Management Archives

Build Relationships With Your Competitors: A Win-Win

What’s your approach to business competition? Should you build relationships with your competitors? When Satya Nadella took over as Microsoft’s CEO in 2014, he changed the way the company looked at its competitors. He saw competitor collaboration as a way to encourage innovation, benefitting the industry as a whole. In Hit Refresh, he tells the story and shares three principles of strategic partnerships. Read more to learn about Nadella’s approach to competitors and how it contributed to the transformation of Microsoft.

Creating Psychological Safety in the Workplace

Would you say that your organization has a safe working environment? Why is it important to ensure psychological safety in the workplace? Safe work cultures prioritize learning and critical thinking over profit and end results. Creating psychological safety in the workplace starts with fostering an environment where employees feel like they can take risks when interacting with others without fearing negative consequences. With this in mind, here’s how to cultivate a sense of psychological safety in the workplace.

Returning to Work After the Pandemic: Employer Challenges

What are some challenges of returning to work after the pandemic? How is the workforce changing post-pandemic? Returning to work after the pandemic is proving difficult, not just for employees, but also for employers impacted by the labor shortage. Businesses looking to bring workers back to the office face two challenges: a worker shortage, and changed expectations and priorities among the workers they currently employ. Keep reading to learn how companies are dealing with the challenges of returning to work post-pandemic.

Jobs After the Pandemic: Acknowledging a Changed Workforce

How are jobs after the pandemic different? How has the workforce changed? What can companies do to accommodate these changes? Acknowledging how the pandemic has fundamentally changed the workforce will lead to both happier workers and a more adaptable team. To retain current workers or hire new ones, companies should allow for more autonomy, acknowledging that less supervision doesn’t mean less productivity. Keep reading to learn more about how jobs, hiring, and the entire workforce are changing post-pandemic.

Cross-Team Collaboration: An Essential Key to Innovation

How often do people from different teams in your company work together? Do they communicate effectively? When Satya Nadella became CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he discovered why the company had fallen behind the pack in terms of innovation. One of the barriers he identified was the lack of collaboration and communication among the various teams in the company. Continue reading to find out how Nadella cultivated cross-team collaboration at Microsoft and to learn seven tips for better cross-team communication.

At Microsoft, Diversity and Inclusion Equal Innovation

What difference do diversity and inclusion make for Microsoft? What could these values do for your company? Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella can be seen as a diversity success story: an Indian immigrant who was able to rise through the ranks of Microsoft to eventually become its CEO. In his book Hit Refresh, he discusses Microsoft’s diversity and inclusion efforts under his leadership and why he has these values. Read more to learn how diversity can help a company do new things.

How to Improve Decision-Making in the Workplace

How are decisions made in your organization? Is it ever a good idea to let employees question the leader’s decisions? In most organizations, key decisions are made by team leaders and executed by lower-rank employees. Decisions made at the top are almost never questioned or scrutinized. According to Adam Grant, the author of Think Again, team leaders should not only share their decisions, but also the entire decision-making process they used. With this in mind, here’s how to improve decision-making in the workplace by introducing transparency to the process.

Satya Nadella: Leadership Revolves Around These 6 Principles

As a leader, should you think short-term or long-term? What leadership principle is essential to innovation and competitiveness? For Satya Nadella, leadership involves six key principles. Much of his book Hit Refresh focuses on how he defines good leadership. His advice is helpful to anyone who wishes to become an effective and inspiring leader, regardless of their industry. Keep reading to learn Nadella’s leadership principles and his priorities as CEO.

How Satya Nadella Changed Microsoft’s Culture in 4 Steps

What was Microsoft’s corporate culture like when Satya Nadella became CEO? Specifically, what did he do to improve it? When Satya Nadella took over as CEO of Microsoft in 2014, he believed that the company had lost its soul and was no longer representative of its original core values. He adopted a four-tiered approach to rejuvenate that soul. Keep reading to learn how Satya Nadella changed Microsoft’s culture.

Leading With Empathy: Why Listening to Employees Matters

How important is it for a leader to have empathy? How can a leader let employees know that their needs matter? Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella believes that empathy is central to good leadership. In his book Hit Refresh, he argues that leaders must continually solicit employee feedback and listen to their points of view with sincere caring. Keep reading to understand Nadella’s approach to leading with empathy.