What we’re thinking
How will Satya replace Steve?
This week Satya Nadella has taken over the role of Microsoft CEO from Steve Ballmer. We’ll miss Steve – his opening 60 seconds at a Microsoft gathering many years back is still a YouTube favourite and we sometimes explore it with leaders when considering how we want our first 60-seconds to go. What do I want my audience to think, feel, and do? How do I plan for that – not just in what I say, but also how I am? How do I measure how it’s going? I was therefore particularly interested to read Nadella’s opening memo to all employees. Here’s a guy who’s well known within the company, having been there for 22 years, and so is ‘rising from the ranks’. One of his initial challenges is not only how to share his thoughts on future vision and strategy, but how to position himself as a leader. His decision to share a little background on himself, what inspires and motivates him – no doubt for a wider audience than Microsoft’s 100,000 employees – makes for interesting reading in terms of what was said, what wasn’t said, and it will be interesting to see how he handles his first 100 days in the hot seat. Somehow I think Satya won’t be leaping around the stage quite like Steve at the next Microsoft gathering but will make a strong impact in his own way.
Andrew Bidnell is a professional certified coach and an experienced consultant who founded InsideOut Consulting in 2006. The focus is on leadership and communication and, in particular, the challenge of engagement – of self and of others – to achieve maximum impact and fulfillment. He has worked internationally with 1,000+ leaders in the public, private and not-for-profit sectors, always seeking to facilitate, challenge, support and unlock potential that lies inside an individual, a community, an organisation, and bring that strength, passion and knowledge out for maximum impact.