[Laughter]
if you watch Game of Thrones you know
the depth of this moment if you don’t
watch Game of Thrones and have no idea
who this is congratulations you have
missed a moment of despair darkness you
have slept better for the past year so
but these three words will bother you
probably the rest of your life and
spoiler alert it doesn’t end up good
hold the door hold the door hold the
door
I remember watching this and thinking to
myself that reminds me of a story I like
to share all the time now in my old age
of twenty eight with three gray hairs I
have learned what it might mean to hold
the door and a story that is very unique
to this parallel there was this guy
early on in his career he received what
was a recruitment letter in the early
years of the 1900s when land-grant
colleges better known as HBCUs
historically black colleges and
universities sent out across the nation
scouring the land looking for
individuals who were willing to come
south of the mason-dixon and teach
freely nude slaves understanding the
ramifications with that they put
together a list of things to be
understood when one was traveling from
other parts of the nation to a place
where an unelected man reign supreme
that unelected man’s name was Jim Crow
and he had gone earned so much control
in the south it was known but
untouchable and you could only see
remnants of moments of Jim Crow so he
gets two tickets wanted to take him from
where he started which is Boston South
Station go Sox and go all the way down
to the Carolinas
the Carolinas is where he gets to having
taken an integrated cart on the first
leg for the first time in his life he
understands it and he sees that he says
color and white understanding the
tonation in his skin he makes this
decision and walks into what is a
crowded railroad waiting station the
room is full it is diverse he sees a
young lady with her teenage boy he sees
an elder gentleman with his wife he sees
a couple of children with an older man
he sees a number of what looks to be
college students headed in the same
direction as he so he sits down and he
waits and then something catches his eye
this young man gets up and he walks to
the corner does something that’s a
little bit surprising he starts to
relieve himself now before you judge him
there’s two places in America you can
still do that one I just did it last
weekend it was on the second hole trying
to find my eighth golf ball off in the
bushes somewhere the other place and I’m
sure some of you know I’ve heard about
it
earlier in the year on a street called
bourbon late in the night heard about it
but this wasn’t New Orleans nor
anybody’s Country Club he was doing this
in the public in the corner and the
professor felt uncomfortable he said I’m
convicted to tell you young man excuse
me you can use the restroom the room
looked at him he looked at the room and
the young man says to him sir I would
but I don’t have the dime to pay the
toll he says what do you mean he says
well here Jim Crow has made it to where
if you want to use the rest when one
must pay in a change lock
in order to use it and I just don’t have
that money and this is where I think
leadership has a transition the
professor says okay reaches into his
pocket I have a little bit of change
left over on my way down he says I’ll
pay the lock and I’ll open the door and
you’ll go in and he turns to the crowd
says who else has to use the restroom
hands go up is it’s okay just what we’ll
do lonna
all of those who need to use the
restroom and when this young man gets
done they’ll come out and they’ll do
those three famous words he’ll hold the
door and then the next person
don’t forget three words hold the door
and then the next person and then the
next person and then the next person you
see his one idea of change led to change
for the whole of the room because he
understood that leadership is not only
fun and innovation you have to find an
opportunity to empower another
generation for that tenth person that
was in line knows none of the
professor’s original payment doors
ladies and gentlemen that perspective is
extremely unique and I’m not going to
take too long
there’s no benediction at the end but I
would like to convict you to sort of ask
that question on how you see leadership
what does it look like for you to hold
the door the first step I guess in a way
is opening the door a number of my team
is here today and I remember let me tell
