Rob Artigo: Ray, today’s topic is, usually you think of this as a religious subject, repentance, but Ray, you don’t see it that way. You say repentance is not just a religious principle, it’s a practical process for dealing with a mistake, especially a costly one, and actually making things right. So, let’s walk through the four steps you laid out about how to deal with this and what repentance actually looks like. So first, you have to acknowledge you made the mistake, and you call that the hardest step. You said that’s the reason why it comes first. It’s the hardest step. Tell me about it.

Ray Zinn: People don’t like to admit they did something wrong. I’m no different. Obviously, if I make a mistake, I just like to either sweep it under the rug or just forget that I made a mistake. Human beings hate to admit they make mistakes, but we all know we’ve made mistakes. Everyone make mistakes. We see it all the time, even in our daily lives. The errors that we make, we do stupid things, and sometimes they’re done because of selfish reasons and things we should avoid morally, as you would, but we do it because it’s something we want at the time, but then regret we did it.

Admitting we make mistakes goes against our nature. So that’s why it’s the hardest. But we know that if we really, truly, sincerely, honestly, deeply, sorrowfully admit we made a mistake, we got to fix it. And that’s something, “,Oh man, I hate to have to go back and fix it.” You know what they say? Measure twice, cut once as opposed to cut twice and measure once. We hate to go back and repair something that’s broken or regret that we have to fix it. So that’s why it’s number one, is the admitting we make a mistake is a tough thing. Not just admitting it casually. I mean, deeply, deeply admitting it.

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In this Tough Things First podcasts, Ray Zinn discusses treating your own time, health, and focus as strategic assets rather than unlimited resources.

Rob Artigo: Today we’re talking about something many leaders treat as an afterthought, but is actually one of the most important disciplines they can ever do, personal energy management. Why should leaders treat their own health and focus as strategic assets rather than unlimited resources, Ray?

Ray Zinn: Well, my partner at Micrel, one that I founded the company with, Warren Muller, his car he treated as strictly something to get to and from work. And he never changed the oil, he never changed the tires, never changed his brakes. It was never maintained properly. And what I noticed about Warren is that was true of his own life. The way he lived his life was that, “Hey, my body’s here to let me get from point A to point B.” And he died young. Actually, he was just in his 60s.

Rob Artigo: Wow.

Ray Zinn: And he just didn’t take care of himself. He’s a brilliant guy, very smart and a good guy to work with. I really loved working with him. But I remember his car, my window faced the parking lot and I watched him one day as he pulled into the parking space that his car hopped up over the curb and onto the grass in front. And I thought that was strange. And when he got out, he was kind of smiling. When he walked into the office, called at him, he said, “Hey, Warren, what was happening there? I watched you pull in and you just hopped right over the bumper of the parking lot onto the grass.” He said, “I don’t have any brakes.”

Rob Artigo: Oh my goodness.

Ray Zinn: And so he had no brakes on his car and he was driving it around. I said, “That thing’s not going to last.” Well, he bought a car about every other year because the car just failed. The same thing with his physical health, the same way. Well, I mean, he smoked. He didn’t eat right. He didn’t sleep good. He didn’t take care of himself at all. Well, the fact he lasted into his 60s was still good, but he could have lived a lot longer if he’d have taken care of himself. So you can’t start after you found out you got a problem. You got to start before you have a problem.

It’s that servicing that vehicle. You got to change the oil. You got to monitor the brakes. You got to treat the car as though it’s going to last forever. And that’s the way you succeed in your life is treat your body as though you’re going to live past a hundred. And the only way to do that is you have to live right. You got to have an exercise program. You got to get good sleep. Sleep is so important. Thinking you can get by in four or five hours of sleep is just ridiculous.

Rob Artigo: Yeah. It’s like thinking you can get rich by working 80 hours a week.

Ray Zinn: Having a good lifestyle habit of eight hours of sleep, eating well three times a day, not eating too much so, but eating well, meaning eating correctly and not just relying on junk food or some other beverage to keep you alive is important to have sustainability. And so exercise is important. I know that we talk about getting up in the morning and walking to the bathroom is not exercise. I was talking to a friend of mine on Sunday and he was noting how firm my handshake was. And at my age, he says, “That’s unusual.” He actually is a doctor. And he says, “I tell my patients they got to move around. They can’t just walk to the bathroom and back. They got to get out and exercise that body.” And he says, “How do you do it?”

And I says, “I do it every day. I don’t just go to the bathroom. I get out, I exercise weights for 45 minutes to an hour. And then I’m on the…” Actually about a half hour, I should say. “And then I’m on the treadmill for another half hour, 45 minutes.” And I do that every day. And I’m doing well physically. And I get a good eight hours of sleep. I eat regularly three times a day. And I can still do one arm pushups and I just keep myself as physically strong as I can. I’m a little more wrinkled than I was when I was in my 30s. I still have some strength and some stamina left even in my advanced age, and it has really born me well. I’m not trying to die early. I’m just trying to die late.

Rob Artigo: Yeah. And die well.

Ray Zinn: And die well. Yeah.

Rob Artigo: If you die doing the… It’s like they say, dying with your boots on. You die well. And I can vouch for your stamina and health and it’s pretty remarkable. I mean, you ride horses, you do stuff on your ranch, you’re out and about, you fix things and you’re as mobile as just about anybody and at that age. And it’s remarkable. The thing is that you can’t… Your good friend at Micrel was an example of it, being shortsighted about your health, sometimes you do the damage early on and you change your life and you do better and you improve, but some of the damage lingers because you weren’t very wise early with what you did. And so I guess the operative word here is asset, strategic asset.

Your body and your mind operating at 100% or as close to it as you can get throughout your life is the… You got to do that. Start young. So lots of people listen to this because the ZinnStarter program, we have lots of listeners who are on college campuses and they’re all looking and they’re looking to be successful in business, in their own businesses, running their own businesses. But they got to remember that their first business, the first order of business should be a strength, a spiritual connection with a higher power, and then their physical health. Because those are the two things that are going to get them to the finish line well beyond their expiration dates.

Ray Zinn: Yeah. They wait until they’re unhealthy before they try to get healthy. They say, “Oh, I’m going to have to start exercising or I’ve got to start eating right or I got to get more sleep.” That’s too late. That’s got to be part of your culture before you get unhealthy. Once you’re unhealthy, you’re done.

Rob Artigo: What did your personal energy management look like for you on a daily and weekly basis at Micrel? So you did your exercise in the morning and you were also known for managing by walking around and talking to people. But how did this manifest itself because you prioritized sleep, exercise and downtime?

Ray Zinn: Well, because I’m healthy. I mean, I’d say early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise. I went to bed early and I got up early and exercised and had a routine of eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and then spending time with my family. And I had a routine that I just didn’t break. Again, I talk about discipline as doing what you don’t like doing and doing it well. And so loving the things you hate. And so I just learned to do all the tough things first.

Rob Artigo: You know this can have an effect on the team around you. I mean, if your culture in your core team, let’s say you’re a creative team within an organization, if your team’s culture, based on your example, is to live a life of debauchery, then your team is acting that way. And I’ve seen this organizational conventions or annual meetings or something, and you see people getting together and going to hospitality suites. And the next thing you know, the next day when you’re trying to be productive for the reason for going out and doing this seminars and hanging out and having discussion groups and that kind of thing, they’re not productive because they’re totally screwed up from the day before.

Ray Zinn: It didn’t begin in my later life to live healthy. I did that since I was a child. I’ve never drank. I’ve never smoked. I’ve always got a good night’s sleep. I never tried to extend myself beyond my physical limitations. And I just had a healthy life my whole life. And it’s paying off because-

Rob Artigo: Yeah. It is. And so the listeners tuned into the show, you’re not just blowing smoke out there. You’re a living example of what it means to get started early. And I would say also, Ray, obviously the advice to everybody is you could stop living an unhealthy life now and do better for yourself in the long run.

