Point to Ponder: Your first boss is the biggest factor in your career success. A boss who doesn’t trust you won’t give you opportunities to grow. – William Raduchel
Story Line: The quote above starts with words Pick a Boss. I didn’t include it there because, like many people, I didn’t have a choice in picking a boss; especially at my first job out of school and in lean economic times. However, I was fortunate that the gentleman who welcomed me on October 13, 1975 at the doors of Raytheon Semiconductor in Mountain View, California was a very kind man and a very good boss. His name was Charles Fa and people affectionately called him Charlie.
The things I observed and learned from him became instrumental in career success and had a lifelong impact. He liked to tell stories and often used wartime analogies. He told me in the first week, “A good general always inspects his ground before he goes to war”, asking me to spend more time in the manufacturing area and research lab than in the office. He would visit the manufacturing area many times a day and politely ask if he can be of any assistance. He would take me to suppliers and would spend hours explaining how materials and machines were manufactured. Understanding those things helped immensely in effective process development.
Many times he assisted with setting up an experiment by adjusting tools or loading carriers with silicon wafers. He would also give another world war analogy about how conscious people were about using every little resource (even pins and papers) carefully. “Treat everything you use wisely as someone has entrusted you with their belongings”, he would say.
One time I made a stupid (very stupid) mistake that resulted in many broken wafers and caused delay in the development of process. I thought “This is the End. What will I do without a job?” Instead he and his boss comforted me and told me that I was working too many hours (14+) and needed some rest. Instead of writing up a warning or reassigning me to another job, they showed confidence in me; he brought a box of new wafers (material) and asked me to proceed with the next experimental run. That made all the difference in my confidence and excellent results that followed.
Charlie had a deep emotional sensitivity and caring side. When I was looking to buy a car, he came with me to the dealer and negotiated a good price. One time while I was in the middle of loading antimony powder (a toxic chemical) filled tube for a process, someone at the other end prematurely turned on the gas and all the powder flew on my face. He immediately came to my assistance and then insisted to take me to an emergency clinic even though I insisted I was OK. He not only drove me there but waited for hours until I was discharged late in the evening and then took me home. After that He would make sure that I attended follow up doctor’s appointments.
Reflection: Little did I know at the time that years before (in 1968) Charles Fa was cofounder of one pioneering Silicon Valley Memory Company. After he had left the company, he was approached by our General Manager who had known him from past work association and requested him to help us out. Charlie never talked about his past accomplishments. I found out about them only six months into my job from a speaker while attending an external conference.
Charlie had a childlike simplicity and a funny side that people liked. There was a lab technician named Fatima whom Charlie addressed as Veronica. While laughing she said “Charlie, How many times I told you I am Fatima.” Charlie said “Gee I am so sorry Veronica, next time I will call you Fatima.” She knew he was having light hearted humor and tapped him on his hand and said “Remember from now on.” Next time before opening the door to that lab, Charlie stopped, looked at me and smiled “Veronica right?” I knew what he was doing. He laughed and said lets go and see Fatima.
Often one would find Charlie mingling with manufacturing workers and technicians in the cafeteria about work, life and would notice their happy faces.
One more unforgettable signature item from Charlie. Whenever he would want to say something special, he would pull me in the corner and say, “Between you, me and the door post”. Many times it wasn’t confidential but Charlie would still do that while pointing at the door post. Once while he was on his signature line one maintenance guy noticed and jokingly screamed “Hey Charlie you are that doorpost thing again?.” Charlie pulled me farther into the corner and continued.
PS: Synchronicity or what? I had planned to publish this reflection for a while. Two weeks ago, I saw a message in an email account I had not accessed for a while, there was a message from someone with the last name Fa; one of his children.
To: info@fridayreflections.com
Dear Mr. Shah:
We were doing a google search on our late father, Charles Fa, and came across your mention of him here: https://fridayreflections.typepad.com/weblog/take_risks/page/8/
It was thrilling to hear about something he said to you that you still recall.
Although our father passed away over 4 years ago, we still miss him a great deal.
We would love to hear any other memories you have from working with him.
Thank you so much!
……………… Fa
Charlie: Between You, Me and the doorpost: the lessons I learnt from You about emotional connections, simplicity, managing resources, trusting your employees and fighting a war (doing your work) by being in the field (manufacturing and labs) were valuable. To live in the hearts you left behind was a well lived life.
