Issue link: https://iconnect007.uberflip.com/i/1253723
JUNE 2020 I SMT007 MAGAZINE 33 you can innovate, whether it's buying new technology or changing your processes. Now, you have the reason that everybody under- stands. "Due to COVID-19, we had to change some things." We all did, so what did you change? "I changed this, this, and this," and because of those changes, we're going to be even more successful into the future. Matties: That's a great point. Anytime you can get buy-in on change and direction is impor- tant because the most challenging times in any business is when they're creating change. And when you add a solid reason, it's a lot easier to get buy-in on that. Mitchell: Yes. The other thing I want to men- tion is that as leaders, we don't have all the answers, and we know this. One of the tools that leaders are becoming more aware of and are starting to do more is reaching out to peers, whether they're in the same industry or not, to share ideas and test their thought pro- cesses. Again, being a leader is a lonely posi- tion. You're kind of set out there, and you are expected to have all the answers, but at the same time, you don't. One of the ways that we've done this is we've been holding these executive forum calls where presidents, CEOs, and heads of the electronics manufacturing industry have gath- ered together for an hour or so in a very safe environment where they could say, "How are you doing this?" People are sharing, and the entire industry is better for it. Finding those kinds of opportunities where you can share executive to executive and leader to leader— whether they're in the industry or not—will become ways people can become even better leaders as we go forward. Matties: Since you still have those meetings, are they growing in size, or what's the future of those? Mitchell: We were doing them every week, while COVID-19 was most urgent in North America and Europe. We have just shifted to every other week because we're getting to the point where people are getting what we need to do. There are fewer questions, so it depends on the topics. Going forward, I expect this will be a new norm that we'll do. We'll have this maybe once a month where we'll set up specific topics, bring in a specific expert or person to share an idea about that, and then let the group that's interested in that topic and attending collaborate together and share their ideas. I've heard from the indus- try that they value this opportunity. While I don't think we'll be able to keep the pace of every week—because as business gets back to booming, they have other things to do—once a month for an hour will be helpful as new things come up, because things are always coming up. Matties: As leadership skills are honed through- out a career, along the way, we all have men- tors or role models or leaders that we admire. Why don't you share with us some of the lead- ers, past or present, who have influenced you or who you most admire? Mitchell: I'm sure there are iconic leaders every- body thinks of, but the first place my mind goes is people like Albert Einstein or Richard Feynman. Most people don't really think of them as leaders, but they were leaders of their discipline and industry. Sorry I went to physi- cists, but they built on and were aware of the history, and they weren't afraid to strike out on a new path and challenge the status quo; they did so in a way that it could be explained to others. I appreciate that. As far as living, I recently watched a three- hour documentary on Bill Gates. I used to be one of those "Oh no. Not Microsoft" peo- ple when I lived in my IT world. But frankly, what Bill has done lately in his retirement or after leaving Microsoft is he hasn't sat there and said, "I need to go build another Micro- soft." Instead, he said, "I'm going to help solve world hunger, sanitation, or many other different challenges as global issues," which is admirable. But he didn't do it by saying, "I'm the world's greatest leader in this stuff." He leveraged the skills he has. He's a very