Sunday, 9 February 2014

New Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella's calming, collegial style sparks hope - Financial Express







Satya Nadella has become only the third leader in Microsoft's 38-year history, after founder Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. (AP)Satya Nadella has become only the third leader in Microsoft's 38-year history, after founder Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. (AP)


SummarySatya Nadella's style is in stark contrast to blustery, passionate approach employed by Steve Ballmer.



It was a fleeting moment once the camera had gone off, but some say it's indicative of the leadership style Satya Nadella brings to his new job as CEO of Microsoft Corp.


Nadella's impromptu town hall webcast had interrupted business meetings between Microsoft employees and outside partners at the company's Executive Briefing Center in Redmond, Washington. Hours earlier, he had been named only the third leader in company history. When the brief webcast was over, he didn't want to hog the limelight.


''If you have to get back to (a meeting) because it's more interesting or important, please...,'' Nadella said as the town hall transitioned into a light reception.


The gesture is just one example of Nadella's calming, collegial style, which stands in stark contrast to the blustery, passionate, rally-the-troops approach employed by Microsoft's previous CEO, Steve Ballmer.


Experts on leadership say the change in tone is a necessary cultural shift for a mature company transitioning into new businesses while letting go of past successes and missed opportunities.


''It's very symbolic,'' says Suresh Kotha, a professor at the University of Washington's Foster School of Business in Seattle. ''I think that sends a very strong message, that work is important.''


''He's saying `I'm here to help you, I'm humble, I'm willing to listen,''' Kotha says. ''Symbolically I think it's very important to see he's separating himself from Steve Ballmer.''


Ballmer is known for his larger-than-life displays of emotion. At his farewell address to Microsoft employees in September, he high-fived and hugged audience members, pumped his fists in the air, and even shed tears as the popular 1987 song ''(I've Had) The Time of My Life'' played on the sound system. In a video of the event widely viewed on YouTube, he screams: ''You work for the greatest company in the world!''


Observers still remember Ballmer's intense competitiveness. At a 2009 company meeting at Seattle's Safeco field, he pretended to stomp on an iPhone he snatched from a Microsoft employee. During a public Q&A in 2012, he slammed Google's Android mobile operating system as ''wild'' and ''uncontrolled.''


Compare that to Nadella's comments





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