Ray Zinn: Sure.

Rob Artigo: But it’s preferred if you don’t ever get there because it’s really hard to reverse it.

Ray Zinn: Yeah. Don’t wait till you’re unhealthy to be healthy. Start early. It’s just like we talk about in running a company. Cash is king, your health is king. Okay?

Rob Artigo: Yeah.

Ray Zinn: If you lose your health, you’ve lost your cash as you would. So save that cash, save that health.

Rob Artigo: Well, to our listeners, your energy is a strategic asset. So this week, pick one non-negotiable habit, better sleep. That’s a good one. Daily exercise. Ray shows it every day. No meeting blocks or real downtime and protect it like you would any critical business resource. Remember, your productivity is built on a good foundation when you get all those things done. So I’m Rob Artigo and he’s Ray Zinn. Thanks again for joining us at the Tough Things First Podcast. Subscribe, share this episode with leaders who are running just too hard or bumping their cars into parking spaces too hard, not getting brake jobs and stuff like that. We’ll be back soon with another Tough Things First topic. Until next time, do the tough things first, right Ray?

Ray Zinn: Exactly. Live healthy, die healthy.

Businesses that intend to scale need teams of the right people to do it, but is there a difference between a functional team and a team built on work ethic and culture? In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn says of course the answer is obvious. (Watch Now!)

Rob Artigo: Ray, this is a special edition of the Tough Things First Podcast. We’re on video. If you’d like to watch it instead of just listen to it, you can go to toughthingsfirst.com and find this podcast by looking for the podcasts.

Right next to the lead-in for this podcast is a little link that says watch now. It’ll take you to Ray’s YouTube channel. You can watch that video and a whole lot more right there. So please check it out.

Today’s question comes from business leaders, managers, and creative team leaders as something like, “As I build this and scale my team, what kind of work ethic and culture should I intentionally create?” So Ray, you’ve done this successfully over decades. Where should a leader start in building that creative team and that ethic?

Ray Zinn: Develop a harmony of civility and caring for others, whether it be your competitor, whether it be your customers, your employees, just having that culture of civility.

At my company, Micrel, it’s the number three culture, which is respect and dignity of every individual. And so that having a culture of respect and dignity, not allowing condescending language, we allowed no vulgarity, we talked rationally with each other, respecting each other’s differences, understanding each other. And you can’t do that by sitting at the computer. You have to get around, you got to walk around, you got to interact with your customers, your competitors, your employees. And just having that culture of civility is what’s so important.

An important conversation in our news media today is the need for better civility. Again, with all the technology we have, AI and everything that is now enhancing our relationship with other people, civility’s got to come in there as kind of like number one almost.

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The cult of personality can only do so much. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn explores how to build systems, culture, and next-generation leaders who can carry the vision forward.

Rob Artigo: Today, let’s talk about moving beyond founder-centric leadership. How do you build systems, culture, and next generation leaders who can carry on the vision without you around? I mean, it’s something that you had to go through, Ray.

Ray Zinn: Absolutely.

Rob Artigo: So Ray, why do founders fail at this handover even when the company is thriving?

Ray Zinn: A lot of it’s ego. People feel that they are afraid to give out certain secret sauce, and so their company becomes stymied because they’re not willing to develop the upcoming leadership. And if you don’t, there’s no sustainability. And so the key here is don’t be afraid of giving out and up enough information that will help sustain the company.

And I’ve seen that time and time again where the leadership is afraid to pass on the secret sauce. And of course the company, as soon as something happens, so whether it’d be a physical ailment or some other financial issue or a marriage or whatever fails, they get sidetracked and the company can’t run because the secret sauce has not been disseminated.

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Disciplined, customer-grounded innovation outperforms “move fast and break things.” In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn discusses how to turn ideas into profitable reality without falling for the hype.

Rob Artigo: Today, Ray, we’re talking about innovation discipline, how to turn ideas into profitable reality without falling for the hype. So Ray, why does disciplined, customer-grounded innovation consistently outperform the move fast and break things approach?

Ray Zinn: A true product that has legs, as they say, or longevity, is what you want to have. Based on the pet rock kind of concept, it’s more of a one shot approach. Do you remember the pet rock, Rob?

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A focus filter is for making better decisions like getting rid of good but not great projects, and creating daily rituals that leaders can use to audit their own calendars and team building meetings. Ray Zinn Discusses that a decision tool for alignment with core vision, resource cost, long-term payoff)

Rob Artigo: Ray, today we’re discussing a practical tool for every leader. Every leader should have this, a simple tool. As a matter of fact, it’s called a focus filter for making better decisions like killing or getting rid of those good but not great projects, and also creating daily rituals that leaders can use to audit their own calendars and team building meetings.

So Ray, why do so many leaders struggle with focus? And how does a simple filter help cut through that noise?

Ray Zinn: Well, let’s define what a filter is. A filter is the thing that eliminates or reduces the amount of things that you want to keep out of whatever it is you’re doing. That’s called filtering. We do it in television, we do it in radio, we do it in water, the water we drink, we filter out the bad stuff. And so the purpose of having a focus filter is that you want to eliminate or at least minimize the amount of stuff that’s getting through that you don’t want to have to go through. So it’s a restrictor. It’s an inhibitor. And if you have a good filter, then you won’t get distracted. You won’t get overwhelmed with the stuff that you shouldn’t be involved with.

And so every strong, every good leader has to have a good filter and not let that, as they say, that junk come through, especially if it harms the company.

Rob Artigo: Let’s think about your personal focus filter. So what are some of the questions that come to mind that you think a leader should ask before saying yes to a new project, initiative, or opportunity? I know some of them are, give me the pros and cons.

Ray Zinn: Exactly. Well, you just led me right into it. So you have to decide before you have to decide. So deciding before you decide is the important thing. I know it sounds like an oxymoron. How do you decide before you decide? Is because you have those restrictors in there. You know what kind of filter to put in place before you have to put it in, because you’ve got to know your filter. And having that series of pros and cons, you want to understand that.

The cons, in many respects, are just as good as the pros because you understand what you want to get rid of. So for example, like during the COVID pandemic we had these masks that we wore. But we just put them on as a covering, more of a show, then they weren’t really helping at all because they weren’t filtering out anything. They’re more for show than for go, as they say. And so having that filter, you must know what you want to remove. And so having those defined in advance helps you, makes the better decision for the projects or the opportunities that you’re going to invest in.

Rob Artigo: Do you have an example of a time when you were at Micrel where you killed a good but not great project because you used this kind of filter? And what was the payoff from doing it?

Ray Zinn: Okay. So the one that comes to mind is we had a project that we could not build in-house, so we had to go outside. And the only one that was viable at the time, we had to produce it in China. I was reluctant. My filter was I didn’t want to build in China. And you can see that’s happening even today. A lot of the tech companies are trying now to build their manufacturing in the US and not relying on China. So the issue was not the relying on China. The issue was that if you relied on China, you had exposure and you had risk.

Again, if you have immunity, if you have a vaccine that prevents you from catching a disease, then you’re less likely to catch that particular disease. And so you can be around people who have a disease that you’re immune to, and that’s fine. But in our case, we didn’t have any immunity to that particular product if it was made in China. And so I canceled the project because we just didn’t have any immunity and I didn’t want to chance it. I mean, you’re gambling and I would have gambled if I had done it, and so I didn’t go through with that project.

Rob Artigo: Yeah. I guess you can’t prove a negative. So you don’t know with that example exactly what the benefit was because you can’t see both avenues, what the results were of both avenues. But it’s a fair, in retrospect, looking at what has happened in the tech world regarding China and intellectual property, and just patent infringement and all that sort of thing, suddenly it comes pretty clear that that was some forward thinking and it was tough decision making, I suppose.