you in 28 years I’m convinced in
November I might turn 41 but along the
trail you
to go to these establishments where and
my grandmother is gonna watch this so I
have to be careful of our words seasoned
and elder individuals would be and I
would talk with them and my team would
converse with them as we talked about
bringing change to our community and all
of women say young man you sound so
smart that’s a great idea
I absolutely agree can you pass me the
hot sauce I would say yes yes ma’am
there was one man who said I love
everything you’re saying but there’s
something in me that will not allow me
to vote for somebody who’s younger than
my best pair of socks handy God first
thing I said was where in the world do
you get some socks like that but he said
it was the age nothing I could change
that bothered him the idea is the
content the perspective was everything
he needed to hear but it was my age and
I started thinking we get to this
perspective of age and leadership right
this guy right here Thomas Jefferson if
you were to bring him back in time I I
know it that I know it he would not make
this his LinkedIn picture he dies at 83
years old and you guys want to show
Thomas Jefferson almost on his deathbed
well great here and the reason that is
important is because he’ll say to you on
July 4 1776 Devon I was 31 years old and
then maybe James Madison would come in
and say hey I was 25 Alexander Hamilton
would say I was like 23 founding fathers
more like founding Millennials
who would share their experience hey
just wrote the Declaration of
Independence snapchat that get this on
IG we’re creating a nation young youth
but we’ve disconnected that through
pictures in words we’re really the
Ascension of most of our leaders starts
around this timeframe and even in
today’s time Malala the beauty of her
life is just as beautiful as her name I
would not attempt the last thing but I
know it sounds beautiful but a young
girl who at the age of sixteen
point-blank range for what we consider
to be intrinsically Liberty everything
natural about life is that you should
have the opportunity at education
sixteen years old
changes a community that community
changes the conversation that
conversation changes the world and she
becomes the youngest to ever won a Nobel
Peace Prize and I am sure that the many
of women who have benefited from cannot
of her age we must find opportunities as
I say young folks to remember that no
matter where you are in that line you
are to hold the door and that you don’t
know who is to come behind you maybe it
was somebody older maybe there’s
somebody younger but the call to hold
the door cannot be correlated to age
once you hold the door what does that
look like well I imagine we all
understand that that comes at a price
without a doubt it’s found using a white
restroom you could be jailed without a
doubt found defaming or defacing a
colored sign you could be jailed
that room in need of something was
willing to take all the risk because
every time you hold the door you were
stopping a door that wants to be closed
so that means that it comes at a
sacrifice and ladies and gentlemen with
all due respect in a city full of
leadership is not what I pay you for
it’s called your job because somebody is
a CEO or a manager or a director that is
great you have a skill set that helps us
increase our revenue that’s your job I
would argue that leadership is sacrifice
putting yourself in between what someone
needs and who’s coming in this young man
yes I said young he always had a really
good haircut I really would love to know
the barber of dr. King but he steps out
in the early 50s at 26 years old and
many individuals have this perspective
that he started the civil rights
movement oh no no no he was picked from
an already ongoing bus boycott movement
they said you like you can wear a suit
heard you got a pretty good education we
could use you
and dr. King knew at that moment at 26
years old it’s my turn to hold the door
never knowing that the end of this thing
holding that door will come at the cost
they did sacrifice ladies and gentlemen
and even more beautiful beyond the
picture Fetty lou hamer
it’s 1964 I know all of you are too
young to remember that year but there in
New Jersey and if you get a chance I
remember watching a PBS storyline and it
talks about the 1964 delegation meeting
and it has the original guy in there dr.
