How empathy became a bottom-line value at Microsoft
The appointment of Satya Nadella as Microsoft CEO marked a clear shift to modern leadership in the corporate world. Nadella placed care and a growth mindset at the cornerstone of his leadership style. Under Nadella, the culture at Microsoft would be rebuilt from the ground up.
In 2019 Nadella announced Microsoft would be rolling out a new management framework for all 16,000 leaders across the company. Centred around having a growth mindset, Microsoft’s Model-Coach-Care framework represented a break from the past and embedded a leadership approach across the entire organisation focused on driving cultural change.
Model-Coach-Care represents how Microsoft views the role of leaders. Essentially, they deliver success through empowerment and accountability via role modelling, coaching and caring.
Satya Nadella has said that ideas excite him while empathy grounds and centres him. As CEO, Nadella openly shared his view that integrating the head and heart in his leadership would drive the change needed in Microsoft’s culture.
The success of his approach has been profound and Microsoft’s growth trajectory under Nadella has been well reported. Microsoft proudly promotes empathy as a bottom-line value leading to happier employees, increased customer satisfaction, greater profits and a stronger brand.