How born-again Intel Corp executive keeps it real

Danie Steyn has been with Intel for 15 years in various management roles. Most recently, he was the Intel World Ahead programme director for Middle East, Turkey and Africa and also served as Intel’s regional business manager for Sub-Saharan Africa.

Before joining Intel Corporation, he worked in France as a field application engineer at Level One Communications covering southern Europe and Israel from 1999-2000.

He started off his career as a system engineer for Telkom South Africa, and then as research and development engineer for OTEX Concepts, designing telecoms and networking interface converters.

We met at the Intel offices on 14 Riverside Drive. He was soft-spoken and reflective and only two days from walking his fiancée down the aisle.

You are getting married at 43, first time?

No, actually not. Second time.

Let’s jump in the deep end, what will you do differently this second time?

Are you familiar with John Maxwell? He’s a writer, he once asked this businessman who was trying to improve his marriage that wasn’t going well, how many books he had read about relationships because he read at least one business book a month.

The businessman said he hadn’t read any in his life because he had never seen the need to. You can’t expect to excel in anything if you don’t read up on it. Men these days don’t read about relationships.

So you are going back in a second time with theories from books?

And a lot of experience from my previous marriage that lasted 14 years.

What is the one thing you did wrong in your previous marriage?

(Chuckle) As me, we can be very stubborn, can’t we? We want to have our way all the time and this ends up straining the partners. But our way isn’t always the best. It’s things like this that make a difference.

Success in any relationship, I have been reading on this, is kindness and forgiveness. It’s about being intentional, in business as in social life.

I have done half-marathons for many years now, and being intentional is waking up whether it’s cold or not to run because you have a goal to achieve.

Where did you guys meet?

In church; Karen Vineyard Church.

What, you sing in the church choir?

(Laughs) No. We are born-again and we were both attending discipleship course. She works in a programme that supports youth living with HIV. She has a real heart for people and all this stuff she does with communities comes from who she is.

So you work in a country with beautiful weather, and people, will be walking your bride down the aisle in a few days, what could you be struggling with right now?

I’d like to get fit again. Back when I was in South Africa, we would do half-marathons every other weekend. I want to go back to that level of fitness after the injury I nurse now - a pulled hamstring.

Running helps keep me humble because when you stand with other runners in a race, and you look around you and it doesn’t matter that you are a GM because in the line-up are such diverse people; from janitors to CEOs.

Running equalises everybody, doesn’t matter where you are from or who you are. What matters is your determination to finish and determination helps me to stay real with whatever I put into life or business.

What is your greatest regret in life?

(Thinks) When you go through years in school and you don’t take things as seriously as you should. If you put in more when you are younger, you have a much stronger foundation.

It also took me a while to get to a place where I can make a difference in the lives of other people. This is not a corporate spiel but not many companies can focus on bottom lines while also making a difference in people’s lives like this company.

What do you find yourself struggling with when it comes to your faith?

Let me turn it around, it’s not a struggle for me but it saddens me how often, as Christians, many of us refuse to live out of our faith as a result of which, we can be very judgemental against other non-faithfuls. We should be able to be real about forgiveness etc. I’m talking about showing grace.

As Christians there is always a question of how to balance what we feel we have to do, you know our calling? I’m yet to have the clarity on what my calling is.

I’m currently involved in men’s mission programmes, I believe if we can help men be clear on what they are destined to do, most aspects of their lives will fall into place.

I was born at five and half months, I wasn’t even meant to survive and I believe that I survived for a reason, that reason is yet to be clear to me.

Do you sometimes find your faith spilling over into how you run Intel?

Yes in the sense that it’s about running it ethically, we would rather walk away if we have to instead of doing it the wrong way.

What limitations does your faith present to you as a GM?

Like I said, you have to be intentional in saying I have to do things the same way. We are yet to come to frustrations as a result.

When have you ever fallen off the faith-wagon, you know, back-slid?

I wouldn’t call it that necessarily; I think the difference is when we get to a point where we allow for life to happen. At some point in my life, I was married to the job, didn’t get a balance, didn’t have time to put in anything.

Quite often, as men, we get our identity from what we achieve, not wrong as long as we apply it the right way. Trick is to find that balance.

When was the last time you really questioned God?

On a weekly basis. Sometimes things happen that we don’t understand. But I have never questioned His existence.

What do you fear most?

(Long pause) Not leaving a legacy. It’s not even about the world knowing who you were, but it’s leaving something behind that people can derive hope and inspiration from.

What’s your greatest insecurity?

(Very long pause) That’s a good question. (Pause) Uhm…what am I insecure about? Hmm...It’s not insecurity, it’s rather, my personality, but I’m introverted.

I don’t mind public speaking but in a big party with many people, I’d rather sit in a small group and engage in deeper meaningful discussions. I don’t do small talk, I feel uncomfortable because it’s often superficial.

So you are a deep person?

Not quite but I’d rather have quality discussions.

Kids?

None.

At 43, does the fact that you have none perturb you?

No. We were not blessed with any. It’s not something that I would say perturbs me. No.

Do you think you will be a good father at your age?

Yes! I mean I adore kids. I think they really enrich one’s life.

You are a serious and reflective guy, but who is the kid in you?

(Smiles) I think all men are kids. My fiancée says I have a man-cave, which is this room where I keep my toys, mostly camping gear.

I love camping. Together [with fiancée] we recently did a two-month drive from here to South Africa. That’s about 16,000kms. We camped mostly, it was an incredible experience.

What did you learn about your fiancée during this trip?

She did one leg of the trip, friends and family came for the other leg but I learnt that we are more similar than I had thought, that we are both determined people.

Another thing, we read a lot of books together and discussions on marriage relationship and realised that if we approached things with a mind-set - if wanting to change we can get further together.

What did you learn about her that least impressed you?

Not about her necessarily but I wish I recognised the value of learning from other people’s mistakes earlier.

Hey, good luck with the wedding this weekend, I wish you a happy marriage.

Thank you very much.