Re-inventing Microsoft with Empathy | The Nebo Company

Since assuming the role as Microsoft’s CEO in February 2014, Satya Nadella has transformed the culture of one of the largest and most influential tech companies.  Microsoft has changed from an organization of “know-it-alls” protecting their fiefdoms to a company of “learn-it-alls” that has embraced the growth mindset and places empathy and diversity at the core of its culture and strategy.

Highlights of Nadella’s leadership approach and style include:

• He believes human beings are wired to have empathy, which is essential not only for creating harmony at work but also for making products that will resonate
• He draws inspiration and humility from his son Zain who was born with cerebral palsy
• His management worldview is deeply influenced by Stanford professor Carol Dweck and her book Mindset
• He emphasizes the kinds of soft skills that are often derided in the cutthroat world of corporate politics but are increasingly essential to performance
• He spent time shadowing Netflix CEO Reed Hastings to expand his leadership horizons

Nadella has made the organization’s culture a strategic differentiator. The results: a company that has increased the pace of innovation and its value by $250 billion. Read more in FastCompany’s profile of how, and why, he made culture a strategic priority, and what motivated his decision to place self-awareness and empathy at the core of his leadership style.

(Photo: “Satya Nadella” by Bhupinder Nayyar is licensed under CC by 2.0)