The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft’s Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone
Discover the inspiring, true-life tale of the Indian boy who became the CEO of Microsoft.
Some words lose their meaning due to repetition. "Globalization" is clearly an illustration of this. We typically link this term with abstract, large-scale processes and movements. However, the personal stories of the people who shape our increasingly interconnected world still need to be improved.
Few biographies reflect the realities of a global life and Satya Nadella's. From a childhood spent dreaming of cricketing greatness in India in the 1980s to his spectacular climb through the ranks of Microsoft in the United States, Nadella's tale is a fascinating snapshot of the world we live in now.
However, it is also a highly intimate depiction of a fascinating person. As Nadella points out, his business acumen and leadership abilities are grounded in everyday life. Whether on the cricket pitch or as a father raising a crippled son, his perspective has always been shaped by his personal experiences.
In the following summary, you will learn.
What can entrepreneurs learn from cricketers?
Why is empathy so crucial in leadership and
Why automation may not inevitably imply a jobless future.
1. Nadella grew up in India, and cricket was his passion.
Nadella was born in Hyderabad, India in 1967. His father was a civil worker, while his mother was a scholar of Sanskrit, the ancient language used in many of the country's holy scriptures. However, as a young boy, Nadella had no interest in politics or religion. What he truly cared about was cricket.
But his parents had different plans for him. In fact, his father displayed a poster of Karl Marx in his son's room, hoping to inspire him to become a brilliant economist and scholar. His mother responded with a poster depicting the Indian goddess of fortune and prosperity, hoping to remind him of the importance of spiritual fulfillment. Nadella was having none of it. His favorite poster? A blown-up photograph of Hyderabadi cricketer ML Jaisimha!
Nadella's obsession with the sport gradually became a matter of genuine concern. His parents wondered what he would do if his ambition of becoming a professional cricketer failed. Nadella's response was banking. His father wasn't happy about it either, telling him one day, "You've got to get out of Hyderabad. Otherwise, you're going to ruin yourself.
That made Nadella think. At 18, he dusted up his old Sinclair ZX Spectrum personal computer, which his father had given him three years before. As he experimented with the gadget, his thoughts shifted to engineering, software, and the enormous promise of personal computing. He enrolled in the Manipal Institute of Technology to study electrical engineering, graduating in 1988.
Nadella's goal of playing professional cricket stopped while he was still studying. At Manipal, he became acquainted with entrepreneurial colleagues whose enthusiasm was infectious. Nadella gave up cricket after just one match for the Manipal College team and decided to pursue a career in technology.
2. Swapping the balmy hills of Hyderabad for the frigid plains of Wisconsin altered Nadella's worldview.
After finishing his schooling at Manipal, Nadella found himself at a crossroads. His two options were to remain in his comfort zone of his native India or to follow his father's advice and leave in pursuit of greener pastures.
Initially, the decision appeared simple. As a young man, Nadella was heavily inspired by his mother's spiritual philosophy, which maintained that doing your own thing in your own time was always desirable. So, without any pressure to reach for the heights, he was tempted to accept an offer from a reputable Bombay institution to enroll in its master's program.
However, fate had other plans for him. Despite his expectations, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee also gave him a spot in its computer science department. Nadella filed his immigration application with little expectation, knowing that his chances of getting a visa as an Indian were minimal. But then he learned that he had been awarded the visa. That was definitely a sign! Accepting that there was no way out, he began packing as many sweaters as he could in 1988, preparing to relocate to frigid Wisconsin.
After settling in, Nadella got increasingly interested in theoretical computer science. The question that concerned him was discovering the limitations of what computers could accomplish. He studied graph coloring in his dissertation, a branch of computational complexity theory concerned with assigning labels to graphs under particular conditions.
To see how this works, picture coloring the 50 states of the United States so that no two bordering states are the same color. Graph coloring is all about determining the fewest colors required in such a setting, and Nadella grew obsessed with solving these types of issues quickly and effectively.
