It's commencement season.

Students are walking across stages at high schools and universities. They’re shaking hands, tossing caps, and taking photos with their moms in front of football stadiums.

If you have kids — especially if you have multiple kids at different stages — you know how layered with feeling May can be. It might just hit you all at once. It’s hard to imagine that a perfectly worded speech in a colosseum will bring you to tears or feel like your stomach is dropping out until you’re there, dressed up, holding flowers, and wondering why you didn’t stuff a pocket with tissues.

Commencement speeches aren’t always great. Maybe that’s why a few people get to speak at the ceremony. Many are forgettable, but the ones that stick? They find a way to get talk about the universal truths while still being deeply personal. They're unique. The best ones come from deep, lived experience that teach you lessons you might not have thought about from that angle.

Breakfast in Columbus

On Tuesday morning, my oldest son and I hopped on a plane and flew to Columbus, Ohio. We had an hour to kill before our first meeting, so we did one of my favorite things to do when I travel — find the most hole-in-the-wall place with great ratings to grab food.

We found a dive breakfast spot on the campus of Ohio State. It was an absolutely beautiful morning. Could not have been more perfect.

Ohio State — as much as I wish you'd never win another football game — your campus is beautiful. Really impressive.

The football stadium had just been set up for graduation. There were still young people with their moms taking photos around different parts of the campus. This spirit of optimism and hope for the future was palpable, but you could also feel the nostalgia already setting in.

That spirit stuck with me for the rest of the week.

We Don't Do This Enough

Here's the thing. I don't think we practice commencement enough once we move beyond school settings. Not just personally, but in our work lives.

To reflect and take in what’s happened and dream about what’s to come. To share those thoughts collectively or to maybe have somebody help us codify what we've learned in a meaningful way doesn’t have a universal framework outside of academia.

Commencement can feel a little heavy when you think about all the things you know coming to an end, but the word itself tells you that it isn't an ending. It's the beginning. Someone says that in every address ever given, but it's true. Commencement, ultimately, is a mile marker to a fresh beginning in your life’s journey.

No one's destination is the same. But you have to take the time to say: This is where we're at. This is where we're going. This is what we learned. And this is what we're going to do because of it.

The Spirit of Commencement in Your Business

So how do leaders embrace the spirit of commencement — in how they run their business, lead others, and serve their clients?

A few things I think matter:

1. Observe the facts and let them shape you.

Don't be a wrecking ball through reality, creating your own version of it. Lean into what's true. Let it form you. Let it shape where you go next.

2. Acknowledge what you can't control — and own what you can.

You can't control who starts a war. You can't control how markets perform. You can't control how clients respond to every scenario.

But you can control your attitude. Your desire to deliver. How you lead others. How you show up each day. The life you bring to everything you do. The moments you share with others.

That's all in you, and it's a tremendous opportunity.

3. Choose how far, how fast, and who you do it with.

Most of us get to make that choice. Sometimes you're just starting out and you need an opportunity — any opportunity. That's a great season too.

But here's something worth thinking about: entry-level job postings in the U.S. have declined roughly 35% since 2023, driven largely by AI and economic uncertainty. Nearly 43% of recent college graduates are now underemployed. The traditional first rung of the career ladder is getting harder to reach.

And yet — we live in an industry facing the opposite problem. McKinsey projects a shortage of more than 100,000 financial advisors by 2034, with 38% of the current workforce approaching retirement. J.D. Power calls it a "collision course with a talent crisis."

Maybe that's your opportunity. Go recruit some new blood into your firm. Let it shape you. Invest in the future.

One More Thing

I watched Eric Church's commencement address at UNC this past weekend. I'm not a country music fan. I could definitely not pick Eric Church out of a crowd.

Still, it was great.

He brought his guitar to the podium and used its six strings as a metaphor for the six pillars of a well-lived life — faith, family, spouse, ambition, community, and you. Simple. Personal. Deeply human.

The line that stuck with me: the difference between a life that sounds like music and a life that sounds like noise is whether you stop and listen — whether you're honest enough to hear which string has drifted out of tune, and humble enough to make the adjustment instead of just turning up the volume.

He didn’t focus on generic principles. He talked about real experiences, shared with conviction.

A lot of leaders have those same kinds of lessons in their minds and in their experiences. They're just not sharing them the way they ought to.

So find an opportunity to do a commencement with your team. Share. Invest. Grow your perspective and pass it on.

Make this world a little better.

Have a great weekend.

— Jud