The 2022 graduates of the Caribbean Maritime University (CMU) have been offered five guiding principles to always remember as they move on to the next stage of their life journeys.

Dave Chang, Carnival Cruise Line’s Jamaica-born senior vice president, provided the advice as he addressed the institution’s graduation ceremony on Thursday afternoon (November 18).

In an energetic and passionate speech to the graduates, the guest speaker shared the five things he has learned, during his 35-year career, that have become guiding principles in his life.

As one of Carnival’s most senior sales executives, Chang leads more than 1,400 sales and service professionals with a ‘People First’ mantra.

“These five principles have changed my life,” he said.

“So I share them with you in hopes that at least one, or more, will resonate and help you in your own dreams and your own careers.”

1. The way you treat people matters.

Chang shared that, when he was six years old, he learned his first guiding principle, which is that the way you treat people matters.

When his parents rented their first home in Liberty Valley, St Ann, heavy rains had flooded the roads, leaving behind deep potholes.

His father had borrowed a car from his uncle, and the car got stuck in one of the potholes. Handcart men in the area assisted them by placing a stone in the pothole so they could drive over it.

Chang’s neighbour at the time saw what was happening and went into his car, because he also wanted to pass that section of the road. When his neighbour approached the pothole, the handcart men stopped the neighbour’s car and removed the stone.

They said the neighbour had never spoken to them before or even acknowledged them.

“The way you treat people matters. There is this notion on social media that it is okay to be rude, it’s okay to act like you’re better than others or the people who change your trash can, but you’re not,” he stressed.

He then charged the graduates to treat people with the utmost respect at all times.

2. Show me your friends, and I’ll tell you who you are

The second guiding principle he learnt while he was a young sales manager at Carnival Cruise Line.

Chang was in charge of six new sales representatives at the time, all of whom were brilliant young people.

Based on the seating arrangements, two of the representatives sat on the left side of the room and the other four on the right.

As time went on, only the four that were on right remained and became top performers. The other two left the company.

When he asked the sales coach what happened to the two who left, Chang said he was told that “the people they sat around, they never looked at the glass as half full. They always blamed everybody else. They never understood what it took to be successful. The other four sat with some of the most assertive, goal driven and competitive people”.

Based on this, Chang said he learnt that the environment we are in can be the difference between success and failure.

He charged the graduates to choose their friends wisely, even if it means they have to remove a few, to make space for those who will help them excel in life.

3. Protect your brand at all cost

Another life story shared by Chang was when Carnival Cruise Line hired a new president, Christine Duffy, in 2015, after experiencing a tough period.

When she joined the company, she sent out an email to everyone that stated they could join her for lunch in the cafeteria during set periods, an act that some people scoffed at.

However, Chang said Duffy’s brand was that she was about the people and she knew that, after a tough year, people would be on edge and she wanted to make them feel relaxed.

“She understood that people make companies, companies don’t make people. That is her brand which is why it was an easy decision for her to do that.”

He then implored graduates to establish a positive brand for themselves, and protect it at all costs.

4. Never stop learning

On a visit to Jamaica, Chang and his father met up with family members for brunch, where he learnt his fourth guiding principle.

When they arrived, he saw that his niece had a brand new car that he loved. They started to talk about the car and she told him that it needed to be serviced.

She had just serviced it three months earlier, but needed to go back because the car was malfunctioning, he explained.

Frustrated with her long-time mechanic, his niece then brough the car to a dealership where she was told that the car needed to be in maintenance mode for the changes to register.

“Her mechanic did not know that because he hasn’t improved in years. He stopped learning and stopped certifying himself,” stated Chang.

He then told the graduates to continue learning and building on their skills, because what made them successful in previous years will not make them successful in the future.

5. Always pay it forward

The last guiding principle he left with the graduates was to pay it forward, meaning to help others in need.

Chang shared that, while doing the introduction for Bob Dickinson, the longest tenured president at the cruise line, his closing line for the introduction was: “He taught me that you should give, because it comes back threefold.”

When Dickinson approached the podium after the introduction, he made a correction to the statement and said: “We don’t give, because it comes back threefold. We give, because as citizens of this country it is our duty and responsibility that, when we make it, we pull somebody else up from behind.”

Now that they have made it, Chang told the graduates they have a duty to pull up at least one other person as they continue their journey, because that is the only way to build a better Jamaica.

– Send feedback to [email protected]