Nadella graduated from the University of Wisconsin in 1990. His career at Microsoft was about to start.
3. Starting at Microsoft, Nadella prepared himself for leadership.
Nadella first visited Microsoft's campus in Redmond, Washington, in the fall of 1992. There was a buzz about the place. Work on Windows 95, the most significant consumer technology product ever created, was underway. Bill Gates was still unknown to the general public, but it was evident that something important would occur. Nadella came just in time to see the project's first results.
Nadella was recruited to work on the Windows NT operating system. While Nadella was pleased about helping get the new system off the ground, he also had other intentions. His job was to go around the country urging customers, most of whom were businesses, to convert to Windows NT. He wanted to attend business school.
His opportunity arrived when he was accepted into the University of Chicago's MBA program. However, there was a catch: Nadella did not want to endanger his job at Microsoft. So he kept his enrollment in the part-time school a secret, worked a five-day week in Redmond, and went to Chicago on weekends!
This gamble paid off. Looking back, Nadella sees these two years as highly formative. He had not only been directly involved in the launch of an exciting new operating system, but he had also refined his planning and leadership abilities. What he learned during the MBA created the groundwork for his quick ascension through the levels of Microsoft later on.
By 1994, Nadella had earned his MBA and received his first managerial assignment: directing the development of the "Tiger Server," a breakthrough video-on-demand (VOD) service. More than a decade before Netflix, Microsoft was creating the technology that would enable it. This was also Nadella's first leadership experience.
Even better, his efforts and determination were starting to pay off. At this point, he received one of Steve Ballmer's famed high-fives. That was a promising sign. Being spotted by Ballmer, who became Microsoft's second CEO in 2000, shows he was already on the first rung of the company's career ladder!
4. To successfully create Microsoft's cloud technology, Nadella instilled trust in his staff.
In January 2011, Steve Ballmer asked Nadella to manage Microsoft's new cloud technology initiative, "Server and Tools Business" (STB). By this point, cloud technology had already grown into a multibillion-dollar industry, with Amazon grabbing the lion's share. Nadella's task? Reversing this will put Microsoft in a prime position. It was a hugely ambitious project that required exceptional management skills.
But first, let's look at cloud technology. It is a distributed computing system that runs on a network of servers. This is critical since relying on a single server causes the entire system to break down.
Imagine a search engine receiving thousands of distinct questions each second. It would shortly fail if the engine were hosted on a single server. Cloud computing solves this problem. A widely utilized search engine is only possible when computing labor is distributed across a network of computers. That's what makes cloud technology so revolutionary.
And that's where Nadella stepped in. His objective was to optimize Microsoft's goods and technology to provide a hybrid solution for those requiring both a private on-premise server and a publicly available cloud. So, how did he go about this?
His top aim was to build trust and group cohesion among his team members. These elements needed to be more robust when Nadella came over. Each leader was isolated from the others, and their communication had utterly broken down. Nadella started by getting down with each of them and asking them to share their worries and challenges. That small deed paved the way for a more open and trusting work environment.
The outcome of Nadella's strategy spoke for itself. Within six years, Microsoft's cloud technology was worth $20 billion.
5. Cricket taught Nadella the fundamentals of leadership.
Nadella may have given up on his childhood dream of being a professional cricketer, but the sport remained to motivate him throughout his career at Microsoft. In reality, cricket taught him the three values that he now lives by.
The first rule is to compete when feeling intimidated. As a teenager playing on his school cricket team, Nadella faced an unknown team that included several burly Australians. As they warmed up, Nadella and his teammates were astounded by their opponents. They pondered how they were going to beat them.
Their coach was having none of it. He positioned Nadella next to one of these influential Australians and instructed him to examine his batting technique. Sure enough, he recognized this guy had both talents and flaws. It was a profound lesson, and Nadella has never forgotten the value of putting aside his admiration for opponents and simply competing.
