First,

I would like to thank the school management for giving this platform to an entrepreneur during
this solemn graduation. And moreover an entrepreneur from the frivolous world of fashion. Quite
unusual.

In my own field, I have learnt that a good speech can be compared to a woman’s evening dress. It
should be long enough to cover the essentials, but short enough to hold the attention. I will do my
best.

It will not surprise you that an entrepreneur wants to talk about entrepreneurial spirit, but I would
like to do so in the broadest sense. Because such skills as decision-making, creativity and showing
initiative are important not only for an entrepreneur but also for an employee and, indeed, for the
general development of every person.

Entrepreneurial spirit can be described as a powerful blend of self-management and creativity. The
creative aspect is expressed by conceiving a new idea, responding to the opportunities that present
themselves and devising creative solutions to problems. The self-management aspect is expressed in
the energy to commit, in purposefully planning, organising and fleshing out – basically executing the
idea. Ideas are not typically effected by one individual. To convince others and fire their enthusiasm
for your project, to delegate roles and responsibilities and make sure that everything runs smoothly
you absolutely cannot do without social and leadership skills.

Creativity, self-management and charisma are by far the three important roles that an entrepreneur
or organisational leader must assume.

1) Firstly, an entrepreneur must develop the strategy.

The leader must have a firm idea of the future in mind; he must set a goal. He is the captain who
must set the destination and the heading.

To do that, he must be able or have the talent to recognise striking trends in his environment or in
society. He must have a vision – a mental image of what the future will be and the best way to get
there.

2) Secondly, the entrepreneur must be able to convey that vision and strategy to his people.

That is the inspiring or charismatic role of the leader. He is able to motivate the people and
make them enthusiastic about his project.

3) Thirdly, the entrepreneur has an organisational role. Real leadership is always oriented to the
long term. To safeguard continuity he must be able to develop an organisation. In that
respect, he has the role of a mediator; he has to reconcile the interests of various parties and
ensure that one single party does not get the upper hand.
A good leader actually makes himself redundant. He gives people a share of the power.
Leadership is the art of hiring the right people and giving them the space to make important
decisions themselves.

To be able to fulfil these three roles, you need a number of skills or attitudes.
1) Boundless optimism: positive thinking about people in general and about the future.
Conviction that everyone is talented but that they must be put in the right place. The ability to trust
people. People who are suspicious cannot be good leaders. But you must also not be naïve. I have
always followed the principle : “Fool me once, blame on you, fool me twice shame on me”. If you
betray my trust a second time you will not get it back.

2) The importance of integrity: This means firmly sticking to your principles. Standing by
something and working towards it. Doing what you say and saying what you do. Being a beacon of
trust. Before you can trust others you have to trust yourself and be trusted by others. Being given the
trust of others based on communication, support, respect, impartiality, competence and consistency.

3) You also need a high level of aspiration and perseverance, enabling you to take on greater
and greater challenges. I was raised among Jesuits and they taught me the Greek ideal “Aien
aristeuein” – “ever to excel”. Always being the best. And, of course, you are not always the best, but
you do strive to be the best. Try to excel in everything you do. And since I have some climbing
experience I have also learned from climbers that you have to start slowly, following the “Climb high,
sleep low” principle. Climbers have to acclimatise to the altitude. Climb gradually and descend every
day a bit to sleep. This has taught me that you should not put people under pressure for one-off
projects or highs but rather let the organisation grow gradually and be alert to the signs from within
the organisation.

4) The importance of empathy and mutual respect. Being able to put yourself in the other
person’s situation. Creating a sense of family, a sense of community in the workplace. Listening is an
important skill. Truly listening to understand fulfils one of the other person’s most primal human
needs, the need for attention and acknowledgment. We have two ears and one mouth. This means
that we should listen twice as much as we speak. In fact we should need three ears: One to hear the
actual words, one to pick up the real meaning and one to take in the underlying concerns that are
not expressed at all.

To protect our prosperity we need people with those attitudes. Which is why entrepreneurial spirit
should be stimulated in education and wider society.

Unfortunately, studies show that young Flemish people are less inclined to set up a business than
young people in other countries. It seems that we have a risk-averse population and some think this
attitude is nurtured by the social security mechanisms. Be that as it may, it is an attitude that is
reinforced by education. The culture of schools, university colleges and universities is not typically
oriented to showing creativity and initiative or taking risks. On the contrary. Educational institutions
are expected to follow the rules and students at all levels learn not to step out of line. With this in
mind, it’s no surprise that today’s brilliant entrepreneurs were often school drop-outs. Entrepreneurs
have to have a certain degree of self-will and nerve to be able to blaze new trails.

And I realise that the educational institutions do not have it easy. Three factors make it difficult for
them:

1) Educational institutions have to work within a fairly strict regulatory framework with many
administrative obligations. This in any case leads to a bureaucratic culture.
2) Great demands are made on the educational institutions by society. The pedagogical impact
of other social structures – families, clubs – has been greatly reduced, which means that, in many
areas, educational institutions have no support.

3) Many young people are not demanding more independence and responsibility. They live at
home and remain dependant on their parents for longer to protect their standard of living.

But schools could take some measures to stimulate the entrepreneurial spirit of young people. In
these I would include:

- Giving older students more responsibility for younger students (big brother/big sister
mentoring principle)

- Setting up close partnerships between educational institutions and the business community

- Hiring teachers and professors with wide experience in the world of work. I understand that
this is what you do in your school, so the following quotation fortunately does not apply to your
teachers: “Those who go to college and never get out are called professors”

- Giving as many students as possible an international experience during their studies

- Making voluntary work and tutoring standard among students.

Let us hope that such measures could help to motivate potential entrepreneurs but I would also like
to emphasize that “risk taking” – and so failure – is an inherent part of entrepreneurship. Unlike in
US culture, we do not tolerate failure in Western European culture. In the USA, it’s good to include a
bankruptcy on your CV; in Europe bankruptcy is felt to be a source of disgrace that follows you
throughout your career. And yet failure is part and parcel of life. Or as Churchill put it: “Success is
going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm”. With that in mind, I would like to send you
off with the following: “Whenever you make a mistake or get knocked down by life, don't look back at
it too long. Mistakes are life's way of teaching you. Your capacity for occasional blunders is
inseparable from your capacity to reach your goals. No one wins them all, and your failures, when
they happen, are just part of your growth. Shake off your blunders. How will you know your limits
without an occasional failure? Never quit. Your turn will come”.

Lastly, I would like to address me specially to the young people here. More than earlier generations,
you live in a globalised world. This brings with it some huge opportunities, which you should not pass
up. Here’s my advice:

“You have to leave your front door, leave the peace and quiet of your home, step out of your comfort
zone, and into a world of risk; a world in which you have no idea what the outcome is going to be. Out
of it all, you will have a much broader understanding of the world’s cultures, and you will have a
much clearer idea of how the world perceives our culture, and all the value, and the benefits, and the
beauty of our culture.”

I wish you all the best in your future live and careers.

Thanks for your attention.