Over the past decade, Lisa Su has led a remarkable business turnaround.

Su, the head of chipmaker Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), has grown her company's stock price by nearly 50-fold since assuming her CEO role in 2014. She's built AMD into a $210 billion industry giant that currently sits between top rivals Intel and Nvidia, in terms of market capitalization.

She's done that, at least partially, by setting extremely high expectations for the people around her. "People are really motivated by ambitious goals," Su, 55, told Time on Tuesday, in a story that named her the publication's 2024 CEO of the Year. "The previous strategy of, 'Hey, let's just do a little bit better here and there' — that's actually less motivational."

Sometimes, that means pushing engineers to create technology that doesn't yet exist — something Su's team successfully pulled off with the development of its "chiplet" architecture in 2017, Time reported.

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Other times, it could mean working long hours and setting an example for others to put in the same amount of dedication. Executives at AMD, including Su, occasionally review memos sent after midnight to prepare for early-morning calls and attend meetings on weekends, Time reported.

Yet despite the company leadership's ultra-busy schedules, the bulk of AMD's employees enjoy "good work-life balance," according to more than 400 reviews on Glassdoor. Anonymous reviews on the website cite a strong company culture and benefits package, but "low compensation compared to Nvidia and Intel." Su has a 95% approval rating as AMD's CEO from those Glassdoor reviews.

"I don't believe leaders are born" said Su, noting that her own career has been shaped by grit and unrelenting drive. "I believe leaders are trained."

'If you want to do extraordinary things, it shouldn't be easy'

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang — who, incidentally, is Su's cousin — also says he's a tough person to work for, and he doesn't plan on changing.

Huang is "demanding," a "perfectionist" and "not easy to work for," employees at Nvidia's Santa Clara, California, headquarters told CBS News' "60 Minutes" in April. Those descriptors fit him "perfectly," Huang said on the show.

"It should be like that. If you want to do extraordinary things, it shouldn't be easy," said Huang.

Both Nvidia and AMD are part of the artificial intelligence industry's fast-paced boom, providing tech companies with the computer chips they need to handle large amounts of AI training and processing. That industry is intense right now: AI professionals at companies like Amazon, Google and Microsoft feel pressure to overperform, telling CNBC in May that they're expected to aid in fast-paced rollouts with little time to learn about the models they're working on.

Despite their employees' all-nighters, tech CEOs tend to be respected for their dedication to progress and growth at their companies, leadership researcher Rainer Zitelmann wrote for CNBC Make It in 2020.

In Microsoft's early days, Bill Gates' employees described him as overbearing and a workplace bully. "[But] Gates knew better than any other entrepreneur how to inspire and motivate his staff to achieve a shared goal, while also giving them leeway to develop creatively," wrote Zitelmann.

Microsoft flourished, ultimately becoming one of the world's largest companies. After the company became well-established, Gates developed a sense of regret over his tough leadership style, he told students at Northern Arizona University's commencement ceremony last year.

"When I was your age, I didn't believe in vacations. I didn't believe in weekends. I didn't believe the people I worked with should either," said Gates. "Don't wait as long as I did to learn this lesson. Take time to nurture your relationships ... Take a break when you need to. Take it easy on the people around you when they need it, too."

Correction: This story has been updated to reflect that executives at AMD, including Su, occasionally review memos after midnight and attend meetings on weekends, according to Time.

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