Satya Nadella email to employees on first day as CEO

Post by gaius » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 10:17 PM UTC

fooqux wrote: post #14

sjg007 wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It is humbling because you are elected by a group of your peers to lead. It also gives implicit credit to all the people that helped make him successful. Leadership is not zero sum and it doesn't follow specific rules. If anything the rules of promotion are codified by practice and not necessarily logical and prescribed but in general most people aspire to be fair and merit based.

> It is humbling because you are essentially elected by a group of your peers to lead. I don't understand this. It would be more humbling if, being at the top of your game and fully expecting to get the job, you were turned down for the CEO position. Or they demote you to a lower position. /That/ would be humbling. You're humlbed when you suddenly are forced to re-evaluate your self-worth after it's made clear it doe…

Post by amaks » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 10:32 PM UTC

swalsh wrote: post #28

legutierr wrote: post #9

> Today is a very humbling day for me. The first sentence of the email, statement that seems entirely appropriate given the circumstances. Nonetheless, I find it curious that we expect people who reach the highest levels of accomplishment to describe those accomplishments as humbling. It seems natural to us for someone promoted to the heights of their profession, such as Satya Nadella in this case, or the winner of a…

He is a man in charge of the lives of thousands of people. According to wikipedia there are 100k employees. As a Microsoft platform developer myself, I too am somewhat beholden to his decisions. He needs to find a balance between making the world a better place while at the same time ensuring some sense of stability for the people who have put their trust in the company. Humbling seems like the right word.

Post by seunosewa » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 10:40 PM UTC

gaius wrote: post #42

gregschlom wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Are you American? I was wondering about this too. As a Frenchman, I had the same reaction as you, but I think Americans care a lot about this. I've been told for example that in the US it would be completely impossible for a president to be elected if he didn't had a solid marriage and family. I find those cultural differences fascinating

I wonder how long that will go on being true. It was once the case that you had to have served in the military too, even if only as a reservist (Bush II). But Clinton was a draft dodger and Obama prefers to send in the drones. One day America will elect a woman president, then a gay president, then a lesbian president.

Post by vacri » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 10:48 PM UTC

sfermigier wrote: post #4

"Who am I? I am 46. I’ve been married for 22 years and we have 3 kids." -> Who cares?

Post by jmulho » Tue, Feb 04, 2014, 11:09 PM UTC

seunosewa wrote: post #45

gaius wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wonder how long that will go on being true. It was once the case that you had to have served in the military too, even if only as a reservist (Bush II). But Clinton was a draft dodger and Obama prefers to send in the drones. One day America will elect a woman president, then a gay president, then a lesbian president.

Homophobic people are less scared of lesbians. They "can understand" why women would want to be with women. So I'd bet that the US will have a lesbian president before a gay male president.