King the wife of the Freedom Riders well
who was killed in Mississippi and then
comes this unknown name
she walks in as if she’s never owned
heels in her life something you still
walk like that
but if you watch the u2 she walks with a
persistence as if she knows something
nobody else knows fannie lou hamer sits
down sweat from her brown a purse full
of what I could imagine everything she
owns and she starts just like this
having King already spoke heaven every
other delegate hearing from the names
she says in 1962 mr. Chairman I in 18
others rolled down to a little town to
register to vote she goes on in that
eight-minute speech say I was arrested I
was taken back to the room I was beaten
she speaks from a place of conviction
that says I was I did you see we believe
holding the door is some sense of
success but maybe holding the door
because she has yet to register would be
I endured and failed and I want to share
what that failure looked like it was
such a convicting story you can google
it lyndon b johnson cuts into it so that
the nation can’t hear what a personal
testimony sounds like c LBJ understood
but i think others don’t I have a dream
it sounds good but it’s just a dream
conceivably yet to be experienced with
fannie lou hamer senses i lived it
holding the door for some of you is you
need to share what you lived the
failures and the success the beatings
whatever that looks like for you and do
it with the prowess that allows you to
walk and speak in such confidence
we open doors we hold doors that were
open for us but in a lot of ways with
this new level of technology and life we
have a unique opportunity to see doors
in a different way see I have given you
the perspective that it is to close
something a barrier between you and the
things that you want but some have
looked at it as an opportunity to open a
portal a gateway of ways though you are
not here called – maybe fight a social
resolution the opportunities of not
being content with seeing doors in the
same manner no mark has more commas in
his bank account than I did in my senior
capstone in grad school but his success
is not because he invented the internet
well he created a platform a platform
that in a lot of ways has been used as a
tool you see
crimes especially in metro areas have
now have a Facebook division I wish they
saw crimes because of Facebook posts in
parallels and cyber attachments families
I myself do the processes of life met my
19 year old brother with the sound of a
Facebook message having never known him
living only about 10 miles away from
where he grew up
and as I see the picture I say to myself
now god of all the people to give green
eyes you give it to him and not me
but because of Facebook the connection
was made we can go on to Murray if for
those smart people in the room I guess
you know where I’m going with this so
she did like all the things that we hear
when we watch Bill Nye the Science Guy
and like when we get to cosmos on the
television but this is the first person
ever went to Nobel Peace Prizes and
really called the mother of physics
helping us understand how we look at
germs and opening the door for female
scientists creating a new perspective of
how we really look at medicine even a
door is a challenge for some but maybe
you are in the place in life where you
can make a door a gateway for others so
I get to my final perspective one that I
am experiencing now more than ever
significance over success for everybody
who’s watching if you find a politician
who’s making a lot of money he’s not a
politician you I we have this ability to
identify problems and we petition
organizations we petition the governance
in our leaders to identify a solution in
between there ladies and gentlemen is
innovation the little – between your
problem and your solution is innovation
and I would argue in whatever realm you
are in you must fight to do important
things rather than to be an important
person and if you do that you’ve become
innovative and the significance of those
things have a new value if I was asking
right now
what is your most significant moment in
life and who was it with who who really
made an impression upon yourself you
might say my third-grade teacher I hate
it she made me do those flashcards and
now I’m a mathematician you might say it
was a coach you might say it was a
mother and I a cousin your best friend
your professor in college your husband
your wife your child so you can quantify
success than the amount of money you
make cars you drive the value of your
house that three-digit number that means
everything like a credit score but
significance is elusive its autonomous
to us all none of us would agree on the
same significant person so we must ask
ourselves who are you significant for
that’s leadership state spa Proctor
about a year and a half ago I was going
through the door with a white sheet from
a computer writing my name on there many
people thought I was a doctor because it
was in chicken scratch and I was just
right trying to change North Huntsville
one house at a time