Ray Zinn: Well, it was. I mean, it looked good on paper. It just didn’t feel good. In other words, I was concerned about the intellectual property was the main concern. And it was going to expose us to some competition from China that I really wasn’t comfortable with. And it wasn’t just going to affect our company, it would affect technology within the United States. So in other words, I’d be giving out technology that would be valuable to China, but it would harm other of my competitors even, or my customers.

Rob Artigo: Wow. In a world of shiny distractions that technology is out there, and there are good ideas that are plenty, why is a ruthless focus on one of the ultimate advantages for building an enduring company?

Ray Zinn: It’s necessary. It’s absolutely imperative. If you’re not filtering correctly, you’re going to catch a lot of diseases. We’re not referring necessarily to medical diseases, but you’re going to be susceptible to a lot of financial diseases. Also some other intellectual issues, a disease could happen. So being aware of the diseases you’re trying to filter out is important.

Rob Artigo: Rugs can be pulled out from underneath you. All kinds of metaphors for how things work in the business world. I mean, even talent, if you’re operating a company that is really competitive and it’s not that great a place to work, you’re going to have people who are going to be willing to go elsewhere. It’s another way that this sort of stuff gets lost because they take what they learned at your company someplace else.

Ray Zinn: Absolutely.

Rob Artigo: And sometimes that’s the main reason for that other company taking that person. “Oh, that person worked on these projects for that successful company. Let’s take that person and see if we can get some of that mojo over here.”

Ray Zinn: And they do, and that’s exactly what they do.

Rob Artigo: Thank you as always. Some really good information there to our listeners. I got an idea. How about pick one decision or a meeting that you’ve got coming up and just run it through in the simple focus filter. Does it align with your core vision? What’s your true resource cost? And what’s the long-term payoff? And sometimes you don’t know the real long-term payoff until sometime later, but you’ve got to trust that. And if you’ve got a good focus filter, you’re going to be able to trust that. That’s what the essential leader does.

So join the conversation at toughthingsfirst.com. Your questions and comments are always welcome. Follow Ray on X, Facebook, and LinkedIn. Pick up Ray’s books, Tough Things First, and also The Essential Leader with the Zen of Zinn series one, two, and three. And now Ray’s new book, Zen of Zinn Daily. Until next time, do the tough things first, right, Ray?

Ray Zinn: Exactly right. Thanks, Rob.

How do you attract and grow talent that cares more about becoming better humans than just getting rich? Ray Zinn explores hiring and developing people who build legacy companies.

Rob Artigo: Today we’re talking about one of the most important responsibilities for any leader, hiring and developing people who help build legacy companies. Specifically, how do you attract and grow talent that cares more about becoming better humans than just getting rich? And in the process, create low turnover, high loyalty teams, and et cetera, et cetera, that you’ve been an example of there at Micrel, Ray. So let’s start at the beginning. What does the values-based hiring look like in practice, and why is it so critical for building something that really lasts?

Ray Zinn: Well, it begins with the top. It begins with the leader of the company. And as they say, birds of a feather flock together. So you as the leader are the one that’s the hiring person; you’re the one that’s going to be setting the example of the kind of people you want to hire. Look at yourself in the mirror, say, “Is this the kind of person I want to hire? Do I want someone that doesn’t look like me or doesn’t act like me or doesn’t feel like me? Or do I want somebody who has the foundation that I believe I have and that I can promote in my organization?” So again, the birds of a feather flock together. So if you hire the people that are reflective of who you want and what you want, then you’re more likely to succeed. If you want somebody that has a higher standard, then you have to have a higher standard because you’re the one that’s defining what that standard is. And so you’re going to hire people that are going to emulate your example.

Rob Artigo: How do you design onboarding that sets up the right tone and truly integrates people into the culture rather than just checking some boxes?

Ray Zinn: Because you’re going to look at yourself again. You’re back to “What do you want? What individuals do you want in your company?” And that’s not checking boxes; that’s actually defining the character of your company. What character do you want in your organization? And you’ll ultimately get it. I mean, it’s interesting that on this podcast we’re talking about how do you get those values. It has to start with you. Those values have to be endemic with yourself. If you don’t have the values you want your employees to have, you’re unlikely to hire those kind of employees.

Rob Artigo: And then it’s an ongoing process. You have to have ongoing development and mentoring, right? And that’s what’s really going to help with retention. And the retention you want is for those great people who buy into this great culture that you build at your company.

Ray Zinn: Yeah, you’ll see it. I mean, as you bring the people on board, they’re going to really reflect the kind of person you are. If you look in the mirror and you’re happy with who you are, honestly happy, looking in the mirror means you’re being honest about it. You’re not trying to hide it, trying to cover it up. If you can look at yourself in the mirror and you can say, “I’m a good example,” then you’re liable to hire… More likely to hire good examples like yourself. And if you can’t look at yourself in the mirror, if you’re not happy with yourself, I wouldn’t attempt to hire anybody.

Rob Artigo: Yeah. And leaders often feel tension between demanding high performance, but also supporting personal growth. How do you balance the two so that people become both better performers and better people at the same time?

Ray Zinn: Well, again, it’s promoting the ideals that are going to help you become successful. We talked about cash is king, promoting those ideals. You got to act that part. If you want people who are a good interactor, good type of communicators, you’ll have to say, “What kind of communicator am I? How well do I communicate?” So again, you’re going to be the leader of the band, as they say. And so you lead, so you shall; they follow. And so again, the primary goal is to promote yourself. You’re going to get the people that reflect who you are.

Rob Artigo: Well, Ray, for the listeners who are tuning in right now, who want to shift towards this strategy, building the human as well as their effectiveness on the job, whether they’re building a new team or reshaping an existing one, what’s the first tough step they should take?

Ray Zinn: Well, they need you to set the values that they want for the company. Make a list. Define “What do you want? What kind of employees do you want working for you?” Make that list. It should include about 10 items of what you expect them to have, what kind of values you want them to have. And then you seek for those values. When you interview them, you’ll make sure that you’ve covered those areas that you want or you feel are the most valuable for you and your company.

Rob Artigo: Yeah. So the point is you not only make the list, but you got to consult it during your process.

Ray Zinn: Exactly.

Rob Artigo: Well, to our listeners, building a legacy company starts with the people you bring in and how you grow them. This week, you can take one concrete action out there. You can review your hiring questions for values alignment. You can start simple mentoring rituals, or you can have career growth conversations with a key team member. I mean, there are all kinds of things you can do out there to take Ray’s advice and put it into action this week. Subscribe, leave a review, and share this episode with leaders who are serious about building lasting teams. Join the conversation at toughthingsfirst.com. Of course, your questions and your comments are always welcome. Follow Ray Zinn at X, Facebook, and LinkedIn. And of course, pick up Ray’s books, Tough Things First, The Essential Leader, and make sure you also check out the new book, The Zen of Zinn Daily, so you can get more of this action every single day. So until next time, do the tough things first, right, Ray?

Ray Zinn: Absolutely. Do the tough things first. Do it today, not tomorrow.

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You have heard it said many times, but most people get it wrong. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn uses smart business logic not magic to demystifying the proverb “Trust But Verify.”

Rob Artigo: I’m Rob Artigo, joined once again with Ray, as you’ve just heard his voice right there, founder, longtime CEO at Micrel Semiconductor for 37 profitable years. Ray, today, we’re unpacking a well-known phrase, trust but verify. That was a phrase that was popularized back in the 80s by President Ronald Reagan. He famously used those words during the Cold War era nuclear disarmament negotiations with the Soviet Union. And that worked out well in the near term after that, but obviously, it’s important. Trust but verify. How did you apply this at Micrel over four decades?

Ray Zinn: First of all, Ronald Reagan meant that as an oxymoron. Let’s unpack or unbox-

Rob Artigo: Okay. Yeah, let’s do that.

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THIS PODCAST WAS RECORDED BEFORE THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS WITH THE US AND IRAN. IT REMAINS RELEVANT.

