Satya Nadella, CEO Microsoft, makes a powerful case for the importance of leadership in the path to global recovery. Speaking at a recent panel discussion hosted by The Australian Financial Review he said, “We as humans, irrespective of whether we are young or old, will always require human contact. To somehow think that because technology is enabling us to connect in spite of the constraints to think that this is the way we want to connect, is probably going to be wrong as a long-term prediction.”
Nadella suggested that, “In the immediate term I think this is where management and managers matter. We have a management framework…..which we started last year and it’s really helpful in this period we call it Model. Coach. Care. This is something that I have to practice and pretty much any one of the 18,000 managers in the company has to practice.”
He explained, “Model and coach are intuitive, but the thing that I feel is most relevant in this period is care. You can easily tell the people who feel most connected are people who are working for a leader, who cares and has a real sense of where they are coming from and cares about their well being. And so that I think is the real currency. Technology can help, but nothing can substitute for good leadership.”
Microsoft believes as a key part of establishing a growth mindset at scale that managers have an expectation and a responsibility to care through attracting and retaining great people, knowing each person’s capabilities and aspirations and investing in the growth of others.
🙋 How do leaders demonstrate they care about people in your experience? 🙋♀️
Best regards, Brian