dedicated I had thirteen dollars in our
finance committee enough to buy the
important stuff which was doughnuts in
coffee I would write it’s not now when I
truly believed that at some point
somebody would get it he got it and he
would finish my story if not now when
if not me then who the significance of
pause that he’s a twin and his brother
was my opponent the value in seeing your
twin brothers stand with somebody else
the magnitude of that and I used to
always tell them by the pawl you don’t
have to do this cuz the only thing that
really matters is when you’re going to
voters booth de BY in he said no I’m
convicted Devin to do what is right for
my community
believe in those I believe I can hold
accountable those individuals no matter
of gender color age that had the ability
to take problem in solution and shorten
the distance that’s you that was one of
the most significant moments I’ve had in
my long 28 years two days before he
passed he reaches out and says keep on
keeping on young man and on Evan Street
never seeing the man he believed in take
the stage in an inauguration the guy
whose shirt he wore he was pictures he
took he argued with his brother and with
his friends he never cared about
anything other than holding the door for
me that’s leadership
holding the door is leadership behind
your door thank you
[Applause]
if you watch Game of Thrones you know
the depth of this moment if you don’t
watch Game of Thrones and have no idea
who this is congratulations you have
missed a moment of despair darkness you
have slept better for the past year so
but these three words will bother you
probably the rest of your life and
spoiler alert it doesn’t end up good
hold the door hold the door hold the
door
I remember watching this and thinking to
myself that reminds me of a story I like
to share all the time now in my old age
of twenty eight with three gray hairs I
have learned what it might mean to hold
the door and a story that is very unique
to this parallel there was this guy
early on in his career he received what
was a recruitment letter in the early
years of the 1900s when land-grant
colleges better known as HBCUs
historically black colleges and
universities sent out across the nation
scouring the land looking for
individuals who were willing to come
south of the mason-dixon and teach
freely nude slaves understanding the
ramifications with that they put
together a list of things to be
understood when one was traveling from
other parts of the nation to a place
where an unelected man reign supreme
that unelected man’s name was Jim Crow
and he had gone earned so much control
in the south it was known but
untouchable and you could only see
remnants of moments of Jim Crow so he
gets two tickets wanted to take him from
where he started which is Boston South
Station go Sox and go all the way down
to the Carolinas
the Carolinas is where he gets to having
taken an integrated cart on the first
leg for the first time in his life he
understands it and he sees that he says
color and white understanding the
tonation in his skin he makes this
decision and walks into what is a
crowded railroad waiting station the
room is full it is diverse he sees a
young lady with her teenage boy he sees
an elder gentleman with his wife he sees
a couple of children with an older man
he sees a number of what looks to be
college students headed in the same
direction as he so he sits down and he
waits and then something catches his eye
this young man gets up and he walks to
the corner does something that’s a
little bit surprising he starts to
relieve himself now before you judge him
there’s two places in America you can
still do that one I just did it last
weekend it was on the second hole trying
to find my eighth golf ball off in the
bushes somewhere the other place and I’m
sure some of you know I’ve heard about
it
earlier in the year on a street called
bourbon late in the night heard about it
but this wasn’t New Orleans nor
anybody’s Country Club he was doing this
in the public in the corner and the
professor felt uncomfortable he said I’m
convicted to tell you young man excuse
me you can use the restroom the room
looked at him he looked at the room and
the young man says to him sir I would
but I don’t have the dime to pay the
toll he says what do you mean he says
well here Jim Crow has made it to where
if you want to use the rest when one
must pay in a change lock
in order to use it and I just don’t have
that money and this is where I think
leadership has a transition the
professor says okay reaches into his
pocket I have a little bit of change
left over on my way down he says I’ll
pay the lock and I’ll open the door and
you’ll go in and he turns to the crowd
says who else has to use the restroom
hands go up is it’s okay just what we’ll
do lonna
all of those who need to use the
restroom and when this young man gets
done they’ll come out and they’ll do
those three famous words he’ll hold the
door and then the next person
don’t forget three words hold the door
and then the next person and then the
next person and then the next person you
