Craig R. Barrett
Retired CEO and chairman, Intel Corporation;
chairman, Arizona Ready Education Council
Intel Corporation
intel.com
The retired Intel CEO successfully led the corporation through some of its worst times, including the burst of the dot-com bubble and a severe recession. He is now leading the Arizona Ready Education Council, which will develop and utilize an online “report card” to review the performance of Arizona students and coordinate efforts to improve achievement.
Biggest challenge: “Managing change in a large organization. It quickly became obvious that you had to lead by example. Staffing changes, leading by example, and constant communication are important to manage change.”
Best advice to offer: “If you know and love your business, then don’t listen to the ‘expert’ financial analysts in regard to what you should do. Their reality is to the media, and your reality is to the business. Do what you believe, not what others tell you to do.”
Surprising fact: “I always wanted to be a forest ranger, but ended up as an engineer – now in retirement, I have a ranch in Montana and get to be a practicing forest ranger.”