Can an entrepreneur succeed and staying profitable even when some much seems out of control? In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn has a reality check and some words of inspiration. (Watch Now!)

Ray Zinn: Hey Rob, good to be with you today.

Rob Artigo: Ray, this is a special edition of the Tough Things First Podcast. We are on video. Listeners can, if they want to watch, go to toughthingsfirst.com, navigate to this podcast, and then just click on watch now and it’ll open up on your YouTube channel. And there’s a bunch of other videos there as well if they want to watch them.

Today’s topic, leading through geopolitical whiplash, staying profitable when the world shakes with fresh US ren negotiations all over the news right now, it’s really dominating world affairs. This recent memorandum of understanding, there’s talks in Switzerland that went on ongoing ripples around the Strait of Hormuz, and energy markets, global uncertainty, really front and center.

So let’s start with the current landscape. We’re seeing progress in US-Iran talks. Depends on which side you’re listening to. We know that President Trump tends to be more optimistic and the Iranians tend to want their people to think they’re being tough. So they say a lot of things that are just different than what the US government is saying regarding the negotiations, and there’s no real way to tell what’s going on behind those closed doors. So there’s this 60-day roadmap efforts to reopen the shipping lanes, oil swings. How should leaders view this kind of volatility right now?

Ray Zinn: It’s interesting because you have both countries that are trying to be optimistic. Iran’s trying to be optimistic, United States is trying to be optimistic, which is good. I mean, if you look at some of the best football games, both sides are optimistic. Both sides believe they’re going to win. It’s got to be a win-win. It’s got to be a win-win for Iran. It’s got to be a win-win for the United States. The definition of what win-win is open for discussion. That’s what we’re going to talk about today. In any case, every country that has been involved with the United States has really done pretty well. I mean, look at Venezuela getting rid of Madura. Venezuela is doing much better now that they’ve got a cooperation with the US.

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Rob Artigo: Ray, today we’re exploring a subtle but critical distinction. What’s the difference between an ambitious founder and an overly optimistic one? This is something entrepreneurs really need right now. So let’s define the terms. What does healthy ambition look like in a founder?

Ray Zinn: The drive, the passion, that courage that you need to be a successful entrepreneur. That’s what being ambitious is.

Rob Artigo: So what separates that from being overly optimistic?

Ray Zinn: Okay. So optimism is good, meaning you’re looking at the bright side rather than, as they say, you’re looking at the green as opposed to the brown, and so you want to be an optimistic individual. Overly optimistic means that you’re not going to see the forest for the trees. You’re going to only see the good. You’re never going to see what’s around the corner. You need that periscope. Having a periscope is good. Overly optimistic without a periscope is bad. So for those that don’t know what a periscope is, it allows you to see while you’re still underwater, and so that’s a good analogy by the way, because when your company’s underwater, you still got to be able to see, and you got to be able to see what’s around you. Overly optimistic means you don’t have a periscope.

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Ray Zinn is no gambler. In business, his trump card is knowledge. In this Tough Things First podcast, we explore why smart persistence is educated decision making.

Rob Artigo: Well, today it’s really about smart persistence, knowing when to double down and when to just walk away gracefully. This is one of the toughest calls any leader can make. So let’s start with double down side. How do you know when to just keep on pushing when you’re facing challenges?

Ray Zinn: Well, look at the direction that things are headed. When things are going well, double down. When things are not going so well, back off. We talked about that in earlier podcast about the stock market. When the stock market looks like it’s rolling good, double down. And that’s what I’ve been doing, is I’ve been doubling down on the market for the last year and a half and I’ve been just plowing my resources from bonds into the equity market and it’s paid off. But now I see things kind of peaking and I’m a little concerned.

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Ray Zinn: Hello, Rob. Good to be with you.

Rob Artigo: Today we’re talking a little bit about something other than business, although it relates to business in many ways. It’s deeper and more troubling if you think about it. Why is there so much hatred in the world right now? Is it simply human nature, or is there more to it? And what can leaders do about it? So let’s start there. Is hatred part of human nature?

Ray Zinn: Well, it depends upon which side of the fence you’re on. So hatred comes from being selfish. And so I think that selfishness, by some degree, is human nature. I mean, when a baby is born and they get it to cry. In other words, they spank its bottom or whatever they do to get… Because it makes them breathe more deeply. When a baby’s hungry, it cries, and it’s very irritating. You could say from that standpoint, crying is a part of hatred, as you would, because we’re expressing our dislike or our need for something.

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In a world divided by competing visions of prosperity, today on Tough Things First we tackle one of the most consequential debates in human history: Capitalism versus Socialism. Ray Zinn cuts through the ideology, examines real-world outcomes, and explores which system better delivers freedom, innovation, and human flourishing. (Watch Now…)

Rob Artigo: Big topic, Ray, in modern America, capitalism versus socialism. We have a real debate going on. We have the admitted socialist, maybe even a communist as a mayor of New York and other folks coming online as viable political candidates who are socialists who say they’re socialists and they don’t care if there’s a bad connotation to that or bad history related to that. So let’s start with the basics, Ray. In simple terms, what do you see as the core strengths of capitalism?

Ray Zinn: Well, capitalism is more of a nationalistic type economy. Everybody does their thing. Everybody gets paid for the labors, efforts that they put in, including companies. And so our country has always been based on more of a nationalistic, capitalistic society. It’s really more of you get what you pay for or you pay what you get. It has a strong growth potential because of the nature of it. If you can get what you need to get based on your income and your social status, then capitalism is good. And the purpose of capitalism really is to grow. I mean, capitalism is based on growth. And so capitalist societies tend to grow much faster than socialistic societies.

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This is part two of Ray Zinn’s conversation about balancing tech efficiencies with empathy to keep teams motivated and loyal. Plus, more on why you should embrace change.

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Trust and Value in People. As AI and automation reshape roles, is investing in people—through servant leadership and culture—still the key to the ultimate competitive edge? In this two part Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn offers guidance on balancing tech efficiencies with recognition and development to keep teams motivated and loyal.

Rob Artigo: I just saw a story recently where a company was using AI, and I want to say that it’s related to Facebook, but they were using AI as a help mechanism online. So, if you went to the help desk, you would start by talking to the virtual assistant and the virtual assistant helped people navigate accessing their accounts. And the virtual assistant helped people hack accounts, because it wasn’t able to understand that the person is manipulating the AI. So, certainly right now, we still need human beings dealing with these things and having oversight over what AI or tech is doing.

You built Micrel Semiconductor into a consistently profitable company over 37 years by putting people first. Obviously, your technology that you’re producing at Micrel, was advancing, improving the world, creating opportunities, creating jobs, doing all these things because it was a technologically advanced product. It continued to advance what we were doing in business and in society. How do leaders stay human centered when technology is moving fast, even when you’re the one producing the technology that’s moving fast?

Ray Zinn: We look at this AI era as being the only time that we’ve had advancement and that’s just not true.

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A start-up entrepreneur who is hunting for followers, likes, and popularity, but can’t achieve profitability, is falling victim to his or her own ego. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn offers a realistic view of this pre-profit folly.

Rob Artigo: Well, we have another great question from a San Jose State University student, part of the ZinnStarter program. This student asks, “What early metrics matter most before revenue starts?”

Ray Zinn: Well, having a good team is a metric. Having a good culture, meaning that you have the how do you want your company to look and be perceived by not only your customers, but by your suppliers, by your employees. So having that is a good metric. And then if you’re a people person. Are you a good leader? Are people willing to follow you or do you have to drive them? Are you going to be a hard-nosed boss, or are you going to be one that’s a loving, kind and persuasive boss? Lastly, make sure you have the resources to actually bring your idea, your concept to reality.

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“Do The Tough Things First” is Ray Zinn’s motto. Part of that is asking yourself the tough questions first. In this podcast, Ray Zinn explores what signals show that your are the problem and you are the bottleneck in your own startup.

