Semi Conscious
Comment
docdivakar
I certainly like Mr. Pistorio's attitude in approaching the topic of ...
Maxmar
"If people understand that you are honest..." this is the problem today!
Everyone (still) loves Pasquale Pistorio
Dylan McGrath
8/22/2011 10:48 PM EDT
Trying to get Pasquale Pistorio to boast about receiving an award—even one as prestigious as the IEEE Robert N. Noyce Medal—is a fool's errand.
Some executives have a disconcerting habit of slipping into the first person when talking about their companies (i.e. "I can ship twice as much product as my closest competitor" or "I moved some of my manufacturing to China.")
Pistorio is basically the antithesis of these people. Urged to elaborate on his feelings about the Noyce Medal—which he picked up over the weekend in a ceremony in San Francisco—Pistorio uses two words more than all others: "we" and "team."
Pistorio is certainly honored about receiving the Noyce Medal, which is awarded for exceptional contributions to the microelectronics industry. But he bends over backwards to make absolutely certain that you understand that he could never have received it without the hard work of a lot of very talented people. In his view, personal awards like the Noyce Medal and the EE Times ACE Lifetime Achievement Award, which he received last year, are a reflection of the success of ST Microelectronics NV, which he helmed from the late 1980s—when the company was formed through the merger of Italy's SGS Group and France’s Thomson Semiconducteurs —until 2005.
Reminded that the Noyce Medal is an individual award, not one that recognizes an entire company, Pistorio sums up his accomplishments simply and without fanfare. "I did my job," he says.
Though he goes out of his way to stress the teamwork involved, Pistorio is clearly proud of the turnaround he helped orchestrate at ST, which he describes as "a success story of people; of a team." When SGS and Thomson merged in 1987, both companies were deficient in several areas, Pistorio says. That year, the company did less than $1 billion in sales. "The company was quite sick," Pistorio says, adding that many in the semiconductor industry and the financial community did not expect the merged entity to survive.
Cut to 2005, when Pistorio stepped down as CEO (he still holds the title of honorary chairman at ST), and the company's sales were approaching $10 billion.
Pistorio credits focus on three areas for the turnaround—innovation, globalization (establishing the ST brand throughout the world) and productivity, driven by a culture emphasizing the concept of total quality management.
An important part of Pistorio's management philosophy is that employees must feel that they are part of the decision-making process in the company in order to feel engaged. "If people understand that you are honest, dedicated and transparent and won't ask them to do more than you would do yourself, people will follow you," he said.
Next: Corporate citizenship
Some executives have a disconcerting habit of slipping into the first person when talking about their companies (i.e. "I can ship twice as much product as my closest competitor" or "I moved some of my manufacturing to China.")
Pistorio is basically the antithesis of these people. Urged to elaborate on his feelings about the Noyce Medal—which he picked up over the weekend in a ceremony in San Francisco—Pistorio uses two words more than all others: "we" and "team."
Pistorio is certainly honored about receiving the Noyce Medal, which is awarded for exceptional contributions to the microelectronics industry. But he bends over backwards to make absolutely certain that you understand that he could never have received it without the hard work of a lot of very talented people. In his view, personal awards like the Noyce Medal and the EE Times ACE Lifetime Achievement Award, which he received last year, are a reflection of the success of ST Microelectronics NV, which he helmed from the late 1980s—when the company was formed through the merger of Italy's SGS Group and France’s Thomson Semiconducteurs —until 2005.
Reminded that the Noyce Medal is an individual award, not one that recognizes an entire company, Pistorio sums up his accomplishments simply and without fanfare. "I did my job," he says. Though he goes out of his way to stress the teamwork involved, Pistorio is clearly proud of the turnaround he helped orchestrate at ST, which he describes as "a success story of people; of a team." When SGS and Thomson merged in 1987, both companies were deficient in several areas, Pistorio says. That year, the company did less than $1 billion in sales. "The company was quite sick," Pistorio says, adding that many in the semiconductor industry and the financial community did not expect the merged entity to survive.
Cut to 2005, when Pistorio stepped down as CEO (he still holds the title of honorary chairman at ST), and the company's sales were approaching $10 billion.
Pistorio credits focus on three areas for the turnaround—innovation, globalization (establishing the ST brand throughout the world) and productivity, driven by a culture emphasizing the concept of total quality management.
An important part of Pistorio's management philosophy is that employees must feel that they are part of the decision-making process in the company in order to feel engaged. "If people understand that you are honest, dedicated and transparent and won't ask them to do more than you would do yourself, people will follow you," he said.
Next: Corporate citizenship
|
|
|
|
|
Navigate to related information
chipchap42
8/23/2011 4:47 PM EDT
Dylan, great observation about the 1st-person, 3rd-person thing. I know exactly what you mean - er, that is, we do.
Sign in to Reply
L.Kaye
8/23/2011 6:00 PM EDT
Great article, Dylan. I had the honor of meeting Mr. Pistorio many years ago at an European executive event sponsored by Cadence. He was as humble and graceful as he today. Refreshing!
Sign in to Reply
ReneCardenas
8/23/2011 7:14 PM EDT
Wish his remarkable career and style was emulated more often!
Sign in to Reply
dylan.mcgrath
8/24/2011 1:59 AM EDT
Thanks for the comments everyone. Pistorio is a pretty inspiring person. His track record as a CEO speaks for itself, but you can't help but admire his social consciousness and charity work. His Pistorio Foundation now supports 1,660 underprivileged kids. As he put it, that may seem like a relatively small number when you think about all the needy children in the world, but to those 1,660 the foundation's support makes a huge difference.
Sign in to Reply
Maxmar
8/24/2011 4:45 PM EDT
"If people understand that you are honest..." this is the problem today!
Sign in to Reply
docdivakar
8/25/2011 3:31 PM EDT
I certainly like Mr. Pistorio's attitude in approaching the topic of sustainability -the statement "The world has developed high imbalances," ...citing public debt, population explosions in developing nations ...rising number of environmental issues... -certainly hits some key points.
It is scary to think that the resources consumed in N. America (not to mention the garbage created) far exceeds those of China & India combined! According to some estimates, the wealthiest 20 percent of the world's population for consuming 80 percent of the goods and services produced from the earth's resources. Though this number is dated, recent numbers still outweigh those of the less affluent populations.
MP Divakar
Sign in to Reply