WE RISE BY LIFTING OTHERS

Khalil Gibran memorial across Boston Public library. Photo By Luisa Shah

Point to Ponder: You give but little when you give of your possessions. It is when you give of yourself that you truly give. - Khalil Gibran

Story Line: I accepted an offer from Intel Corporation in March of 1984. Soon after joining the Arizona Campus, I had my first meeting with the new hire integration program manager. She informed me that as part of their new hire integration program, I would be assigned a buddy, veteran employee, to help my smooth integration into the unique culture of the company. To that, I requested Jon Slusser as my buddy, the very person who had convinced me to join the company.

She politely explained that it was not possible because Jon Slusser, a senior manager, was a very busy man and the normal process involved the company assigning a buddy depending on the level of the new hire. New hires typically did not get to select their buddy. I asked if she might consider my request. She called later and happily informed me that Jon had said, “I would be glad to.” 

From what I heard later, she brought up my request, more in jest, during the executive staff meeting. As mentioned, Jon ended up accepting and thus began my relationship with Jon Slusser. Jon not only helped me integrate into the company but also continued to be a mentor and a friend even long after I had left the company.

Initially, during our 1:1 meetings we discussed many subjects. A few of the many things I learned from him were; establishing proper systems and structure to prevent problems down the road, essence of constructive confrontation, in certain situations how to ‘agree to disagree’ but not make it personal and go and have a beer with the other person, how to extract positive learnings from seemingly negative situations, even people who are higher up or seem very successful have also fallen flat on their …. And how they got up and rose again, accepting feedback and extracting improvement opportunities from performance reviews and how to energize and enlist people for your vision.

But what I found most amazing was the way he answered my questions. He would share personal experiences of success and failures from his career and in some cases from life outside work. He was very candid and at times would say things that one wouldn’t expect to hear from people; especially ones in the upper echelons of the corporate hierarchy. He was very open in sharing his failures, mistakes, and their consequences. In the competitive world, people are advised not to expose their weaknesses, air out their dirty laundry to outsiders, and open up about their vulnerabilities. I came out of those meetings feeling energized and reaffirmed- realizing that I was not the only one having similar problems- as Jon, such senior level person, had also been through such challenges and shared how he had overcome them. 

Reflection: The most profound lesson I learned from Jon is that sharing our failures is not a weakness. It is a strength when we learn from failures and when they motivate others to persevere. For stories of success we often look to famous people's stories but often the stories that truly stick originate from someone who is directly in our sphere of work and life.

Having adopted this philosophy in my life, and candidly sharing my triumphs and tragedies with friends, coworkers and family through the years has been enlightening. One cannot change his/her past but if it can help change someone's future, then the, “Things that are given away are never lost.”

 

 

 

Comments

[Sam]

Happy New Year to all the FR Readers. Glad that you reached out to Jon for mentorship and then sharing with us during our journey at work. Your lessons were taught with humility which we were able to internalize easily.

[Ken Yee (Former Quality Guy)]

Happy New Year. I remember Jon well. He was a very down to earth person. He used to join us, a group or recent college grads, at the lunch table in the cafeteria and shoot the breeze to get to know us better. After he took over as the Corporate Q&R leader in the late 80's, he would invite all the Arizona site Q&R members over to his home for his annual Christmas Party. Although he was several grade levels above the rank and file employees, he was well liked and respected, because he treated everyone with equal respect.

[High School Friend]

One cannot change his/her past but if it can help change someone's future, then the, “Things that are given away are never lost.” Very true

[Pravin]

Great reflection

[SH Wong from Malaysia (message posted by FR team)]

I also worked for Jon during my 6 to 7 months assignment in Arizona. He Is a fantastic boss encouraging me all the time. When I met with a problem, he helped me immensely ... thx 🙏🙏🙏

[Carol]

Intel was lucky to have both of you, getting along so well and thus working synergistically. Happy New Year!

[sujat]

I am intrigued by how the lady got your request across at the meeting.. in jest.

"The most profound lesson I learned from Jon is that sharing our failures is not a weakness. It is a strength when we learn from failures and when they motivate others to persevere."

Vulnerability is a sign of strength. 🙏

[Char]

Thank you for you Friday reflections, miss your stories when we were at Intel
God bless you and your family!

[Raymond C Pineda]

Looking forward to a better 2021!!!

@Anand - Out-of-the-box thinking as always. My first introduction to Jon Slusser was his signature on a plaque received in 1994 (while working in a different division), and that plaque was the only one that I kept hanging at all the subsequent cubicles that I occupied.

@Ken Yee - You are still a High Quality Guy!

@Char - I miss walking by your old desk to grab a mini-chocolate from your candy jar.

[MR]

Wow, thanks for sharing! I do remember Jon as a very inspiring leader!

[Student Of Yours]

It is so true: "Things that given away are never lost", this quote has been guiding me in my personal and professional life. The feeling of sharing what I have learned with others and seeing the learning got passed along is so full filling. Life is all about when you look back, how many people you have touched and enabled to be successful...this is what we call live your life to fullness! We all know who is our role model of this :).

Thank you Anand and also for writing this FR at the right time (the new year) to remind us on what is important in 2021!

Happy New Year!

[Singaporean Friend]

It’s wonderful to learn from a buddy like Jon precious lessons. I can see that you’ve been living what he’s shared with you. Bravo!

[SJ]

You are very fortunate to have found a true mentor on day -1. I wished I had one in my early life to guide me through challenges .

[Fred Neal]

Jon and Anand were clearly the best two managers/mentors/friends I had the pleasure to know at Intel. They influenced my life is a positive way. Thanks to both of these great people. Fred Neal

[John McMahon]

Anand, Jon has been a great mentor to many. You and I included. A truely great leaders who you could learn from and was very giving of advice an experience. His only expectation was fair > "no whining" :-)

[GSM Colleague]

As always, very insightful and inspirational!!

[Bonnie]

Thank you for sharing this story - the power of connections and paying it forward. Happy New Year!

[Evelyn]

You're lucky U met n worked wt a good,wise person... N he's lucky you're a dwn to earth intelligent person like him...as for me..it's like this.." Learn from every situations..." 🐬

[ST]

This is what one would say "A life lived by enriching others" and you certainly have through FR.

Most definitely mine and, it has brought us closer to each other 🤗

What you give is never lost!!