Hit Refresh

by Satya Nadella

Unlike the stereotype, I was actually not academically that great. I didn’t go to the elite Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs) that have become synonymous with building Silicon Valley. Only in America would someone like me get the chance to prove himself rather than be typecast based on the school I attended. I suppose that was true for earlier waves of immigration as well and will be just as true for new generations of immigrants.

India's HR bias

In every meeting, don’t just listen—make it possible for others to speak so that everyone’s ideas come through. Inclusiveness will help us become open to learning about our own biases and changing our behaviors so we can tap into the collective power of everyone in the company. We need not just value differences but also actively seek them out, invite them in. And as a result, our ideas will be better, our products will be better, and our customers will be better served.

Small change for effective listening in productive meetings.

Leadership can be a lonely business. It can also be a noisy place. When a leader steps into the arena, especially in today’s loud echo chamber of social media, he or she can be tempted to make decisions that will result in instant gratification. But we have to look beyond the temporal, discounting what someone will write in this moment’s tweet or tomorrow’s news.

Hazelwood speaks of trust as being like holding a small bird in your hand. If you hold it too tightly, you will crush the bird; hold it too loosely, and it will fly away.

Would you prefer to have $100,000 today or be a millionaire in 1920? Many would love to be a millionaire in the previous century, but your money then could not buy lifesaving penicillin, a phone call to family on the other side of the country, or many of the benefits of innovations we take for granted today.

Taking technology for granted?

Unfortunately, in many underserved parts of the world, public and private attention is focused on attracting Silicon Valley companies rather than on growing local tech entrepreneurs. Successful entrepreneurs in developing nations often tell me they can’t even get meetings with their president or prime minister. Yet those same heads of state routinely meet with Western CEOs like me, looking for very near-term, foreign direct investment.