for. Be very aware of this bias toward inaction and I urge you to be bold in your decision making. The answer is not always in the numbers.
- Success holds many dangers and failure holds many opportunities. Most highly successful people have made many mistakes. What distinguishes them from less successful people is their willingness to admit mistakes, make adjustments and learn. When you do something wrong, admit it, apologize if necessary and begin again! To pick on the accountants again; there is no recognition of the upside in failure.
- Be clear with yourself about what success looks like to you. There is a whole lot more to life than money and professional success. Somewhere inside you there lies a dream of something beautiful that will happen through your hands. Perhaps it is so deep that we blush at the prospect of describing it. Let the beautiful dream spur you on. Work toward it relentlessly. Know that the unmeasurable can be more important than what can be measured. Many people irrationally discount the value of the unmeasurable outcomes. There is far more unknowable than can be known. C.S. Lewis observed that God does not find our desires too strong; rather too week. Lewis likened us to children playing in a mud puddle because we can’t imagine a holiday at the sea.
I want to close with a few thoughts on the concept of “giving back”. I have nothing against people who have “made it” giving their money away. I want to encourage you to “give during”. The mark of generosity is not giving what you don’t need. It is to give what you can when the need presents. In fact, I would advise that you consider giving more than you think you can. I would go so far as to say that there is an observable tendency for true generosity to bring forth further prosperity. While I encourage financial generosity, I highly recommend that you hold fast to the understanding that generosity is first and foremost a matter of the heart. There are many ways to give that don’t involve money. Your heart will grow when you exercise generosity.
We have heard much lately about the unprecedented level of division and discord among people during the recent election season. I disagree with the notion that the division and chaos of these last months and years are unprecedented. I would submit that reflecting on human history, division, strife and discord are more the norm. Unity, peace and order are the exceptions. It is much easier to break something than it is to build it. I urge you to be someone who knows how to like and enjoy people you may be disposed to dislike. You can have profound disagreements with people and still have a deep and rewarding friendship. You may learn something and you may change your mind. At a minimum you will grow in understanding and maturity.
Many people have invested in you arriving at this day. More than anything I and they hope you live long, fruitful and generous lives. Go forth from this great university with hope in your hearts and a smile on your face. Make some gutsy decisions. Help others along the journey. When you fall down; don’t stay down. Get up, learn and begin again. When you see others fall, help them get back on track. When you reach the end of your days, no one is going to care how smart you are or the money you have made. They will remember you for your warmth, your generosity and your good humor.
Much is said and written about entrepreneurship. To some an entrepreneur is a wealthy-tech billionaire. To others it is a dashing risk taker. I submit that an entrepreneur is someone with sufficient insight and courage to do and accomplish something of great value that others lack the foresight or the will to do. Some are business people, but we can find them everywhere. They are the people who change the world around them. Most are not famous and some of the most famous aren’t thought of as entrepreneurs.
One of the great entrepreneurs of the 20th century is Theresa of Calcutta.
In 1950 she founded the Missionaries of Charity to serve those sick and dying on the streets. By the time of her death there were 3,914 sisters serving at 594 centers in 123 countries around the world.
She is a woman who understands the value and dignity of a human person and to mobilize people to get the most difficult work done.
These words of hers capture the world as the best entrepreneurs see it.
Do It Anyway
People are often unreasonable, illogical, and self-centered;
forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous and full of contempt;
be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
give the world the best you’ve got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and your God;
it was never between you and them anyway.
Congratulations and BE NOT AFRAID.”
