Thank you for the journey my dear friends
This month, after 40 years in the Hi-Tech Industry and working for four of the largest companies in the world I’m officially retiring .
I have no mix feelings, I was working for a long time to get to this day. This industry gave me everything I have, but I also gave back all I had : my commitment, my passion, my youth, the time of my family .. so I believe we are even, I don’t owe anything, nothing is owed to me. It’s time to focus my family in full.
To the ones that ever met me, know that you touched my life in some way. I never take a person for granted. If there is one thing that I take with me after these 40 years, is the people I met all over the world. I hope to have had a positive impact on many of you, even knowing that I’m a though person, I always acted in good faith to protect my company, my teams and being fair.
I tried to build my career on transparency and honesty but those principles are often not welcomed in highly political organizations. Never allow politics to silence you. I’m proof that you can succeed anyway.
If I can pass on a legacy , it could be: never give up to your values, never surrender the right actions to the mediocrity of bureaucracy or to the criticism of others. You can succeed being you, respectfully of course.
When you make a mistake, take responsibility, correct course and keep going.
Corporate America needs people that can challenge the status quo to succeed. Be that people. I tell you: the day you go, you will face your own judgment. Better do things to be proud of yourself.
In 40 years, I was able to drive a lot of innovation to our communities (as you can imagine). People like me, need to leave room for the new generation to deploy the next waves of innovation. I can’t even imagine what they will be able to witness and do in the next 20-30 years. I wish I could be here that long :-)
A lot of the future challenges will need extremely courageous leaders. I trust most of the people I knew in my career are or can be those leaders.
Be happy, be confident, be transparent, be yourself. You are the ONLY asset any company really has. Make it worth.
See you around
Gustavo