see his one idea of change led to change
for the whole of the room because he
understood that leadership is not only
fun and innovation you have to find an
opportunity to empower another
generation for that tenth person that
was in line knows none of the
professor’s original payment doors
ladies and gentlemen that perspective is
extremely unique and I’m not going to
take too long
there’s no benediction at the end but I
would like to convict you to sort of ask
that question on how you see leadership
what does it look like for you to hold
the door the first step I guess in a way
is opening the door a number of my team
is here today and I remember let me tell
you in 28 years I’m convinced in
November I might turn 41 but along the
trail you
to go to these establishments where and
my grandmother is gonna watch this so I
have to be careful of our words seasoned
and elder individuals would be and I
would talk with them and my team would
converse with them as we talked about
bringing change to our community and all
of women say young man you sound so
smart that’s a great idea
I absolutely agree can you pass me the
hot sauce I would say yes yes ma’am
there was one man who said I love
everything you’re saying but there’s
something in me that will not allow me
to vote for somebody who’s younger than
my best pair of socks handy God first
thing I said was where in the world do
you get some socks like that but he said
it was the age nothing I could change
that bothered him the idea is the
content the perspective was everything
he needed to hear but it was my age and
I started thinking we get to this
perspective of age and leadership right
this guy right here Thomas Jefferson if
you were to bring him back in time I I
know it that I know it he would not make
this his LinkedIn picture he dies at 83
years old and you guys want to show
Thomas Jefferson almost on his deathbed
well great here and the reason that is
important is because he’ll say to you on
July 4 1776 Devon I was 31 years old and
then maybe James Madison would come in
and say hey I was 25 Alexander Hamilton
would say I was like 23 founding fathers
more like founding Millennials
who would share their experience hey
just wrote the Declaration of
Independence snapchat that get this on
IG we’re creating a nation young youth
but we’ve disconnected that through
pictures in words we’re really the
Ascension of most of our leaders starts
around this timeframe and even in
today’s time Malala the beauty of her
life is just as beautiful as her name I
would not attempt the last thing but I
know it sounds beautiful but a young
girl who at the age of sixteen
point-blank range for what we consider
to be intrinsically Liberty everything
natural about life is that you should
have the opportunity at education
sixteen years old
changes a community that community
changes the conversation that
conversation changes the world and she
becomes the youngest to ever won a Nobel
Peace Prize and I am sure that the many
of women who have benefited from cannot
of her age we must find opportunities as
I say young folks to remember that no
matter where you are in that line you
are to hold the door and that you don’t
know who is to come behind you maybe it
was somebody older maybe there’s
somebody younger but the call to hold
the door cannot be correlated to age
once you hold the door what does that
look like well I imagine we all
understand that that comes at a price
without a doubt it’s found using a white
restroom you could be jailed without a
doubt found defaming or defacing a
colored sign you could be jailed
that room in need of something was
willing to take all the risk because
every time you hold the door you were
stopping a door that wants to be closed
so that means that it comes at a
sacrifice and ladies and gentlemen with
all due respect in a city full of
leadership is not what I pay you for
it’s called your job because somebody is
a CEO or a manager or a director that is
great you have a skill set that helps us
increase our revenue that’s your job I
would argue that leadership is sacrifice
putting yourself in between what someone
needs and who’s coming in this young man
yes I said young he always had a really
good haircut I really would love to know
the barber of dr. King but he steps out
in the early 50s at 26 years old and
many individuals have this perspective
that he started the civil rights
movement oh no no no he was picked from
an already ongoing bus boycott movement
they said you like you can wear a suit
heard you got a pretty good education we
could use you
and dr. King knew at that moment at 26
years old it’s my turn to hold the door
never knowing that the end of this thing
holding that door will come at the cost
they did sacrifice ladies and gentlemen
and even more beautiful beyond the
picture Fetty lou hamer
it’s 1964 I know all of you are too
young to remember that year but there in
New Jersey and if you get a chance I
remember watching a PBS storyline and it
talks about the 1964 delegation meeting
and it has the original guy in there dr.