Rob Artigo: We have another great question from a San Jose State University student who is part of the ZinnStarter program, your program that you founded. He or she asks, “What signals show that I’m becoming the bottleneck in my own startup?”

Ray Zinn: That’s part of doing the tough things first. You’ll read that in our book, The Tough Things, and also The Essential Leader. So those two books actually cover this topic.

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People who start businesses can be fooled into thinking turn and burn, short term plans make them entrepreneurs. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn dives into another great question from a ZinnStarter college student.

Rob Artigo: Once again, another question coming from San Jose State University, another great ZinnStarter student, and this student is asking, how do you build a company for the long term instead of building to be acquired?

Ray Zinn: We’ve talked about this before, but thank you for your question. Building it for the long term, it takes a different point of view. Whatever it is, whatever idea or concept you have, make sure it has legs, legs meaning that it has a chance to live or sustain itself beyond a couple of years.

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President Trump’s recent state visit to China shows some promise, but where does it fall short? In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn explores the politics and the economics. (Watch Now…)

Ray Zinn: Hello, Rob.

Rob Artigo: Ray, this is a special edition of the Tough Things First Podcast where we are also on video, so our listeners can choose to watch it if they will by clicking the link, at toughthingsfirst.com. Just navigate to this podcast and you’re all set. Today we’re talking about President Trump’s recent state visit to China and what it means to American businesses. Let’s just jump right into that Ray. From May 13th to the 15th, President Trump met with Xi Jinping in Beijing. Try saying that three times fast. Xi Jinping in Beijing. There were high profile meetings, visits to the temple of heaven and Trump came away talking about fantastic deals, including a big Boeing order and progress on agricultural exports. So what’s your take on this visit from what you’ve seen so far?

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Failure, it is said, is not an option. So why do entrepreneurs make so many first year mistakes? In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn takes a question from a San Jose State Zinn Starter student.

Rob Artigo: Ray, we have a question from one of your awesome ZinnStarter students, this one over at San Jose State University. And he asked the question, “What are the most common mistakes solo founders make in the first year?” Let me phrase this this way is by saying statistics show that a huge percentage of startups fail in the first year or two. And this question’s particularly apt when you think about how brutal those first 12 months can be.

Ray Zinn: The first mistake that a solo entrepreneur makes is being solo. It takes a team to run a company. It’s just like the two heads are better than one. And so if you’re going to be one head running a company, that’s going to get you circular reasoning and you’re not going to succeed. So, the biggest mistake you can make is being a solo entrepreneur.

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The Remarkable thing about Ray Zinn is he is a walking library. In this Tough Things First Podcast Ray takes your questions. Watch Now!

Rob Artigo: This is a special edition of the Tough Things First podcast where we are also on video. If you want to watch instead of just listen, you can navigate to toughthingsfirst.com. On the pull down menu, find this podcast. Under podcasts, there is a Watch Now link. You just click that and you go to Ray’s YouTube channel and you’re all set. This is also an extra special edition of the Tough Things First podcast since we have actual questions from college entrepreneurs.

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You can solve lots of problems in life and work and it does not have to be a herculean effort. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn says if something is broken, fix it. Don’t wait until it becomes a disaster.

Rob Artigo: Ray, April 28th, 2026, you wake up in the morning ready to do the tough things first, but don’t set off on that adventure. I’m doing a commercial here. Don’t just set off on an adventure until you’ve checked in with today’s entry in the Zen of Zinn Daily, page 59.

Let’s talk Zen of Zinn Daily, your new book. It’s fantastic. In this book, you wrote, “When you clean up your act, you polish up your life in a way you will be genuinely happy with your performance. Let your act be one that you will be proud of.” I paraphrased that last part. It’s pretty much what it says. I just made up my own words there for a second. It happens.

Your response to that, which Zen of Zinn Daily does, it takes writing that you’ve done before, and then you write a response to it. And the response here is, “Traditionally, this relates to a person who makes a lot of mistakes, is unreliable, and could be more productive if they would only get things together. But you’re not one of those people.” That would be the listener or whoever’s reading this book. “Because you chose to read this book, which endeavors to help you improve and smooth out your rough edges. You probably are generally viewed as a good-act type. Today, polish your life, and be mindful that you will be judged. Always strive to improve your act.” That’s the end of that response.

Ray, in this writing today, you said, “Clean up your act. You polish up your life in a way you will be genuinely happy with your performance.” What does cleaning up your act look like in practical, everyday terms for a leader or entrepreneur who is already generally viewed as a good-act type?

Ray Zinn: Well, doing the tough things first is a start. If something is broken, fix it. Don’t wait until it becomes a disaster. The polishing up your act is what real performers do. Having been a performer at different times in my life, having to give talks and teach classes and otherwise give advice or writing a book, there’s a polishing-up part.

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In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn tells us about how embedding careful spending habits (without being cheap) builds discipline across the company.

Rob Artigo: Some leaders treat spending like a scorecard. The more you spend, the more successful you look. I’m Rob Artigo, your host for this edition of the Tough Things First podcast with Ray Zinn, the longest-serving CEO in Silicon Valley history. Hi, Ray.

Ray Zinn: Hi, Rob. Good to be with you today.

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Has fail fast been the mantra upsetting your company’s culture? In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn contrasts superficial “fail fast” advice with a proven approach: quickly acknowledging errors.

Rob Artigo: I’m a former radio personality and reporter for KGO 810 in San Francisco and a writer. Here with me, once again, is Ray Zinn, the longest serving CEO in Silicon Valley history. Being invited back, Ray, is always an education.

Ray Zinn: Well, thanks, Rob. It’s always an education to be with you on these.

Rob Artigo: This podcast contrasts superficial fail-fast advice with a proven approach that you like to talk about, quickly acknowledging errors, extracting the lesson, and ensuring the same mistake never repeats itself while still driving bold innovation, so let’s get started. You’ve said, “Mistakes are like glue. They stick around if not handled properly. How do leaders create a culture where people own mistakes without fear?

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Explore how the Essential Leader hands off responsibility effectively and avoids the “I’ll just do it myself” trap. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn explores why it is essential to maintain accountability and quality, without obsessing and micromanaging.

Rob Artigo: Many leaders say that they delegate, but secretly they’re thinking it’ll be faster if I just do it myself. That trap can kill growth. It can burn out leaders. It also keeps the teams from developing the way that they normally would in bonding, I think. So today, Ray, let’s explore how the essential leader hands off the responsibility effectively and maintains accountability and equality. Especially in the fast-moving tech environments that we all work in. And it also avoids the micromanagement trap, the negative kind. In your book, The Essential Leader, you talk about delegation as one of the essential skills. Why is it so hard for many leaders to let go without losing control?

Ray Zinn: Well, because they don’t trust whoever they’ve assigned the task to and so the person you assign the task to assumes that you don’t trust them.

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Hoping for short memories may not be the best way to regain trust once it is shaken. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn discusses the unfortunate knack some leaders have for rosy outlooks on everything without realizing they may lose support in the long run. (Watch Now…)

Rob Artigo: President Trump has recently tried to be encouraging, but what appears to be too much exaggeration, and that’s kind of his leadership. So that’s been his personality for a long time. And it’s kind of, I don’t know, people are responding, it seems, with losing trust in him because he says, “Oh yeah, it’s going to be the greatest thing ever,” or, “This is going to end right now.” And it’s not really panning out. Is this something that you’ve been thinking about a lot lately as you watch these ups and downs in the market, but also what’s going on on the world stage?

