Satya Nadella’s Email to His Employees on his First Day as CEO of Microsoft

UNIT -II

Satya Nadella’s Email to His Employees on his First Day as CEO of Microsoft

About Satya Nadella:

            Satya Narayana Nadella was born in 1967 in Hyderabad and was educated in the Hyderabad Public School. He pursued BE in electronic engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology, Manipal. He then moved to the US to study MS (Computer Science) from the University of Wisconsin. His career took off when he became a member of the technology staff in Sun Microsystems and then got a job offer from Microsoft where he worked his way up the ranks and on 4 February 2014, he was appointed CEO of Microsoft.

Introduction: After taking over as the new CEO, Nadella sent an email to the Microsoft employees. The email is a warm and friendly one in which he introduces himself  to the employees and also reveals his passion and dedication. It is an inspirational call to his co-workers to do the best they can. Nadella talks about the company's vision and the direction it envisages to move in.

Q1. What are the three factors that Nadella lists as his formative influences?

Q2. What inspires Nadella?

Ans.   In the letter introducing himself to the employees, Nadella says that he is 46 and has been married for 22 years. He has 3 kids and his ideology and thoughts have been shaped by his family and his overall life experiences. His acquaintances say that he is defined by his curiosity and thirst for learning. He buys more books than he could read and regularly signs up for several online courses to keep himself updated. He strongly believes that if we are not learning new things, we stop doing great and useful things. Hence family, curiosity and thirst  for knowledge  are the three factors that made Satya Nadella what he was.

Q3. Why did Nadella choose to work at Microsoft?

Q4. Why did Nadella believe that Microsoft was the best company in the world?

Ans.  Nadella says that he, like most people, joined Microsoft to change the world through technology that empowers people to do amazing things. The Microsoft team proved it in the past and is continuing to do the same. He says that talent, resources and perseverance are the foundation on which a company attains great heights, and concludes by saying that Microsoft has all of this in plenty.

Nadella believes that Microsoft is uniquely situated to achieve its goal of being a tech leader in the coming decades as well, because it can harness the power of software as well as hardware, through its acquisition of Nokia.

Microsoft is the only company with the history and continued focus in building platforms and ecosystems that create broad opportunity.

Q5. What did Nadella predict for the future of technology?

Q6. In which direction is technology evolving, according to Nadella?

Q7. How will evolving technology make an impact on the lives of common people? How can Microsoft contribute to this?

Q8. What are the unique selling points of Microsoft, according to Nadella?

Ans. Nadella forecasts cloud computing, machine learning, insights from big data and increasingly ubiquitous technology with connected devices as the future, and says that Microsoft will have to evolve to keep pace with these emerging technologies and trends.

Microsoft’s goal in its early years was to have a PC in every home and on every desk. This goal has largely been achieved in the developed world. Today, the world has more or less moved away from PCs and instead favors Mobile and Clouds-Computing devices.

Nadella believes that going forward, Microsoft must focus on innovations which empower people to do more and improve their lives.

Nadella believes that Microsoft is uniquely situated to achieve its goal of being a tech leader in the coming decades as well, because it can harness the power of software as well as hardware, through its acquisition of Nokia.

Q9. How does Nadella try to motivate his employees in his letter?

Q10. What will help employees find meaning in their work?

Ans. Nadella believes that Microsoft is a great place to work in because it believes in empowering its employees to innovate.

Nadella says that employees commonly underestimate their role in a company, and overestimate the role of others. He says that each employee must work towards innovating technology which will make people’s lives better and easier, and this way, they can also find meaning and joy in their work.

Q11. What is Nadella’s strategy for Microsoft as it steps into the new decade?

Q12. Briefly describe Nadella’s thoughts on innovation and its importance.

Q13. What philosophy is at the heart of Nadella’s vision for Microsoft?

Ans.  This is a critical time for the industry and for Microsoft.  Nadella wants Microsoft to gear up for the increasing competition and prove itself as a strong rival to its competitors like it was a decade back. 

Nadella emphasises on the need to priorotise innovation  that helps to empower users and organisations to ‘do more’. This starts with clarity of purpose and sense of mission that lead to imagine the impossible and deliver it. All the employees need to do their best work, lead and help drive cultural change. Each of the employees should find meaning in his work.

The Microsoft team proved it in the past and must continue to do the same. He says that talent, resources and perseverance are the foundation on which a company attains great heights, and concludes by saying that Microsoft has all of this in plenty.

Nadella emphasises that with every new device or new service launch in the future, Microsoft should bring about more and more innovation. He envisions a bright future for Microsoft.