Q&A Part 1: Cisco's John Chambers at company's 20-year mark

Computerworld - John Chambers, CEO of Cisco Systems Inc., talked about Cisco's 20th anniversary during the WorldWide Analyst Conference in San Jose this week. The actual anniversary of Cisco's founding in 1984 by two Stanford University scientists is tomorrow. Since that time, Cisco has grown from a company whose first income came from the sale of a single router into a $22 billion global networking equipment powerhouse with 35,000 employees in 259 cities around the world.
Chambers joined Cisco in 1991 as senior vice president of worldwide sales and operations and was named CEO in 1995. He spoke in his San Jose office with Computerworld's Matt Hamblen about Cisco's direction, including initiatives in data center technology, as well as lessons learned from the IT downturn and the importance for large corporations to give back to the community.
This is part 1 of a two-part interview. Part 2 is also available online.
At 20 years since its founding, you said Cisco had reached adulthood. What is the next step for this young adult? We've been pretty successful over the last 20 years. But this is usually a point in life where people can go one way or another. Our goal clearly is to focus on how do we take our company to the next level. We tend to make statements not for sound bites, but because we intend to do them. We set aggressive goals. We are trying to build a company that is not only built to last, but to lead.
Leadership means holding the No. 1 position in the categories that you go into. We have dreams and aspirations of being perhaps one of the most successful companies but also the best at giving back, and these are not mutually exclusive. I would argue you want an environment that is good at giving, whether it's in terms of the country where you do business or around the world, your attitude towards customers or your attitude towards your employees.
Where do you get that missionary attitude? My parents are both doctors, and I think you learn early on in life to set your goals high. Education was an equalizer in their minds. Giving back is equally as important. First, it's the right thing to do, and, second, it feels good.
You talked in the last quarterly report conference call about the coming competition from Asian companies. What is happening there and why? Well, first of all, competition is very good for you. I learned that the hard way at IBM and Wang.