Ray Zinn: Yes. When we talk about giving encouraging outlooks, we got to be careful because if your outlook is not able to come to pass, in other words, if you’re not having a predictable outlook, then people start not believing what you’re saying. And since this podcast is for many listeners, I remember when we would, at Micrel, when we have our conference calls once a quarter, we would give an outlook, and that outlook was difficult to do because you’re looking into the future and you can’t predict the future really well. So on one hand, you don’t want to be discouraging or give a bad outlook because the stock is going to take a hit. And by the same token, if you give a really optimistic outlook and it doesn’t pan out, then they’re not going to trust you. And so they’re not going to give you a credit for your wonderful outlook. And so because sometimes your outlook is good, sometimes they’re not so good. I should say we did this once a month, not once a quarter.

But anyway, the outlook that President Trump has been giving on Iran has been more optimistic than actual. Even though he’s accomplished a lot, the outcome looks favorable. The timing of it is not panning out like it should. So that’s just an example. I mean, this podcast is really not about President Trump. It’s more about how do we, as leaders, how do we encourage or keep our employees encouraged, but not giving them some exaggerated outlook that we can’t bring to pass. While we think that people have short memories, certain things that they remember very well, and you have to be careful that you don’t exaggerate the outlook. Otherwise, if it doesn’t happen, your employees are going to lose trust in your judgment.

Rob Artigo: Yeah. Like you said, it’s not about politics. It’s about the timeless principles of effective leadership that people that listen to this podcast know very well. When a leader uses exaggeration to encourage people, even if there are good intentions behind it, the long-term to trust, I mean, it can be far beyond what you imagine. Like you said, people have short memories. In politics, they always say this. People have short memories and they go, by the next election, they will have forgotten this. But that’s not necessarily true when it comes to the way that they feel. If they lose trust in you, it’s really hard to get that back. I know we’ve talked about that on this podcast.

Ray Zinn: Yes. It’s interesting that … We hope people have short memories, but if the outcome is not good, that sticks in their mind. And so what comes around, goes around, you’re going to pay the penalty for it. So the future is very hard to predict. While we want to be optimistic, while we want to be encouraging and not deliver questionable news, by the same token, we want to be realistic. And that’s the key. The key is be realistic in your projections so that you don’t over-promise.

Rob Artigo: You often emphasize honesty and integrity as you call it a non-negotiable in those areas. It has been part of the culture at Micrel. It’s how you have operated as a CEO for so long. How do those ideas play into this as honesty and integrity be non-negotiable.?

Ray Zinn: Well, that’s part of it. Giving a realistic outlook is being honest. Let’s take an example. Let’s say that everything looks great, the quarter looks wonderful, the quarter going forward, I should say, is looking wonderful. And you really want to be very optimistic because you’ve got good news, the backlog is great, but then something happens. Somebody drops a bomb somewhere, some customer declares bankruptcy, and now you’ve given this outlook, even though at the time it looked realistic, but now you’ve got this dilemma that you’re facing, and you get blamed for that. I mean, honestly, the buck stops here, you’re going to get blamed. Even though it was something you didn’t know at the time, people don’t know you didn’t know that. And so they assume you knew it, even though maybe you didn’t, and you’re going to get penalized for it.

So we talk about caveats. They say God-willing or weather it doesn’t change or we don’t have this problem happen, we don’t lose a customer or important employee to leave the company. We have this one with Microsoft … I mean, with Apple where Tim Cook is now leaving and they got a new leader because that’s new and that’s going to be a concern for those next few quarters is how well the new CEO’s going to handle the company. So people don’t like to deal with unknowns. They hate unknowns. But unknowns are with us.

So what we want to do is have an honest reputation so that if when bad news happens, when we have a dotcom implosion, that people will recognize and understand that that’s an incident that happened. And now as long as you’re viewed with honesty and integrity, there is some forgiveness if the outcome is not as you projected it. Because as Murphy’s law is, that which can happen will happen, as you would. Bad things are going to happen. You’re not always going to have wonderful revenue projections and good news for your customers or your investors. You will have downturns and you will have difficulties. And the way we migrated through those eight downturns that we faced at Micrel was we were honest and we had a reputation of having integrity and our investors and customers stuck with us through thick and thin.

Rob Artigo: I guess the thing is to pause before commenting on something. And I think that’s what CEOs trying to protect their stocks also have to realize that there are analysts out there that are going to comment on those. It’ll sort of balance out what you say. But the idea being there’s got to be a better way to encourage without risking a loss of trust. You got to maintain that trust to stay there.

Ray Zinn: That’s why I said don’t exaggerate. Look at a more neutral position as opposed to exaggerating and then having to deal with that exaggeration. So the trees don’t go all the way to the sky. I mean, at some point you’re going to have a call to Jesus time where you’re going to have to own up to the projections or the outlook that you projected. Don’t underestimate or don’t mislead by not being truthful because then they’ll just say, well, you’re sandbagging. So don’t sandbag and don’t exaggerate. Just be known as an honest person with high integrity. And regardless of what happens, your customers and employees will stay with you.

Rob Artigo: I know that one thing I think about sometimes is Scotty from Star Trek. He said that he would say, tell the captain on the Enterprise, “Captain, I need six hours,” when he actually only needed four because that way when he came in under the six hours, he would sound like he did some kind of miracle and looked really good. So maybe downplaying it a little bit is a good way to show that you’ve had this great success because, hey, it was a tough fight. That’s that. That’s the Star Trek reference for the podcast for today.

So I hope the listeners will rate this podcast on their favorite platform. If you’re facing tough leadership challenges in your own organization, visit toughthingsfirst.com for more information and wisdom from Ray Zinn, including his books and resources. If this episode resonated with you, subscribe, leave a review and share it with a leader in your life or take it in for your own leadership challenges. Until next time, do the tough things first, starting with telling the truth. Right, Ray?

Ray Zinn: Exactly. Go truth.

Is the question, “which end is up?” The nagging question is where will this economy end with all that is going on. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn puts his well earned economist hat on and cuts through the chaos. – OR – (Watch Now!)

Rob Artigo: Ray, this is a special edition of the Tough Things First podcast. It is on video and I’d like to invite our listeners to toughthingsfirst.com. There is a whole pull-down menu for the podcasts, and we have all the history of our podcasts there, and you can check out any podcast you want. But if you find this one and you look at the little Watch Now button, you can click on that and it’ll take you to Ray’s YouTube channel. And Ray, people will go there and watch, and they usually turn out really, really good. So watch now if you want or just keep on listening.

Ray Zinn: Please share and subscribe to this. We would love your support.

Rob Artigo: Yeah, exactly, exactly. So Ray, you guided Micrel through 37 years, profitable, eight major semiconductor downturns along that time, that’s what I understand, without ever really relying on venture capital. So today we turn the attention to the present economy, which is really wild to navigate.

At the time of this recording, which is late March, just about April 1st almost, it looks like growth is holding at about mid 2% range, and the labor market cooled off a little bit. Unemployment about 4.4%. Inflation remained somewhat sticky above the Fed’s target, and there’s ongoing debate around interest rates, policy shifts.

And of course, Iran is looming large because of the oil situation. It’s not a crisis, but it’s not smooth sailing either, agreed?

Ray Zinn: Yes. Well, because there’s a lot of components to having a good economy. I’m asked often, because I am an economist educationally and also from work, they say, “Well, how is the economy?” And so if you read the news or if you hear the polling and so forth, they say, “Oh, the economy is the number one problem.” And so it’s a focus. When you focus on something, you tend to really put a lot of emphasis on it. That’s why we call it a focus.

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Flashy leadership fails long-term, even when it seems to be sailing along carefree much of the time. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn explains why the remedy to loud overconfidence is quiet competence.

Rob Artigo: Ray, I think we got a great topic on this one. We see a lot of high profile leaders today who thrive on, well, I guess what you describe as hype, bold promises and personal branding, the whole thing where you put your face on a T-shirt and everything’s suddenly, you’re a hot commodity. Yet many of those approaches, they just burn out or crash when the times get tough. I’m sure you’ve seen that over your 37 years at the helm of Micrel. You avoided the spotlight, you focused on steady execution. So, what’s the fundamental difference and why does flashy leadership so often fail long-term?

