Ray Hunt speaks to students at the President Turner Leadership Summit Wednesday evening in the Hughes-Trigg Forum. Hunt received his degree in economics from SMU, served as chairman of the SMU Board of Trustees, and is the namesake of the Hunt Leadership Scholarship. (Casey Lee)
Ray Hunt, a prominent businessman in Texas and a Dallas civic leader spoke to a group of students, faculty and other members of the SMU community yesterday in the Hughes-Trigg Forum in the second installment of President Turner’s Leadership Summit.
Ray Hunt has made significant impacts on SMU and Dallas since he graduated from the school in 1965 with a degree in economics. Hunt and his wife Nancy Ann are the benefactors of SMU’s Hunt Leadership Scholars Program, which makes SMU more affordable for student leaders.
Hunt opened the talk saying he “hates giving speeches” and was going to speak about five main things and would then lead into a question and answer session. He introduced his five elements of success by saying that they could be applied to any situation and to any context. The five elements of success include:
• Corporate culture: Hunt discussed how the set of values of a group of people, a social group or company affects their success in whatever field they are involved in. He addressed how the work ethic and rigor of work established by the company sets the pace for employees and a standard of what is expected. He firmly believes anything is achievable if the mass of people share the same values and work ethic.
• Ability to differentiate oneself: The next element addressed how it is important to be able to identify things that make a company or a group of people different from competitors. This goes in line with corporate culture because it is vital that the group not differentiate at the sake of their values.
• Adaptability: This next point has examples throughout history and modern society, as the species that survives is the one that adapts. Hunt feels that a company that can be flexible as economic times and consumer tastes change, is the one that is the most successful.
• Agility: Agility addresses a company’s ability to be adaptable. He explains that it does no good for a company to realize that something has to change if they can’t act upon it quickly. An important way to address this, he says, is by eliminating the bureaucracy that exists in some groups when trying to make decisions. He said it is far more effective and better for the company in general if decisions can be made rationally quickly.
• Willingness to be the contrarian: Hunt explained that one of the most overlooked elements of success is standing up for what you believe in, even if it’s not the popular point of view, or for asking a question when everyone is ready to move on. He encourages students to go against conventional wisdom and try new things and new ways of thinking
The question and answer session followed, where many of the Hunt Scholars and student leaders posed questions to Hunt. The group learned that his heroes include Jack Murphy and Herb Keller. Hunt also emphasized the importance of conducting oneself appropriately for the sake of your value system, and a company can have good leadership, but it is only as strong as the people who work in it and uphold its values.
President Turner’s Leadership Summit will continue next semester to expose students to leaders in various fields who have impacted the Dallas area in a variety of ways.
