Thank you President Emeritus Sorenson
for that kind introduction
and thank you to Babson
for inviting me here today.

President Healey
Chair Capozzi
Provost Rice
Dean Rolleg
Members of the governing boards
parents, spouses, friends
and my fellow graduates

It is my extreme honor
to speak to you today
as Babson College
celebrates its
100th anniversary

And may I be among
the first to congratulate
this very special
class of 2019!

So
let me get right
to the point

I know that some of you
may be sitting there
stressed out about
where you will work
after graduation

you may be wondering
what company
will offer you a job

Well
let me take that worry
off the table for you
right now

and offer each
and every one of you
a job at Toyota!

I haven't actually
cleared that with my
HR department yet
but I'm sure it will be ok.

So now that the
employment issue
has been solved
let's talk about more important things

Like how you plan
to celebrate this momentous occasion

I mean, how wild
is tonight's party
going to get?

And more importantly,
can I come?

But I can't stay out too
late because tomorrow
is the fin-aley
of Game of Thrones.

I have to tell you
when I was at Babson,
I had no social life.

For me, taking classes
in English was a real challenge.

It took all of my focus
and free time.

I never went to parties
I never went to a hockey
game.

I just went from
my dorm to class
to the library
to my dorm to class
to the library.

So when I attended
Babson, I was,
in a word boring.

But once I graduated,
I went to work
in New York
where I immediately
made up for lost time
and became
"king of the night"!

Now I'm not suggesting
you do the same
I can tell
just by looking at you
that none of you are
boring.

I'm sure you have
enjoyed a very active
social life
while you were here.

But since I'm here to
offer you words of
advice
let the first be this
don't be boring
have fun.

Really figure out what
makes you happy in
life
what brings you joy.

When I was a student
here, I found joy
in donuts.

American donuts were
a joyful, astonishing
discovery.

I want to encourage all
of you to find your own
donut.

Find what makes
you happy
and don't let go.

You should know I didn't
come here to tell you
the usual stories about
the mountains you may
have to climb
or the challenges
you'll have to meet.

No!

Because I think we
should just go ahead
and assume everything
is going to work out
great!

I think all of you
are going to be
a big success!
I really do.

And that's
where it gets tricky.

Because you are
going to be successful.

You are going to
climb that ladder
and make that money.

But will it be doing something that is fun?

Something that
you really love?

Because when you are
as talented as I know
all of you are

it is so easy
to wake up one day
and find yourself
in golden handcuffs

with a mortgage
and three kids that you need to put through Babson.

So whether you're
entering
a family business or not

now's the time to figure
out what speaks to your
heart the most.

The beginning of your
career is really the best
part because you
have the freedom
to try different things
before the inevitable
responsibilities of life
pile up.

So use this time
this freedom
that your youth
provides
to find your happy world.

And don't be afraid
if it's not what's
"expected".

I'm lucky in some
respects, because
I knew what I wanted
to do at a very early age.

When I was a little boy
I knew for sure
that I wanted to be
a taxi driver.

It didn't completely work
out, but it's pretty close.

I get to drive cars
and be around cars
all the time.

And if there's one thing
I love more than donuts
it's cars.

Toyota has been building
cars for over 80 years
now but we actually
started out
in the weaving loom
business.

My great grandfather invented the automatic weaving loom

But It was my grandfather, Kiichiro, who took us
from making fabric
to making cars
and created the company
we have today.

I'm actually the third generation Toyoda
to run our company

and perhaps you have heard the saying

the third generation knows no hardship
or the third generation
ruins everything.

Well hopefully that will not be the case.

I mean, I did graduate from Babson after all!

As luck would have it though as soon as I became CEO

we had the great recession
an earthquake and tsunami

and a recall that meant
I had to testify
to congress
in Washington DC.

At that moment
I really did want to take
a job as a taxi driver!

But I'm happy to say,
we're doing fine now
partly because I use
what I learned here
at Babson
every day at Toyota.

Perhaps the greatest
lesson of all
was the sense of
entrepreneurship
that was instilled in me
here.

Even with a company
as big as Toyota
I still try to think of it
as a start-up company.

In fact, one of the
challenges of running
a business that's been
in your family for decades

is how willing are you
to make dramatic
change when it's called
for?

How do you look at
things objectively
and not hang on
to something
for sentimental reasons?

How do you take the risk
of making fabric one
day and cars, the
next?

Our industry is
undergoing revolutionary
change today
as are many others.

Even I can't predict
what kind of car
we will be driving
20 years from now

but my time at Babson taught me
to embrace change
rather than run from it

and I urge all of you
to do the same.

I am often asked
whether I am burdened
by having the name
Toyoda

and when I was
your age
I might have said yes.

But today, I'm very proud
of what the name
represents and the
hundreds of thousands
of people it supports
around the world.

So let's fast forward
and assume you have become successful
doing what you really love

now let me give you
some advice
from one CEO
to another

Don't screw it up.

Don't take it for granted.

Do the right thing.

Because if you
do the right thing
the money will follow.

Try new things
even if you're old.

When I became CEO of
Toyota 10 years ago
I was told by one
of my mentors
that I couldn't expect
to be taken seriously
by our engineers

unless I really knew
how to drive
at the highest level.

So at the age of 52
I took on the challenge
of training to become
a master driver.

Not just so I could drive
our racecars
which I do
much to my father's dismay

but so I could communicate how I think
our cars should drive
with our engineers.

The point is
you've always got to be
learning something
new

no matter how old
you are.

Never give up being
a student
because being a student
is the best job
you will ever have.

Find people that
inspire you

Oprah
Yoda
Tom Brady
your parents
your friends

Feed off their energy!

Be a person
that inspires others.

Be a good global citizen.
Care about
the environment,
the planet
about what's happening
in other parts
of the world.

Don't worry about
being cool
be warm.

Decide what you stand
for.

At Toyota
we have a set of values
that include
Integrity
humility
and respect for others.

We call it
the Toyota Way.

And it gives our company
a north star

a guiding light.

Find your own guiding
light and let it inform
every decision
you make.

Let it help you make
the world
a better place.

Ladies and gentlemen
fellow students

today is where it ends

and today is where
it all begins

In Japan, every time
a new emperor
ascends to the throne
a new era begins.

And the calendar starts over at year one.

We just had a new era begin in Japan
on May 1st.

Every era has its own name
and this one is called Reiwa, which means
"beautiful harmony".

In many respects all of you are beginning
a new era of your own

where the clock
is set back to one
and the possibilities
are endless.

I hope your era
is one filled with
beautiful harmony

much success

and many, many donuts.

Thank you very much.