was the secretary of the treasury. and one of the first things i noticed when he hosted a meeting was that he didn't involve just the top people in the treasury department. he included the people who were closer to the issue, such as a research assistant or junior analyst. and he would ask them questions and engage them, and he cared what they thought about the issue. while they didn't necessarily have the same judgment or context as more senior people, they had a lot of knowledge and analytic chops and sometimes a new way of thinking about a problem. and i've carried that approach to my job today. many of the people in my meetings at the federal reserve are quite junior in the organization, but they speak up in a way that can change how i think about a problem. please know that you can make a difference as a very junior person and in a very large organization. 1 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches even if today marks the conclusion of your time in the classroom, it isn't the end of your education. the best career advice that i can offer is also the best advice for a happy lifewhatever you do, try to put yourself in a position where you are always learning, every day. this is something my father - a labor lawyer by day and a poet by night - tried to live by. seeking out a role where you are learning every day will guide you to work that stimulates and motivates you, making you a more knowledgeable and hopefully wiser person, even when the lessons imparted are hard ones. as they often are. this striving to always be learning has guided me to fulfilling work and it has told me, at times, when i needed to take a risk and put myself out there. i was not anyone's first choice for the job i have now, or the job leading the ford school, or running point on financial reform at treasury. but i did all of those things. as you will in your lives, when opportunities come along that you never expected. when i was graduating, i had no idea what i would eventually do in life. and that was scary. that is okay. that is normal. you don't need to know what you want to do for the rest of your life. none of us older people know that either. we're figuring it out as we go. i've just mentioned one of the ingredients to doing your best -

of being a leader. being tough doesn't mean being hard or insensitive. one can be resilient, make tough decisions, and stand up to pressure in ways that treat people with respect - the kind of respect that you hope others will show you. one of the primary ways that we show respect for others is to listen. if you are always learning, that means you are always listening, taking on board what you hear from others, even if it is very unwelcome, and perhaps, adjusting your views and gaining knowledge from that input. and it means talking in a way that others can hear. one can make tough decisions and hold people to high standards while treating others well. treating others well, for me, boils down to a simple rule - don't be a jerk. all of us have had enough experiences with others acting like jerks to understand this advice, but it's a bit harder when applied to yourself. at least for me it is. humility is an attribute that i consider essential to avoid being a jerk. life often gives one the opportunity to learn and relearn the lesson of humility - and i am humbled every day. humility is recognizing the limits of knowledge, confidence, and self - regard. it is the line between what we truly know and understand, and what we don't really know and cannot grasp. humility means being open to new information, to weighing information in an objective way, and being able to take on that input and sometimes change one's mind. in a practical way, it means being open to and seriously considering the views of others, and in that sense, it is often a vital way to connect with other people. let me leave you today with two words, the most important two words that you will ever know, or ever say. those words are " thank you. " " thank you " means the recognition that someone has done something valuable for you. gratitude binds us together. so please turn to your parents, your partners, your friends and other family, your teachers and mentors, your fellow students, and say, thank you. congratulations, class of 2024, and thank you, for listening to me today. 3 / 3 bis - central bankers'speeches