Matthew T. Phillips

Speeches

Simplicity and Complexity (Charlotte Saturday MBA Class of 2015)

Simplicity and Complexity (Charlotte Saturday MBA Class of 2015)

Being a simple leader is a lot harder than generating and wading among complications. It almost always involves more responsibility. Paradoxically, it requires more comfort with complexity, because you have to spend time sifting the complex into simple terms. And it requires tremendous self-confidence, because in a simple leadership environment, there won’t be any question who is responsible when problems arise. But it’s what professionals do.

The Danger of a Normal Day (Winston-Salem Evening MBA Class of 2015)

The Danger of a Normal Day (Winston-Salem Evening MBA Class of 2015)

Fourteen years and eleven hours ago, I was in graduate school. It was the second year of a three-year program, I was getting married in three months, and I expected that Tuesday to be like any other. During my first class, whispers emerged about something going on — a bombing, I heard first. By the break between classes, there was a TV set up in the student lounge and we had started to learn about planes hitting the World Trade Center. The Pentagon was hit during my second class, and rumors about other attacks were rampant.