David Lyman, Chairman & Chief Values Officer at Tilleke and Gibbins
David Lyman
La Grande Boissière, 1954
Chairman & Chief Values Officer at Tilleke and Gibbins
Thailand
Learn more about me :
My life, now ongoing for 85 years, has been and still is, fascinating, active, creative, varied, and full of risks, mistakes, achievements and failures; curiosity, awareness, ideal, lessons learned, constant, varied and never-ending activities; never dull, peppered with advantage and luck. I graduated from Duke University in 1958 with a Bachelor of Electrical Engineering degree. Then after serving as an officer in the US Navy Submarine Force, I attended law school, graduating with a Juris Doctor degree and began practising law in California in 1965. Two years later, I moved to Bangkok, Thailand to join my parents’ law firm, Tilleke & Gibbins, where I am now the firm’s Chairman and Chief Values Officer. I share my home with my wife of 18 years, our 7 dogs, her 75 koi fish, 1 water turtle and our elephants (in an Elephant camp north of Bangkok).
Actually, I have several best memories of Ecolint – being the Editor in Chief of the yearbook, “Le Reflet“ in 1954 (it was only the second edition!). Next was experiencing my first real girlfriend. And then, interchanging friendships and ideas with students and faculty from vast and diverse nationalities, cultures, ethnicities, languages and ideal. Two of those friendships have lasted 69 years and remain close to this day.
I grew up at Ecolint. It was where I began maturing my leadership skills and opened my eyes to vast and varied real-world realities, their ever-changing challenges, peoples, faults and shortcomings, growth and achievements. Ecolint taught me values in and of life. Thereafter, I endeavoured to be a force for good. My life has been non-stop ever since.
At my best, I was just a B student grade-wise at Ecolint. As a test taker, I was an underachiever, which continued at university. It was not until I attended the US Naval Submarine Officer’s School in 1960 that I finally got my act together. So if I had to redo my two years at Ecolint (1952 to 1954, when I graduated), I guess I would focus more on academics. Yet I do not regret my shortcomings as a secondary school student, for being more of a pragmatist has been my saving grace in life… most of the time.
My words of wisdom for Ecolint students:
From my recent publication, “Some of My Life’s Lessons Learned”, I suggest the following:
Never Assume. Keep an open mind. Get the facts. I repeat, get the facts. Be practical. Be sensible. Be safe. Be fair. Be flexible. THINK.
Things happen. So expect the unexpected. Be prepared. Have a Plan B, maybe even a Plan C. Innovate.
Believe in yourself. Rely on your experiences, both the good ones and the not-so-good ones.
Take risks. Do not be afraid to fail. We all fail at times, so we learn our lessons, move on and start again. As to tasks and attitudes – if you think you cannot, then you cannot. But – if you think you can, then you can.