As main sales responsible, Steve Ballmer was a key piece to build the foundations of what is the current Microsoft. Your energy and charisma They captivated Bill Gates when both coincided in the halls of the Harvard residence. A few years later, Bill Gates would claim him at his side to turn Microsoft into one of the more prosperous technological ones of the next four decades.
While it is true that his time as Microsoft CEO It cannot be considered of the brightest of the company Regarding productit was regarding the development of the company. As published FortuneBallmer tripled the annual income of Microsoft, and prepared the land for Satya Nadella to catapult the company to the place it occupies today, with a capitalization of 3.2 billion dollars.
However, unlike Bill Gates, Steve Ballmer is part of that exclusive company managers club that have been made Milmillonarios without founding the company which has made them a millionaire. According to the Forbes Millionaires ListBallmer’s fortune amounts to $ 121,400 million, surpassing his mentor and friend Bill Gates with 108.8 billion dollars. These are the five keys to Steve Ballmer that have led him to reach the business success.
You have to see the pitch
Steve Ballmer owns the NBA Los Angeles Clippers team, but since his university time he has been closely linked to team management, as Bill Gates recalled in his newly published book ‘Code Source: My beginnings‘in which he pointed out that Ballmer directed the University Soccer Club.
“If the CEO does not see the playing field, no one else can do it. The team may need to see it too, but the CEO really needs to see all the competitive space,” explained Steve Ballmer to Fortune in An interview 2013.
Ballmer let out The mobile telephony trainbut he focused on the climbing of his Cloud computing model anticipating what really made a difference a decade later. Following sports parallelism with the mythical Wayne Gretzky phrase: “I patino where the album will be, not where it has already been.”
Surround yourself with the best talent
While he was in charge of Microsoft, Ballmer surrounded himself with some of the best talents from Silicon Valleyas Steven Sinafskywho was in charge of Windows, or J. Allard, one of those responsible for the project Xbox will not be forgotten In a drawer. “We are better when we have very talented people with whom we also worked together,” said the millionaire to Fortune In 2013.
In An interview with The Wall Street Journal In 2009, Ballmer said that “to be dynamic”, companies should promote internal workers “70% or 80% of the time” and someone really committed to the project.
The manager said that, one of his favorite moments during the hiring process was when he asked the candidates “‘Tell me something you are proud.’ He could see the passion in his eyes,” said Ballmer.
Get it on everything and change your mind
Something that Steve Ballmer learned is that, in technology, everything changes very quickly and is necessary constantly rethink the land on which it is stepped on not to be suspended in a vacuum. It is something that also learned Steve Jobsrethink everything and change your mind when the evidence leaves no doubt.
“There was a time when people said that all the money was in the software; “Then someone will say: ‘Oh, the most important thing is advertising'”, alluding to the Google model. “The only certain thing is that the playing field is constantly changing,” said Ballmer.
Therefore, the important thing is know how to adapt to changesand not remain static. Something that came out very expensive to Kodak reference companies Like Nokia, or Blackberry.
Act in the short term, plan in the long term
One of Bill Gates’ greatest concerns at the head of Microsoft was to make a mistake and not be able to pay the payrolls of its employees. He said In an interviewIn 2017 with Ellen Degeneres. “I was always worried because the people who worked for me were older than me and had children, and always thought: What happens if they don’t pay us? Can I deal with the payroll?”
Gates spread that obsession with his friend Ballmer, as well as his strategy to prevent this fear from conditioning his decisions. The solution was to have a vision long -term optimistic, but a more pessimistic attitude immediately.
“To do well the important things that generate all the money requires a very long period of time. Executing in a way that allows you to do it is a short cycle,” said Ballmer. Of course, it is something that has put into practice in its current main business, transforming a team that was falling in a fallen layer until it became one of the most profitable, while still projecting to the future With a totally new stadium.
Know your weaknesses and learn to overcome them
“Obviously I understand the business issues than technology. I have grown up, and when you grow up, you say: ‘Go, I was not aware of how much I did not know,” Ballmer said in 2013.
In that aspect, Ballmer coincided with the decalogue of knowledge for Get success Professional Sam Altman published on his blog staff. Build yourself and Find personal growth makes it transit by new roads that open new opportunities.
In Xataka | What was from Steve Ballmer: of charismatic substitute for Bill Gates in Microsoft not to hit any decision
Image | Flickr (Microsoft Sweden)
GIPHY App Key not set. Please check settings