The art of not being a true something

[Applause]

50 years ago

i graduated i became

an engineer and i remember

the graduation ceremony

dean came to me and say hey here is your

paper

but i have to tell you you’re not a true

engineer

my first job i was in a bank

i was hired by a bank and i was assigned

to the computer department

went well after six months

my first feedback so debrief so

my boss told me you’re nice you work

well

but i have to tell you something you’re

not a true computer guy

we at that time we were in the 70s and

it was the beginning

of the green movement the very first

shock

and along with some friends we founded

the green party in belgium

and by coincidence there was

election to come and i decided to become

a candidate

i was not elected and

one of my friend told me of course

you’re not elected because you’re not a

true politician

not a big deal not a big deal because i

didn’t want

really to become a member of the

parliament my real goal was to

promote ideas to share ideas to spread

ideas so

i decided to take another way

and i started to write i published some

papers in la libero bedrich le soy

financial economist

in belgium and

but what i heard at that time from as a

feedback say

interesting what you write but you know

the true journalists

okay fine so

i put all my papers together and

i published my first book

very proud it was an information the

influx about

internet and i’m quite proud because

it’s 35 years ago but it was a bit

the internet like so so the big the book

came

out and one of the first review

le soir was quite positive

but at the end say but we have to admit

luke is not a writer

okay simultaneously i grew in in this

bank

and i was promoted i was promoted

i became the head of the back office of

the dealing rooms

and all those computers think and uh

very interesting behind the

the dealing room after six months

the brief assessment and my boss told me

you work well you people love you

but honestly i have to tell you

something you’re not a true banker

in other words you shouldn’t stay here

too long because

it’s going to be a bit difficult so i

said okay

okay so i started to look outside and by

coincidence um there was a headhunter

who called me say

we have a job for you you might become

the ceo of the brussels stock exchange

wow

so accepted and i was 40 and i became

the ceo of the stock exchange

but my goal was to come with ideals

and to to fight for ideals and i

immediately noticed that it was a lot of

politics not so much about ideas much

more about politics

so i had to quit

and one of my friend told me of course

you have to quit because you’re not a

true ceo

so and then i was 40

and 40 i look at you 40 is what we call

the midlife crisis

and midlife crisis you’ll see so it’s

you ask yourself uh how i’m gonna play

the second half time

that’s a bit the situation and i said to

myself

i know what i’m gonna do i’m gonna turn

my passion

into a job my passion for ideas into a

job

and that good yeah you know socrates

said

sokata said you have to know what you

who you are that takes about 40 years

so i knew who i was but the

niche added you have to become what you

are

so on one hand i knew what i was

on the other hand i had to become

what i was you said strange paradox okay

i’m only 40 i’m gonna do that i’m gonna

do that

and then of course two things happened

so i decided to become a consultant

because i had to feed my children okay

and of course i quickly heard

you’re not a true consultant and at the

same time i decided to go back to

university and i started philosophy

and that was extraordinary extraordinary

took about nine years

and because i had to feed my children

and of course i was fifth around 50

graduation ceremony same university in a

different

area the philosophy so in the dean gave

me the paper say

you have your paper but i have to tell

you you’re not a true philosopher

so no problem i was a i was in 50 so

okay then

two things happened when i was about 50.

i started a company cartoon based

cartoon base it was the

big the first dot-com explosion maybe

you remember

maybe you were too young and so i

started a company cartoon base to

import cartoons into the business it was

extremely

extremely difficult for me because i’m

not a true entrepreneur

so i’m lucky enough later on i met

a fantastic pair of team who

are running the company now and it goes

well but maybe

company goes well because i’m not there

in the management anymore that maybe

that’s one and the other thing at the

same time when i was

50 i rang the bell of the bcg boston

consulting group

when you play soccer you dream of real

madrid

they opened the door imagine

i said wow and then um

don’t have the time to detail but i had

an extraordinary period of time about

10 years and one of my clients

it was i was 55 tell me look

i like you because you’re not a true

bcg partner imagine i was 55

and suddenly i realized hey maybe there

is something good

in the fact of not being a true

something

i like you because you don’t use

powerpoint because you don’t overwhelm

me with numbers

you don’t use spreadsheet you force me

to go into concept into

deep thinking and that’s what i want

i was 55. so of course

that was a dream time but all period of

time with dream time but this one was

extraordinary so then i turned 60

60 and then of course

slowly two things happen again

on one hand i was hurt i had

to leave the company because 62 63

and uh okay fine not the problem so

but as you can see i’m not a true

retired

because i still work for them

which is uh and the other thing i

started to teach

so i was a teacher of dimitra and many

others somehow

in the room that was extraordinary

extraordinary i really invest a lot in

teaching

i love to teach and of course some of my

colleagues were not

that pleased because they told me i was

not a true

academic

what’s next i don’t know i don’t know i

don’t know

i’m i’m on a mountain with no top

i’m i’m in i’m climbing this mountain

and now today i turn 70

and i’m happy i am

what i am a misfit

and not easy not easy but when you’re 70

it becomes funny to be a misfit it’s a

it’s a privilege

it’s a privilege so i know what i am

first of all i know i’m a

true privileged boomer

born in 48 yes i’m a privileged boomer

and along with a lot of friends we

feel like committed to help to

contribute

to your generation we invest in many

different projects and

we really connect with your generation

because

that’s now what i’m truly on really i’m

with you

the second thing i feel i’m a

true european

by the way i forgot to tell you i was

born in ghent

in flanders but i’m not a true flemish

because i grew up in a french-speaking

family so and

and i’m not a true belgian either

i even don’t know what is a true belgian

so

that’s number two third and dimitra

just mentioned it i feel i’m a true

happy grandfather i have six

grandchildren

between one and seven when i wake up in

the morning

my thoughts are going for them about the

world they’re gonna face

and how to help them and so and they are

the future i’m not

they are and i live with the future and

i believe and i have a face in the

future that’s number three number four

you got it now i know i’m a true

misfit thanks

you