Rule two is simple: always put your team first. Nadella used to play beside a phenomenal bowler whose abilities outshone the rest of the team. After being replaced by another bowler during a game, this outstanding player chose to skip the event. When the ball came to him, he sank his hands into his pockets and pretended to ignore it. Needless to say, the team suffered. What's the lesson? Raw talent is only sufficient if you are willing to collaborate with others; success is dependent on teamwork.
Rule three: get to know your teammates and utilize their skills. Nadella learned this during a game in which his bowling was subpar. When the captain noticed Nadella's confidence dwindling, he took over. He wasn't an excellent bowler, but he stuck with it until he took a wicket. At that point, he passed the ball back to Nadella. A display of trust gave Nadella a much-needed boost, and he took seven more wickets!
Applying these three rules outside of cricket has helped Nadella become the effective leader he is today. That simply shows how the most essential life lessons frequently come from unexpected places!
6. The birth of Nadella's kid made him a more compassionate leader.
Nadella's son, Zain, was born in August 1996. His arrival changed his parents' lives forever. Fatherhood, like cricket, has taught Nadella a vital lesson: some of life's issues are beyond simple solutions.
Zain suffered from "asphyxia in utero," a lack of oxygen in the womb that left him with lifelong problems. Following his birth, Nadella and his wife Anu endured months of tense trips to intensive care units, touch-and-go procedures, and restless nights.
It was a difficult moment, but it gave Nadella a better understanding of life's value and diversity's beauty. Nadella mentioned Zain and his other two children during his first annual speech as CEO of Microsoft. He told his audience how much he'd learned while attempting to meet their various demands and how fatherhood had made him more compassionate, impacting his business attitude.
That's hardly unexpected; the personal and professional merged with Zain's birth. Nadella's travels to hospitals have given him a new understanding of how technology can enhance and save lives. One visit to an intensive care unit in 2014, just after assuming his role as CEO of Microsoft, stood out. As Nadella entered the ward, he saw how many machines humming and beeping in the background were running Windows. Cloud technology enabled the hospital to care for his son!
It was a surprising surprise. Nadella recalls being overcome with a sense of responsibility. Life hinged on his work at Microsoft, and his responsibility was to set things right. Nadella became increasingly aware of how cloud technology may be leveraged to improve people's lives worldwide.
One startup, for example, utilizes the technology to build a solar system for rural Kenyans who live on less than $2 per day. This not only provides them with affordable electricity but also allows them to replace risky kerosene-powered generators. Even better, the initiative will enable users to create credit ratings, providing them access to credit!
7. When Nadella became the third CEO of Microsoft, he set out to find the company's spirit.
On February 4, 2014, Nadella became Microsoft's third CEO, succeeding Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer. It was a significant success, but there was one problem: the corporation he was now in control of needed to improve.
Why? At the time, the general view was that Microsoft was no longer as innovative as it once was. People switched from PCs to cellphones, and the Android and Apple operating systems were progressively edging Microsoft out of the market. The outlook within the corporation was similar. In the annual employee poll, most respondents thought Microsoft was going the wrong way and questioned its ability to innovate.
The figures emphasized such issues. Following decades of steady growth, the number of global PC shipments began to plateau as the smartphone revolution persisted. In 2013, 70 million PCs were supplied per quarter, compared to an astounding 350 million cell phones - a turnaround that would have been unthinkable ten years ago. Because each PC sold generated royalties for Microsoft, the company's bottom line also suffered.
Nadella faced a daunting task. So, how did he approach the enormous challenge of restoring Microsoft's position as the unquestioned king of computing? As with his first managerial task, leading the company's cloud project, he highlighted the importance of togetherness.
On July 10, 2016, Nadella emailed each employee outlining his vision for Microsoft's future. As he stated in that address, "We must all understand and embrace what only Microsoft can contribute to the world and how we can once again change the world." He suggested that the first step toward this goal was to adapt. That meant abandoning nostalgia for the days when the PC market was booming to address people's present demands, particularly their problems in navigating the rising sea of apps, social networks, and devices.