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Yes, you can own the Ugly Truth by keeping your mouth closed, or own it by speaking up! In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn says, owning the ugly truth by speaking up is the fastest way to resolve serious problems. Even when it feels a little scary.

Rob Artigo: Ray, your slogan is … I’m not telling you something you don’t already know. Your slogan is, “Do the tough things first.” Let’s talk about owning the ugly truth first. Do you feel like the fastest way to solve a serious problem is to be the first person in the room to clearly name the brutal reality, not sugarcoating or blame shifting or anything like that?

Ray Zinn: Well, close to doing the tough things first. Of course, if you own the tough things, if you accept the tough things, if you accept the ugly truth, then you’re more likely to deal with it. None of us like going to the dentist or the doctor because we don’t want that ugly truth. The ugly truth, of course, is we have to go to the doctor or the dentist if we want to solve a particular problem that we have. Owning up or accepting the truth rather than, as they say, shoving it under the rug, then we’re more likely to solve it, get rid of it, deal with it. It’s all part of overcoming procrastination. That’s the thing that we won’t accept the ugly truth. We tend to shove it under the rug or, as they say, kick the can down the road. Have you heard that before, Rob?

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This time of year, many people around the world celebrate renewal, rebirth, and transformation. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn digs into his book Zen of Zinn Daily to say, “you can do better. Here’s how.”

Rob Artigo: Ray, as we record this, it’s March 31st, 2026. Your new book, Zen of Zinn Daily, compiles the best of your entries in Zen of Zinn One, Two, and Three. It’s a great series. The entries are daily entries, 366 days, because you include the Leap Year day as well. So for those people who are born on Leap Year day, you can celebrate your birthday and read the book at the same time.

You also then expand on your thoughts from those earlier versions of the book. You have really great little comments about that. Let me read this from page 45 of Zen of Zinn Daily for March 31st. It says, “Can you do better? Can you be better? This is a choice. It is your decision and yours alone. Do not be a victim. Be an advocate for good. Take control of your life.”

So here’s your response to that original quote. “This time of year, many people around the world celebrate renewal, rebirth, and transformation. Sometimes we renew completely to refresh our minds and bodies. Other times, we give or accept a new life, and yet other times we transform those areas of our lives that stand in the way of growth and potential.”

So Ray, the prompt declares that becoming better is a daily choice and rejects victimhood. How does this mindset separate effective leaders from those who stall in tough times?

Ray Zinn: Well, let me talk about the saying that I like to quote. “Yesterday is history. Tomorrow’s a mystery. Today’s the present. That’s why they call it a gift.”

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“Who’s on my team?” goes right to the heart of what appears to be a verbal civil war in public discourse. So, how do we build a team back after deep division? In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn has the answer. (Watch Now!)

Rob Artigo: Well, Ray, this is, as we do a couple of times a month, a special edition of the podcast where we’re on video. So if anyone wants to watch this instead of just listen to it, you can go to toughthingsfirst.com, find this podcast, and then click on Watch Now, and then you’ll be zoomed literally to Ray’s YouTube channel where you’ll be able to watch the video instead. And we look great on video, so check it out if you haven’t already. Today’s question, Ray, cuts to the heart of any organization facing division. Who’s on my team? Right now, I mean, not just in our organizations, but in our country, it feels like we’re in the middle of a verbal civil war. We have heated disagreements, fractured trust, and people questioning loyalties all over the place.

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A comfortable chair and money in the bank can shorten your career. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn discusses why discomfort moves people forward while comfort kills.

Rob Artigo: Ray, most people pursue comfort as a goal. If it’s comfort you’re after each day, you’re liable to just become lazy. Am I wrong?

Ray Zinn: No, you’re 100% right. Comfort defines lazy.

Rob Artigo: Where have you seen comfort creep into work environments? We talk about AI a lot on this podcast, and AI can be useful, but it can also lead to complacency where you use AI to draft emails, for example, and maybe you don’t even know what is in the email because you’re in the fast-paced environment. You sort of just skip over it. Oh yeah, well, it must be good because AI wrote it, but it can lead to a sense of being complacent.

Ray Zinn: Yeah, it is so true. It impersonalizes our relationship. Last night, I asked Alexa, “Where do you live?” And because it’s AI, she says, “I live in the cloud. I don’t have a physical address.” But it sounds like you’re talking to a real person, but you’re not. It impersonalizes a relationship if we rely too heavily on AI.

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Ray Zinn is not just the Longest Serving CEO in Silicon Valley History, he’s a man that does not retire or quit. In this special edition of the Tough Things First Podcast, Ray talks about his new book aimed at inspiring the next generations to do the same. One day at a time. Zen of Zinn Daily is 365 days of inspiration with action and you can start at any age. (Listen here or watch on YouTube)

Ray Zinn: Hey, Rob. Good to be with you.

Rob Artigo: Ray, this, we did it last year and we enjoyed doing it when you did The Essential Leader. Back behind me here, we have the Zen of Zinn Daily Reader. This is the cover of the book. When you’re looking for it, this is it right here. This is the new book, Ray. Congratulations. This is an excellent start to a new year is to get a book out. And this is very exciting. So we have the Zen of Zinn Series I, II, and III, but this, you take some of your favorite quotes from the series, Zen of Zinn, and then you expand on it and do some actionable items, some comments. And it’s basically a daily reader. It’s a 365. You start on Day 1, January 1st, and you can work through the whole book throughout the course of the year. It’s pretty cool, Ray.

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You might not think so, but interviewing a candidate for a job is not easier than being interviewed. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn explains the process from both sides.

Rob Artigo: This is a quote from page 46 of Zen of Zinn, your book, page 46, and here it is: “When looking for a job, are you looking for money or opportunity? Most employers will soon find out. If your focus is money, your chances are worse in landing the job. Employers are looking for loyalty and thus focus on your job history. If on average you change jobs every three years or less, this will not portray you as a loyal employee. Employers are looking for dedicated team members who have a track record of loyalty. When hiring, be aware of the same desires within each candidate.”

Do you ask questions about what their goals are and get them to kind of reveal, even if they’re trying to conceal it, but reveal that they’re in it for the money?

Ray Zinn: Yes.

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In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn explores the often maligned idea that, when it comes to leadership, kindness and positive reinforcement are more effective at persuasion and achieving desired results than an iron fist.

Rob Artigo: You have been an example of servant leadership leading with grace, not power. That’s part of your philosophy. In your book, The Essential Leader, you talk about why that’s an important attribute for a good leader, for the essential leader. The question I have for you is have you noticed if modern leaders rely on authority, control, or incentives to drive performance instead of what you would consider a singular fundamental leadership example, leading with grace?

Ray Zinn: I think because of the lack of understanding of servant leadership, most of our leaders, especially in the political environment, lead with power and authority. They can’t seem to lead with love and respect, which I think are the more important, which is grace. Grace is charity, benevolence, virtuous, kindliness. Those are the characteristics of a servant leader, someone who doesn’t lead with power but rather leads with love.

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A thousand dollars to open investment accounts for newborns. The hardest to change to make this a priority may lie with the parents. Is it worth it? Why Ray Zinn says the answer is simple in the Tough Things First podcast. (Watch Now…)

Rob Artigo: Ray, the Trump Accounts, we’ve been hearing a lot about them lately because they’ve just recently been launched. And I think this topic is of value for parents who will have the option of choosing this for their kids when they’re born, but also those adults who have been struggling with understanding the value of saving and investing and really starting at a young age. And this is something that we’ve talked about on the podcast. And this is an interesting development here on the federal side that may give many of these new parents a leg-up in advancing their child in the future.

Just to remind listeners, the Trump Accounts are new tax-advantage investments accounts. They’re for US citizens. They provide $1,000. A Treasury-funded seed money for babies born between 2025 and 2028. They’re designed to build wealth through stock market investments, and parents can contribute to up to $5,000 annually with options for employer and state contributions. So Ray, how did this strike you when you first heard about it?

