Commencement 2025 at the Cal State Fullerton College of Business and Economics featured keynote addresses by Tim Goff, chair of the Dean’s Advisory Board, and Nicole Suydam, member of the Dean’s Advisory Board, Executive in Residence mentor and Goodwill OC executive.
Tim Goff: Embracing the Change
Goff, who is senior vice president and head of Americas Residential for Assa Abloy, told graduates, family and friends that in a world moving at warp speed, the ability and willingness to change and be a change-maker is essential.
“Change favors the bold. Chaos favors the curious. The next great innovations, the next wave of leaders, they’re going to come from people who are flexible, open-minded and resilient,” said Goff. “You’ve already shown you know how to keep going when things get tough. You know how to collaborate, how to think critically and how to solve real-world problems. That’s what business is all about. That’s what leadership is all about.”
Goff noted that when he was graduating more than 30 years ago, leading a $2 billion global business with more than 7,000 employees was never on his radar. But through accepting new opportunities, he slowly but surely rose to greatness.
“I didn’t have a master plan. I didn’t have a five-year vision board. What I had was a willingness to keep saying yes — to opportunities that scared me, to jobs I wasn’t sure I was ready for, to changes I didn’t expect. And that’s the advice I want to leave you with today. Say yes to that first job even if it’s not perfect. Say yes to the project that challenges you. Say yes to leading something, even if your voice shakes. Say yes to switching paths even if it means starting over.”
Read more about Suydam’s speech in this CSUF Business News article.