To do so, Nadella concluded that Microsoft needed to learn to listen to its customers. He scheduled customer visits during the company's annual retreat to speed up the process. On the first day, dozens of teams gathered with students, instructors, administrators, and managers from schools, colleges, hospitals, and enterprises. It was an excellent method; the only way to help someone solve a problem is to understand what the problem is!
8. Nadella feels that keeping your friends and foes near is valuable.
One of Microsoft's biggest concerns is competing with Apple, Google, and Amazon. The usual strategy would be to show no mercy in a full-fledged corporate battle. However, Nadella took a different course. Instead, he decided to contact his company's competitors and collaborate. He feels that this benefits not only Microsoft but the entire world.
Nadella initially gave the figurative peace pipe to Apple shortly after becoming CEO in 2014. At an annual Salesforce marketing event, Nadella took an iPhone out of his pocket and began discussing its unique characteristics. The audience was startled. Unsurprisingly, this was the first time a Microsoft CEO had publicly demonstrated an Apple product!
So, what exactly was he up to? The answer may be found in a close-up of Nadella's phone projected on a large screen. This wasn't just any iPhone. As Nadella illustrated, it was a smartphone running Microsoft software on Apple's flagship operating system, iOS. Combining the two, Nadella said, would result in significant synergy. Users could keep their phones and beloved Microsoft programs like Outlook, Skype, and Word, as well as a slew of new apps like OneNote and OneDrive.
Burying the hatchet with one of Microsoft's main adversaries was a wise decision, but it took time to build enough trust for the partnership to bloom. When Nadella took over at Microsoft, he said that the business was working on building Office for iOS. Following initial reluctance, Apple requested assistance from Microsoft in optimizing Office for its new iPad Pro.
Over time, wariness gave way to something more akin to friendliness. But, as Apple pointed out, Microsoft's greater openness truly sparked the two tech titans' collaboration. That's an excellent illustration of how Nadella helped the corporation find its spirit. After all, Microsoft was founded by Paul Allen, a hardware developer, and Bill Gates, a software developer, initially!
9. A balanced approach to automation gives businesses the best chance of success in the new economy.
People worldwide are concerned about the direction the global economy appears to be heading. Their primary concern is the impact of emerging technology on the job economy. Workers are growing increasingly apprehensive about the potential of losing their jobs as outsourcing and automation become more frequent.
According to several analysts, the real issue is not automation itself but rather the reality that more jobs are being mechanized out of existence than are being created. Daron Acemoglu, an MIT economist and special counselor to Microsoft on economic matters, believes a more balanced approach is necessary. Eliminating low-wage jobs can be beneficial, but only if replaced with more gratifying, higher-paying positions. However, employment will only improve if these two processes work together.
This is also Nadella's opinion. He believes that when firms automate employment, they must take responsibility and ensure that new skilled positions are created. Manning, South Carolina, is one example of a business that does just that. In 2017, Kent International, a local bicycle firm, relocated 140 jobs from China to the United States.
The reason the corporation was able to do so was simple: automating operations that were previously done by people reduced manufacturing costs. It allowed the company to relocate its production plant back home. Despite having outsourced employment, it also produced new jobs in the United States. Today, the company intends to create 40 new roles per year - suitable for a town as small as Manning! According to one manager at Kent International, "Many people believe that automation reduces job opportunities. It's just a different job, one that requires more ability."
Finally, Nadella encourages organizations to adopt a responsible automation strategy. While eliminating menial labor may reduce manufacturing costs, firms have a corporate duty to guarantee that automation does not lead to widespread unemployment.
Final Summary
Nadella's adventure began in Hyderabad, India, where he spent his adolescence playing cricket. His goals shifted after he met a group of entrepreneurial classmates in college. He took a risk and moved to the United States to further his studies after becoming increasingly attracted by emerging computing technologies. His perseverance and sympathetic leadership qualities led him to his position as Microsoft's third CEO.