James M. Seneff, a celebrated alumnus and a major supporter of Florida State University, told a cohort of elite business students, Seneff Scholars, last week about an FSU business course in the 1960s that helped change his life.
The course taught him the power of compounding - the accumulation of earnings from an investment and its returns.
"As a result of that class, I had to rearrange the way I thought about everything," Seneff said. "I had to reassess my view of business, how to create value in business and how to manage my time."
Seneff, a 2006 inductee into the College of Business Alumni Hall of Fame and the founder and executive chairman of the Orlando-based CNL Financial Group, spoke as the guest of honor in a medaling ceremony for the sixth cohort of the James M. Seneff Honors Program.
The program launched in the fall of 2019 through part of a $5 million gift to the college by the CNL Charitable Foundation to honor Seneff, chairman of CNL Financial Group, a private investment management firm in its 52nd year. Since its inception, the company and its affiliates have formed or acquired companies with more than $34 billion in assets.
"No matter what you learn, what strategy or tactics you employ, success comes as a result of The Compound Effect. The Compound Effect does not give you short, linear results but rather long-term, exponential results. It's a superpower."
- James M. Seneff
"Principles learned in finance at FSU have impacted me to this day," said Seneff, who earned a bachelor's degree in business administration in 1968.
The medaling ceremony took place at the FSU President's House, where President Richard McCullough and First Lady Jai Vartikar welcomed 15 Seneff Scholars, plus their family members and friends.
Also present were Michael Hartline, dean of the College of Business; Mark and Nan Hillis, longtime FSU supporters and members of the college's Alumni Hall of Fame; and Seneff and his wife, Martha.
"Jim and Martha, thank you so much for your generosity," McCullough told the Seneffs.
The gift to create the James M. Seneff Honors Program and the James M. Seneff Fund for Preeminence "provides the life-changing experiences and opportunities for our very best business students and elevates not only the college but the university in incredible ways," McCullough said.
"To parents and loved ones" of scholars, he added: "I know you must be incredibly proud to be here today."
The Seneff program comprises a community of top undergraduate business students who benefit from an especially rigorous curriculum. It stresses innovation, leadership, collaboration and lifelong relationships.
The program dovetails with the University Honors Program allowing students to gain educational benefits in disciplines beyond the College of Business.
"We salute you for all the things that you do that embody the qualities of the College of Business, which are integrity, leadership and preeminence, just to start," Hartline told scholars. "You are what makes us exceptional."
Building on his comments about compounding, Seneff told attendees he'd give each Seneff Scholar a copy of "The Compound Effect," a book and a self-proclaimed "distillation of the fundamental principles that have guided the most phenomenal achievements in business, relationships and beyond."
"No matter what you learn, what strategy or tactics you employ, success comes as a result of The Compound Effect," Seneff told the scholars and repeated it for emphasis. "The Compound Effect does not give you short, linear results but rather long-term, exponential results. It's a superpower."
Seneff told scholars about the CNL Charitable Foundation's education of leaders "who are making a big impact on the people they influence" and about the work of the exclusive Horatio Alger Association of Distinguished Americans, which inducted him as a member in 2010. The association awards scholarships to promising and motivated students who demonstrate critical financial need, plus integrity and perseverance in overcoming adversity.
Seneff also shared with scholars about the day he received his Horatio Alger medal. The ceremony took place at the U.S. Supreme Court with a cohort that included former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and retired four-star U.S. Army Gen. Tommy Franks.
"I'll never forget that day," he said.
During last week's ceremony at FSU, Luke Hopkins, a senior lecturer and the director of the Seneff Honors Program, called out the name of each current Seneff Scholar. Seneff placed a medal around each student's neck and joined McCullough and Hartline in photos with all of them.
"One of the things that makes this program so special to us is that the students receive a medal, just as I did at the Supreme Court," Seneff said of himself and his wife. "We are very thankful for these new scholars. We believe this program is one of our most important legacies."
