Name: Pamela Tondreau

Category: In-House: Innovative Leadership

Firm/Company: Cypress Semiconductor Corp.

Title: Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President of Human Resources

Time in Position: Since 2016

What was your route to the top?

I started at a large law firm and was trained in both corporate and litigation areas. I went in-house with Hewlett-Packard and spent 13 years there with increased levels of responsibility and was able to work with exceptional executives who taught me how to keep the business needs in the forefront of all legal decisions. Being a part of HP taught me that there is always a business solution for a legal problem—work closely with your business partners and you will arrive at the best result for the company. No one wants to take on unnecessary risk. I did not realize until I left HP that there was a lack of diversity in Silicon Valley. I worked with a female CEO, general counsel and multiple female division presidents, and our chairman of the board was a woman … it taught me to look outside my own space to see what the rest of the area looked like.

What keeps you up at night?

The ability to keep key talent—the continuous need to change positions and rotate responsibilities so top employees are challenged and rewarded. Remember that employees are not fungible—they are living, breathing individuals who bring their own set of pluses and minuses to your organization.

What is the best leadership advice you've given or received, and why do you think it was effective?

Be kind to one another. If you want your employees to give their all to their employer—as their leader you must be kind and compassionate and support them in their nonwork lives as well as their work lives.

Looking back, what do you wish you had known when you started out in the legal profession?

That there is rarely a right answer—everything is a shade of gray—do your best, be willing to change your advice and admit that another path now looks better.

What is the most valuable career advice anyone has ever given you?

You can't listen if you're speaking.