Former UK MP David Rutley urges students to set big goals, cultivate relationships

David Rutley, a former member of the U.K. Parliament and a former Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, told a University of Utah audience that setting ambitious, concrete goals and cultivating relationships were central to his path from a working-class background to business school and elected office.

Rutley told the Hinckley Forum audience he set a list of large objectives as a young man — “I said, right, I've made the commitment” — and then broke them into achievable tasks. He described a sequence of experiences that shaped his career: voluntary service, study at the London School of Economics, work in strategy and corporate roles, Harvard Business School and a later move into government service.

The practical lesson he emphasized was preparation and persistence. “Start really wide, then get more focused bit by bit, but then drive really hard to achieve that objective,” Rutley said. He urged students to use peer networks from school: “the relationships you've made here sometimes just spark something that can help you on your journey.”

Rutley also advised younger people to remain grounded and patient. Recounting an early failed campaign, he said the timetable for major goals can stretch: “If you set those original goals I'd have said you've got to be kidding I'll be dead by the time I'm 49… Sometimes, if it's important, it can take decades.”

Clark Ivory, introduced during the forum as CEO of Ivory Homes and a University of Utah benefactor, moderated portions of the discussion and prompted Rutley to reflect on how practical experience, volunteer work and mentors shaped his choices.

Rutley closed with a final admonition about public service: stay rooted in family and community and be prepared to work over long time horizons. “You'll be making the decisions. You'll be making the calls, and none of these are easy,” he said, as the event drew to a close.