Have you ever heard the saying,” The moment we give up is usually the last moment before we get what we wanted”? After giving it some thought, I realized that it’s very true when our careers are concerned. After I recently heard this saying, I spent some time reflecting on my Intel career (which is nearing its 10th Anniversary) and want to share some reflections with you.
But first I’d like to confess – not every job I had at Intel was my dream job. Even worse, in the past nine years there were several assignments which I almost hated. There were different reasons for such an attitude – I didn’t like most of the stakeholders I had to deal with, the timelines provided weren’t realistic and put extra pressure on me, etc. There were cases when after working for some time in a team, I realized that I didn’t like my manager (and he didn’t quite like me as well). You’re not surprised these things happen at Intel, are you? It’s not something we could be proud of, certainly but what I can be proud of and what I like about my company is that I didn’t have to quit because I found myself in one of these situations. And here’s where the importance of patience (and sometimes even persistence) comes to play.
At Intel, all of us have a lot of interesting and challenging opportunities. Our corporate culture values the diversity of opinion and experience individuals bring and as nobody is perfect, there may be situations when team members don’t fit together very well. In such a situation, it could be better for the team and its members if one or several people find another job within the company. But it requires patience and persistence. While new opportunities flourish, they’re not available all the time. So it takes time to find new role, make initial arrangements with gaining and losing managers, all while keeping up with your current work regardless of how difficult or unpleasant it may seem. And sometimes it seems that just quitting is the best way out. But remember the quote I put forward in the beginning? If you give up you never get the reward of getting what you wanted, so keep trying! Being patient always pays off.
Before closing with a more or less traditional request for comments I’d like to make another point. At Intel we have a zero tolerance policy for harassment of any kind. So when I mentioned these difficulties between team members or employee and manager, they are more or less in a “never-ending storming phase” of team development. No case of conscious misconduct is tolerated and there are solid procedures in place across the corporation to ensure it. But this is a topic for another story. And now – back to the point. Do you agree it pays back to be patient in surviving ‘storms’ and persistent in pursuing your goal?
Vladimir was born in 1977 in Zhukovsky, near Moscow, graduated from Moscow Aviation Institute receiving Masters degree in Computers in 2000.
He started his career in IT in 1991 as a assistant in the compute lab of Tupolev Aircraft Design Bureau.
Before joining Intel in 2003 Vladimir held several IT jobs in different companies (ranging from Education to Investment Banking verticals), beginning as a programmer and reaching Deputy Head of IT and Project Manager positions.
At Intel he started as IT Construction Project Manager, supporting Intel R&D growth in Russia then transitioned to Site IT Manager for 3 biggest Russian sites in Nizhny Novgorod, Sarov and Moscow, then he joined IT@Intel Program, supporting European Enterprise sales team & Marketing .
For over 4 years, from 2007 till 2012, Vladimir was working as General Manager for Intel branch in Nizhny Novgorod. He was responsible for running the operations of the oldest and biggest Intel site in Russia, supporting its continued growth.
Since 2012 Vladimir is working as the Risk & Controls Program Manager for Greater Europe Region.
Vladimirs hobbies include teaching (he delivers over 150 hours of trainings at Intel annually), motor sports (rally racing), rollerblading and reading modern literature & classics.