Satya Nadella (Photo provided by Seattle Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce)
By Assunta Ng
Satya Nadella gave an interview to the Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce on Sept. 15 at the Westin Hotel. I was thrilled to see the first Asian American being the keynote speaker for the Chamber.
The program was more symbolic than substance. My friend also said she didn’t really get much out of it. I agreed. I didn’t learn anything new either after listening to his talk for half an hour.
So far, Satya has given one interview to the New York Times and none to the local media. However, a Microsoft manager said he is very engaged inside the company. He writes long memos to his people and interacts with them often. Outside his company, he doesn’t really do much in public relations locally. The Chamber interview was his first time in our state. Over 1,000 people showed up to see him.
A colleague who knows Satya said he is always calm. He doesn’t shout like his predecessors, Steve Balmer, or show disdain immediately like Bill Gates toward staff’s impractical ideas. What makes Satya so calm is perhaps, he has three children and one of them has special needs. That’s how he learned about patience, compassion, and understanding rather than yelling, slighting, and being arrogant.
I didn’t learn much after the program. But I am still proud of the man, an immigrant from India, who is now leader of Microsoft. This was unimaginable a decade ago, and even five years ago, at Microsoft. (end)
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