The importance of a strong company culture has been a recurring theme on several recent episodes of Leadership Next, Fortune’s podcast about the changing rules of business leadership. That idea was top of mind when Intel CEO Patrick Gelsinger joined Fortune’s Alan Murray and Ellen McGirt on the show this week.
Intel has been struggling, and Gelsinger says that stems from “the cultural aspects.”
“It’s like a desert that hasn’t been watered for a while,” he says. “As soon as the first rain comes, the flowers start blooming [and] it comes back quickly. But when you fall behind in key areas, it takes you awhile.”
Gelsinger is no stranger to Intel’s culture. He started at the company in 1979 and stayed there for 30 years before leaving in 2009. He rejoined Intel as CEO in February 2021 from VMware, where he was president and COO.
In order to return Intel to a leading position in the marketplace, Gelsinger says the company must get back to a “Grovian culture” of “disciplined decision making” and a “tough, aggressive, engineering-centric culture.”
Some of Intel’s stumbles were a result of arrogance and “too much hubris,” he adds. “Our competition is out to eat our lunch. And if we don’t fight for it every single day, we’re at risk of losing it.”
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