A review by fivetilnoon
Hit Refresh: The Quest to Rediscover Microsoft's Soul and Imagine a Better Future for Everyone by Greg Shaw, Jill Tracie Nichols, Satya Nadella

informative fast-paced

2.0

An okay book. I was hoping for more on the "growth mindset" but did get a takeaway to read another book focused on that topic. Found a few nuggets and I liked learning about Nadella's background and early years at Microsoft. 

Danger of too much formality and focus on accountability

 

Accountability—delivering on time and hitting numbers —trumped everything. Meetings were formal. Everything had to be planned in perfect detail before the meeting. And it was hard to do a skip-level meeting. If a senior leader wanted, they had to bring the individual's manager.

 

Make it happen

Reminds me of, "You don't have to ask permission to take responsibility"

 

I became irritated once during an employee Q&A when someone asked me, "Why can't I print a document from my mobile phone?" I politely told him, "Make it happen. You have full authority."

 

Three things to look for in a leader

 

The first is to create clarity to those you work with. This is one of the foundational things leaders do every day, every minute. In order to create clarity, you've got to synthesize the complex. Leaders take internal and external noise and synthesize a message from it, recognizing the true signal within a lot of noise. 

 

Second, leaders generate energy, not only on their own teams but across the company. It's insufficient to focus exclusively on your own unit. Leaders need to inspire optimism, creativity, shared commitment, and growth through times good and bad.

 

Third, and finally, they find a way to deliver success, to make things happen. This means driving innovations that people love and are inspired to work on; finding balance between long-term success and short-term wins; and being boundary-less and globally minded in seeking solutions.