Grit Talk Podcast

In this episode, Lisa talks with Leslie Culbertson about what happens when you get out of your comfort zone and bring your strengths to bear. Or put another way: When the CEO calls, you answer – even when you are being called to something outside your expertise. This is something Leslie knows well. Former Intel CEO Brian Krzanich tapped her to lead the Intel Product Assurance and Security (IPAS) organization in 2018 thanks to her breadth of knowledge, leadership skills, network across the company, and passion for Intel. Though Leslie acknowledges that embracing a challenge like this has taken courage, as well as a strong team, and a commitment to customer obsession. • On her leadership philosophy: I always wanted to be sure that whatever job I had, I mastered the job before I went somewhere else. So it’s been a long career. I think some of my background having rotated across the company gives me a good network and a real understanding of how the company works. • On what it means to be customer obsessed: Listen to your customers, they’re telling you a lot. We need to be listening and we need to understand what things we can do that will make us better partners. Leslie is an executive vice president and general manager of Product Assurance and Security at Intel. She leads the IPAS organization and is responsible for cross company efforts to continuously improve the security of Intel products. Since joining in 1979 as an accounting manager for the Intel Oregon site, she has held leadership positions in numerous business units across the company including security, human resources, finance, and supply chain. Lisa Davis is co-chair of the Intel Network of Executive Women. Throughout her 30-year career in technology, Lisa has been a champion for women in technology and leadership – channeling that passion into leading professional development initiatives for women. Connect with her on Twitter @LisaM_Davis. Learn more about global diversity and inclusion initiatives at Intel, including Intel Network of Executive Women, here: https://employeecontent.intel.com/content/news/nonportal/diversity.html

In this episode, Lisa Davis talks with Debra Goldfarb about charting your course and staying true to yourself. "There are people who naturally plot their careers. I was not that person at all,” Debra explains. Growing up in a family of scientists, there was an expectation that Debra would follow. But she had designs on something very different – a career in policy and diplomacy. Armed with a graduate degree in International Relations and Chinese Studies, Debra went to work for the analyst firm, International Data Corporation, building a market intelligence practice in high performance computing. Faced with a sophisticated client base, she was covering topics that were often unfamiliar and clients who would call with complex questions. But she knew that when the going got tough, she could put her phone on “do not disturb” and dig in to figure out the answers they were looking for. “The thing about fearlessness is not that you’re not scared. It’s what you do about it,” she says. It was the beginning of a career in which Debra says she has never once been bored. Later, Debra shares a personal story of grit and how the key moments that define us help create it. “You can’t be outside your value system because when you do, other things break,” she says. Debra is an Intel Fellow and the Chief Analyst in Data Center Market Intelligence for the Data Platform Group. Debra started her career as an industry analyst at IDC, launching its HPC practice. Her work as one of the early and influential leaders of HPC helped shape US technology policy and the global HPC ecosystem. Outside of Intel, she is actively involved in diversity and STEM initiatives, and is a devoted mom and avid skier. Connect with her on LinkedIn. Along with Debra, Lisa Davis is co-chair of the Intel Network of Executive Women. Throughout her 30-year career in technology, Lisa has been a champion for women in technology and leadership – channeling that passion into leading professional development initiatives for women. Connect with her on Twitter @LisaM_Davis or LinkedIn. Learn more about global diversity and inclusion initiatives at Intel, including Intel Network of Executive Women, here: https://employeecontent.intel.com/content/news/nonportal/diversity.html

In this episode, host Lisa Davis is joined by Lakecia Gunter, Vice President of the Network and Custom Logic Group at Intel. They talk about courage and why fearing less is an important characteristic for women in the workplace. Lakecia suggests that instead of thinking of fear as a siren, think of it as an opportunity to face things and rise. They also discuss the value of building community within the workplace and how those networks can become an important source of support and personal growth. In her current role, Lakecia is responsible for the strategy to advance marketplace adoption of Intel FPGA accelerator solutions. She previously served as Chief of Staff and Technical Assistant to former Intel CEO Brian Krzanich, and helped drive one of the largest corporate transformations in Intel’s 50-year history – the shift from pc-centric to data-centric. Lakecia is an active member of the Intel Network of Executive Women and Intel Black Leadership Council, and advocates for STEM education through several non-profit organizations. She was named one of the “26 Most Powerful Female Engineers” by Business Insider and received the Society of Women Engineers’ Prism Award for demonstrating outstanding technology and community leadership. Connect with her on Twitter at @LakeciaGunter or LinkedIn at https://www.linkedin.com/in/lakecia-gunter-5578253. Lisa Davis is co-chair of the Intel Network of Executive Women. Throughout her 30-year career in technology, Lisa has been a champion for women in technology and leadership – channeling that passion into leading professional development initiatives for women. Connect with her on Twitter @LisaM_Davis. Learn more about global diversity and inclusion initiatives at Intel, including Intel Network of Executive Women and Intel Black Leadership Council here: https://employeecontent.intel.com/content/news/nonportal/diversity.html

In the inaugural episode of Grit Talk, host Lisa Davis talks with Patricia (Pat) A. McDonald, Vice President in the Non-Volatile Memory Solutions Group and General Manager of the High-Velocity Program Office at Intel. Since joining Intel in 1986, Pat has held a wide variety of engineering, manufacturing, and management roles. Pat has been recognized as a change agent and leader for diversity initiatives at Intel, winning an Intel Achievement Award for her work as Chief Talent Officer, her executive sponsorship of the Women at Intel Network (WIN), and chairperson of Intel Network of Executive Women (INEW). In this conversation, Lisa and Pat discuss the importance of tapping into your network to grow your career, what perseverance does for you in a challenging professional environment, and how to use your passion to propel your next move. Pat also offers advice for finding your place as a leader. The mission of WIN is to empower women to deliver significant business impact with expanded connections, valued skill development, increased representation, and directed support. INEW inspires change and advancement of executive women (VPs and Fellows). Through a solid support network, INEW members actively increase the population of female executives while tenaciously raising each other up to push the boundaries of their own talents and skills. The women of INEW drive several programs including Extend Our Reach, Protégé, and Pay it Forward, which are sponsorship programs that provide new ways to develop women as leaders, and find advancement opportunities and support through inspiration and community.

In this episode, host Lisa Davis talks with Sandra L. Rivera, Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer at Intel. Sandra leads the global human resources organization at Intel and is responsible for driving greater business results through a culture that embraces diversity and inclusion. In this episode, Lisa talks with Sandra about her recent shift from away from longtime leadership in the Network Platforms Group to HR, experiences that have shaped her leadership philosophy, and why risk-taking is so important for women in leadership. They also discuss the value of a personal board of directors – "thought partners" that can help you recognize and leverage your strengths as you are building a career. Learn more about Sandra here: https://newsroom.intel.com/biography/sandra-l-rivera/#gs.5vf06e. And read her recent Fast Company editorial about how her Latinx upbringing made her a better leader here: https://www.fastcompany.com/90405208/how-my-latinx-upbringing-made-me-a-better-leader. Connect with her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/SandraLRivera. Lisa Davis is co-chair of the Intel Network of Executive Women (INEW). Throughout her 30-year career in technology, Lisa has been a champion for women in technology and leadership – channeling that passion into leading professional development initiatives for women. Connect with her on Twitter at https://twitter.com/LisaM_Davis. Learn more about global diversity and inclusion initiatives at Intel, including Women at Intel Network (WIN) and INEW, here: https://employeecontent.intel.com/content/news/nonportal/diversity.html.