Ray Zinn: Well, many countries do it already, countries that are already focused on education. The primary source for growth in any country is its youth. And I’ve always been a big proponent of education. We’ve funded, my wife and I, hundreds of scholarships around the United States to different universities. It’s similar to what the Trump Account is doing. Only ours is called the Ray Zinn Family Scholarship Fund. And it is available at least at five different universities. And it’s really helped out students. So I’m a big proponent of education. I wish our country was more of a proponent.

We had that COVID issue that really has injured significantly our youth that were affected by that shutdown. And as you know, many universities are having to do remedial math for students that are starting their freshman year in college because we’ve failed so poorly in funding education.

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Business leaders who foster a culture of gray areas are not great role models. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn discusses the dangerous game of compromising your values.

Ray Zinn: Hello there, Rob.

Rob Artigo: Ray, leaders often face intense pressure to compromise on core values like integrity or honesty. Whether it’s inflating metrics for investors, or overlooking ethical lapses for growth, or bending principles to close a deal, in your experience, what are the most common scenarios in high stakes environments like Silicon Valley where the temptation arises, and why do well-intentioned leaders rationalize these short-term trade-offs?

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You can build resilience in your life and business so that no matter how bad it gets, you are ready. Ray Zinn knows a thing or two about navigating rough seas even when it seems nearly impossible.

Rob Artigo: At Micrel as CEO for so many years, your company was thriving in uncertain times, not just a survivor, it was a thriver. Resilience often starts at the individual level, especially during personal setbacks like health challenges. You lost your eyesight at a very important time in the company’s history, but you managed to get through that and stay as CEO until you finally left the company.

That could feel overwhelming, I’m sure those things… And they can feel permanent like vision loss. Hopefully, things improved over time, but you had that challenge. What practical strategies have you seen or personally used to reframe these hurdles as temporary, like rebuilding your inner strength and maintaining focus amid the uncertainty?

Ray Zinn: Well, that child story about the Little Train That Could is a good example. You just have to realize that life is going to have its ups and downs about half the time.

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Integrity isn’t just an idea of basic ethics. As Ray Zinn tells us, in this Tough Things First podcast, a real commitment to integrity is a competitive advantage that leads to greater profits in business and benefits in life. (Watch Video

Rob Artigo:.. Ray, we have a great topic today. Integrity as the ultimate competitive advantage. So many leaders face pressure, as you know, to take shortcuts for quick wins. They cut corners or make promises, fudging numbers, or prioritizing short-term profits. In your experience, you did 37 years at Micrel. What are the most significant long-term costs beyond just financial penalties that companies may pay if they compromise on integrity, such as employee turnover, customer churn, or reputational damage?

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Taken from a page of Ray’s book Zen of Zinn 3, in this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn discusses how honest assessment is the difference between gambling and investing.

Rob Artigo: Ray, let’s turn to page 89 of Zen of Zinn 3, your book in the series of three books. Page 89, and this is what it said, very short writing, “Gamblers are not investors. To gamble is to take a chance on a random event. Don’t gamble on your future. Have a strategy that eliminates or at least reduces the chance for failure.” Tell us a little bit about that.

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In this Tough Things First podcast with Ray Zinn, Ray looks at what creating a personal culture does for the people around you and what it really means for you.

Ray Zinn: Hello, Rob.

Rob Artigo: You had the idea of talking about culture and suggested that people should define their culture. For starters, you asked the question, who do you most admire?

Ray Zinn: Yep. Well, you have to have a mentor, somebody that you believe and you, as they say, worship. And so that person’s culture is the one you want to emulate. In my case, is Jesus Christ, is my mentor and one that I want to follow. So I look and see what culture did he have, and then I try to emulate that culture in my life. So that’s what I meant by defining our culture. Who do we most admire? And that will actually define our culture.

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Fear of risk, fear of  danger, fear of going it alone. Fear can be healthy, but it can also hold us back. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn explores the most important factor in overcoming fear.

Rob Artigo: Ray, many people are held back by fear. I know this personally, and I’ve had times in my life where I’ve avoided something because I just had a general fear of the possible outcomes. And some people just govern their whole lives based on fear. Is it possible to eliminate fear?

Ray Zinn: Sure, but you have to first recognize that you are fearful. Are you risk averse? Risk averse means that you’re not willing to take any chances. The more chances you’re willing to take, the more likely are to succeed. Now, there’s some righteous fear, meaning that you want to fear God as you would, respect them. You want to be respected. And so, you don’t want to be stupid and jump off out of an airplane without a parachute. I mean, that’s not overcoming fear, that’s just being stupid. Eliminating fear allows you to be more willing to take some chances. If you don’t take a chance, you’re just not going to accomplish your legacy or grow your career. Some people are afraid to go to school. I mean, if you’re wrapped up in fear, there’s a lot of things that you could do you won’t do. “Oh, I can’t do that,” or, “Oh, I don’t have that knowledge or that skillset.” As soon as you say what you don’t have and you can’t do, then you’re fearful.

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When you just start out in life, you may think very little about how you will be remembered. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn discusses why that approach may lead to very little legacy at all.

Rob Artigo: One thing you do at this podcast, and your books, and everything that you’re doing is you’re creating a lasting legacy. It’s one of those things that a lot of people don’t really consider until they get along later in life, but you’ve built, over a lifetime, your legacy. So what truly makes a legacy last?

Ray Zinn: Well, your legacy is the one you write over time, and the earlier you begin it, the more long-lasting it will be. For example, if I said, “What’s the legacy of Al Capone?” what would you say?

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Some people believe equality and equity are the same thing. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn dives into what equality really means.

Rob Artigo: … We fairly recently did a podcast on so called equity and inclusion. So, let’s turn our attention to what it actually means to be equal. Are we talking about equal outcomes like wealth, status, and happiness? What are we talking about here?

Ray Zinn: No, we’re talking about we’re all innately creating God’s image and likeness, but that we’re not all at the same status.

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Workplace conflicts are going to happen and the word “yes” can produce remarkable results to help your teams grow. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn explores the toughest workplace conflicts and the “Yes Principle.”

Ray Zinn: Hi, Rob. Good to be with you today.

Rob Artigo: Sure. Let’s talk about creative teams and managing conflict because there’ll be differences of opinion. There’ll be different directions people want to go in concepts that they’re developing. There may just be personality conflicts. So in your experience, what kind of conflicts are the most common?

Ray Zinn: Well, there’s a stone wall, in other words, where neither side is willing to back down. The good example of that is currently we have the shutdown in the government, and it’s based over some very strong principles that neither side want to bend on.

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You have your “bandwidths”, your “synergies” and your “lean-ins,” to name a few and what do they all have in common? They are cliche’ and overused. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn says you need to cultivate a growth mindset, not a worthless vocabulary.

Ray Zinn: Hello, Rob. Good to be with you today.

Rob Artigo: We’ve seen in recent years, Ray, a movement toward workplace structures that have been controversial in the area of like, equity and inclusion. I want to talk a little bit about how real leaders can encourage continuous improvement and innovation in the workplace without getting tripped up by trendy concepts. So Mike Krell, the way you operated, you basically created safe spaces for risk-taking feedback and diverse perspectives that were drivers for both teams and personal development. Isn’t that true?

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The world of information is transforming at light speed, and getting sucked into a misinformation vortex is a constant problem. In this Tough Things First podcast, Ray Zinn says, “Just the Facts, Ma’am.”

Rob Artigo: Ray, looking at page 26 of your first Zen of Zinn book, Zen of Zinn one. It says, you wrote this, “Get it right and don’t be bamboozled by others. Think it through. Does it make sense? We are inundated by the news media and other sources that try to influence our views and opinions. You need to make sure what you are hearing is based on facts and not opinions made to sound like facts.” That sounds like good advice, Ray.

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