- AMD CEO Lisa Su admits to Gen Z college graduates that success isn’t as easy as it looks—it’s full of hidden setbacks, but those who tackle challenges head on will become the best leaders. “No one has a monopoly on good ideas,” she told students.
This month thousands of college students will walk across the stage and turn their tassels, becoming the newest members of the workforce. But just as soon as the pomp and circumstance ends, the realities of today’s tough job market may begin to sink in.
However, for Gen Zers worried about whether success is even possible, there may be no need to fret, if they heed the wisdom just revealed by Lisa Su, CEO of semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD).
“Run towards the hardest problems—not walk, run—and that’s where you find the biggest opportunities, where you learn the most, where you set yourself apart, and most importantly, where you grow,” Su recalled what she called the best career advice she ever received to graduates of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute this past weekend.
“When you choose the hardest challenges, you choose the fastest path to growth and the greatest chance to make a difference,” she added.
For members of Gen Z who have already struggled to make a good impression with their bosses—in part due to a lack of motivation or initiative—Su’s advice may seem easier said than done. However, living by that mantra helped fast-track the career success of the now 55-year-old leading a $180 billion company. After obtaining her PhD from MIT in 1994, Su started out as an engineer at IBM before eventually heading up the company’s semiconductor research and development. Just two decades later in 2014, she was named CEO of AMD.
Fortune reached out to Su for comment.
Hard work pays off in business
Su admitted that when she first became leader at AMD, the company had a “mixed track record.” The company had just laid off 25% of its staff and sold its Austin headquarters, according to Time. However, she embraced the seemingly impossible task of turning around a sinking ship.
“I saw the potential, the people, the vision and the opportunity to help lead a company that mattered, and I knew I wanted to be part of that,” she said. “It was actually my dream job, and looking back, some of the hardest moments we faced turned out to be the most rewarding.”
The toughest setbacks, she admitted, are ones the public doesn’t even know about—but enabled the most learning.
“I can tell you, I didn’t enjoy (the setbacks) much at the time, and I’m sure you won’t either,” she said to graduates of the upstate New York college. “But every setback holds a lesson if you’re willing to look for it.”
Hard work also means that, on occasion, working late nights or the weekends is part of the job. AMD previously confirmed that the CEO holds weekend meetings with her senior team. The best leaders, according to Su, are not born, but rather trained.
“Great leaders stay curious, they ask questions, they stay open, and they learn from everything, especially failure,” she said last weekend.
By and large, her strategy has worked for the company. In the last five years, AMD’s stock has risen over 100%.
Team work makes the dream work
One of Su’s biggest tech rivals is her own relative, Jensen Huang—the CEO of fellow $3 trillion chipmaker NVIDIA. However, the secret to staying competitive is not sabotaging any family dinner; it’s simply having the right team behind you.
“No one has a monopoly on good ideas,” she told graduates. “The challenges we face today are too complex to be solved by any one person, anyone with discipline or perspective.”
“They really demand teamwork and collaboration, because meaningful progress happens when people with different perspectives, skills and experiences, work together to solve real problems.”
