He sees a lack of honesty being a major detriment not to just the character of a company but to its operations as well. In one of the most interesting areas of the interview, Mr. Huang discusses how he goes through the interview process at Nvidia. What he's looking for is a person passionate about what they are doing, sees the vision of where the company is going, and also is resilient to adversity enough to survive in a rapidly changing environment. He sees these three elements as absolutely essential to a person excelling in their role. His comment that he loves to hear that people love doing the work they are being considered for, that they have an innate passion for it. From the conversation with the interviewer it is clear he hires based on the skill level of the applicant, the fascination or passion they have with the Nvidia core product direction and vision, and how passionate they are about their roles there. Based on this subject area of the interview it is also very apparent that he believes passion in an employee can make them more resilient to adversity, and that adversity can be positive in many cases. The culture inside Nvidia is no doubt very open, honest and conflict-driven at times given these values. Yet, the conflicts are most likely positive as the character or culture of the company is managed to allow for these elements to be catalyst of growth. The interviewing process is also one where Mr. Huang looks for those employees who have a wonderment and fascination with not only the technologies but also the companies and eventually the customers using their systems. He calls this the ability to see the world through a child's eye, which encompasses the total value the company delivers and the entire process undertaken to produce products. All of these factors related to the hiring process also resonate with setting a transformational culture inside the organization.

In conclusion,...

He is doing that today with Nvidia, and creating a culture that looks at adversity not as something to be avoided, but as a challenge to be undertaken an overcome. This breeds a level of confidence and strength in any business, another sign of transformational leadership guiding the entire company. He also shows exceptional levels of maturity as a leader, looking at failure as a means to define the dark spaces around success. With all of these attributes, his role as a transformational leader, one capable of guiding a company through recessions and brutally shorty product lifecycles that computer graphics chips are so famous for, comes out clearly in the interview. All of this is unified with the exceptional level of humility and honesty he has, drawing allegories from being a waiter at a Denny's. This story resonated with the fact that intelligence, hard work and diligence can overcome nearly any obstacle. Leaders who bring this out in people succeed.
References

Steven a. Ballmer, the CEO of Microsoft, Meetings, Version 2.0, at Microsoft

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/business/17corner.html

John Chambers, CEO of Cisco, in a Near-Death Event, a Corporate Rite of Passage

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/08/02/business/02corner.html

William D. Green, chairman and C.E.O. Of Accenture, 68 Rules? No, Just 3 Are Enough http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/22/business/22corner.html

Jen-Hsun Huang, the president and chief executive of Nvidia, I'm Prepared for Adversity. I Waited Tables.

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/06/business/06corner.html

Aaron Levie, CEO and Founder of Box.net Always Keep a Few Tricks Up Your Sleeve

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/business/25corner.html?_r=1