King the wife of the Freedom Riders well
who was killed in Mississippi and then
comes this unknown name
she walks in as if she’s never owned
heels in her life something you still
walk like that
but if you watch the u2 she walks with a
persistence as if she knows something
nobody else knows fannie lou hamer sits
down sweat from her brown a purse full
of what I could imagine everything she
owns and she starts just like this
having King already spoke heaven every
other delegate hearing from the names
she says in 1962 mr. Chairman I in 18
others rolled down to a little town to
register to vote she goes on in that
eight-minute speech say I was arrested I
was taken back to the room I was beaten
she speaks from a place of conviction
that says I was I did you see we believe
holding the door is some sense of
success but maybe holding the door
because she has yet to register would be
I endured and failed and I want to share
what that failure looked like it was
such a convicting story you can google
it lyndon b johnson cuts into it so that
the nation can’t hear what a personal
testimony sounds like c LBJ understood
but i think others don’t I have a dream
it sounds good but it’s just a dream
conceivably yet to be experienced with
fannie lou hamer senses i lived it
holding the door for some of you is you
need to share what you lived the
failures and the success the beatings
whatever that looks like for you and do
it with the prowess that allows you to
walk and speak in such confidence
we open doors we hold doors that were
open for us but in a lot of ways with
this new level of technology and life we
have a unique opportunity to see doors
in a different way see I have given you
the perspective that it is to close
something a barrier between you and the
things that you want but some have
looked at it as an opportunity to open a
portal a gateway of ways though you are
not here called – maybe fight a social
resolution the opportunities of not
being content with seeing doors in the
same manner no mark has more commas in
his bank account than I did in my senior
capstone in grad school but his success
is not because he invented the internet
well he created a platform a platform
that in a lot of ways has been used as a
tool you see
crimes especially in metro areas have
now have a Facebook division I wish they
saw crimes because of Facebook posts in
parallels and cyber attachments families
I myself do the processes of life met my
19 year old brother with the sound of a
Facebook message having never known him
living only about 10 miles away from
where he grew up
and as I see the picture I say to myself
now god of all the people to give green
eyes you give it to him and not me
but because of Facebook the connection
was made we can go on to Murray if for
those smart people in the room I guess
you know where I’m going with this so
she did like all the things that we hear
when we watch Bill Nye the Science Guy
and like when we get to cosmos on the
television but this is the first person
ever went to Nobel Peace Prizes and
really called the mother of physics
helping us understand how we look at
germs and opening the door for female
scientists creating a new perspective of
how we really look at medicine even a
door is a challenge for some but maybe
you are in the place in life where you
can make a door a gateway for others so
I get to my final perspective one that I
am experiencing now more than ever
significance over success for everybody
who’s watching if you find a politician
who’s making a lot of money he’s not a
politician you I we have this ability to
identify problems and we petition
organizations we petition the governance
in our leaders to identify a solution in
between there ladies and gentlemen is
innovation the little – between your
problem and your solution is innovation
and I would argue in whatever realm you
are in you must fight to do important
things rather than to be an important
person and if you do that you’ve become
innovative and the significance of those
things have a new value if I was asking
right now
what is your most significant moment in
life and who was it with who who really
made an impression upon yourself you
might say my third-grade teacher I hate
it she made me do those flashcards and
now I’m a mathematician you might say it
was a coach you might say it was a
mother and I a cousin your best friend
your professor in college your husband
your wife your child so you can quantify
success than the amount of money you
make cars you drive the value of your
house that three-digit number that means
everything like a credit score but
significance is elusive its autonomous
to us all none of us would agree on the
same significant person so we must ask
ourselves who are you significant for
that’s leadership state spa Proctor
about a year and a half ago I was going
through the door with a white sheet from
a computer writing my name on there many
people thought I was a doctor because it
was in chicken scratch and I was just
right trying to change North Huntsville
one house at a time
dedicated I had thirteen dollars in our
finance committee enough to buy the
important stuff which was doughnuts in
coffee I would write it’s not now when I
truly believed that at some point
somebody would get it he got it and he
would finish my story if not now when
if not me then who the significance of
pause that he’s a twin and his brother
was my opponent the value in seeing your
twin brothers stand with somebody else
the magnitude of that and I used to
always tell them by the pawl you don’t
have to do this cuz the only thing that
really matters is when you’re going to
voters booth de BY in he said no I’m
convicted Devin to do what is right for
my community
believe in those I believe I can hold
accountable those individuals no matter
of gender color age that had the ability
to take problem in solution and shorten
the distance that’s you that was one of
the most significant moments I’ve had in
my long 28 years two days before he
passed he reaches out and says keep on
keeping on young man and on Evan Street
never seeing the man he believed in take
the stage in an inauguration the guy
whose shirt he wore he was pictures he
took he argued with his brother and with
his friends he never cared about
anything other than holding the door for
me that’s leadership
holding the door is leadership behind
your door thank you
[Applause]
Please follow and like us: