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<ul class="summary-list"><li><a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/satya-nadella-microsoft-management-leadership-advice-how-to-run-business-2024-6">Satya Nadella</a> became the third CEO of Microsoft almost a decade ago.</li><li>The former engineer reformed its corporate culture and has driven growth with innovation and partnerships.</li></ul><p>When Satya Nadella took over as <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/leaked-microsoft-employees-engineers-salary-ai-pay-gap-2024-8">Microsoft</a> CEO on February 4, 2014, the company was struggling.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsofts-got-a-big-problem-with-windows-8-its-not-easy-for-windows-users-to-figure-out-2012-5">Windows 8 had been a disaster</a>. Microsoft employees were constantly battling behind the scenes for supremacy. And all the while, consumers and developers alike were losing faith in the company cofounded by Bill Gates.</p><p>How times have changed.</p><p>In January, as Nadella neared a decade in charge, <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-becomes-world-most-valuable-company-market-cap-apple-ai-2024-1">Microsoft overtook Apple to become the world's most valuable public company</a> worth more than $3 trillion, although Apple later regained its crown.</p><p>The resurgence has been credited to Nadella's savvy embrace of partnerships, dedication to innovation, and <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/satya-nadella-microsoft-powerhouse-ai-investment-openai-2024-7">shakeup of the company culture</a>.</p><p>Here's how Nadella, 57, worked his way up the ranks of Microsoft and executed this startling turnaround.</p><p><em>This article has been updated since its original publication in 2016.</em></p><div type="image" title="Satya Nadella Microsoft Build" height="1534" width="2738" msid="112873303" hostid="261" sizebytes="33824"></div><h2 id="397627e9-2f10-4655-8513-fc8083a9bd27">Upbringing and education</h2><p id="397627e9-2f10-4655-8513-fc8083a9bd27">Satya Narayana Nadella was born in Hyderabad, India in 1967.</p><p>His father was a civil servant and his mother was a professor of the ancient language Sanskrit.</p><p>From a young age, Nadella wanted to be a professional cricket player, and played in school. However, he realized that his athletic talent was outmatched by his passion for science and technology.</p><p>Nadella received his bachelor's degree in electrical engineering from the Manipal Institute of Technology in 1988. "I always knew I wanted to build things," he once said.</p><p>The institution didn't have a comprehensive computer science program, so he traveled to the US to attend the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and graduated in 1990.</p><p>He later received an MBA from the University of Chicago.</p><div type="image" title="Microsoft store sign" height="2121" width="3182" msid="112873306" hostid="261" sizebytes="109380"></div><h2 id="07ae4982-da47-42cf-a398-d2075fca3555">Joining Microsoft</h2><p id="07ae4982-da47-42cf-a398-d2075fca3555">Nadella stayed in the US and got a job on the technology team at Sun Microsystems, then one of the most innovative tech companies.</p><p>But in 1992 he joined Microsoft, where cofounder Bill Gates was still CEO and Windows had just begun its march to world domination.</p><p>"I remember distinctly walking into building 22 at Microsoft in 1992 thinking that's the greatest job on earth I have and I don't need anything more," he said in <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/dont-wait-your-next-job-do-best-work-microsoft-ceo-satya-roslansky/?trackingId=JKPtxUqmQPCHI0iSk3v0zA%3D%3D">an interview</a> with LinkedIn CEO Ryan Roslansky.</p><p>Nadella's first projects included Microsoft's ill-fated interactive TV product and the Windows NT operating system.</p><p><a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-young-windows-nt-in-devcast-telethon-video-2017-9">A baby-faced Nadella also helped pitch Microsoft's Visual Basic in a telethon-style broadcast</a> designed for developers, circa 1993.</p><h2 id="a1e05fb0-fccc-4d0e-93b4-9c7e7f375618">Early career</h2><p id="a1e05fb0-fccc-4d0e-93b4-9c7e7f375618">In his early years at Microsoft, Nadella impressed his coworkers and managers alike by commuting every weekend from Microsoft's Redmond, Washington, campus to Chicago to finish his MBA.</p><p>By 1999, Nadella landed his first executive role as vice president of the newly created Microsoft Central, a set of web services for small businesses that included website hosting and email.</p><p>In 2000, Microsoft got its second CEO: <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-former-microsoft-ceo-steve-ballmer-spends-fortune-2024-7">Steve Ballmer</a>.</p><p>A year later, Nadella was promoted to corporate VP of Microsoft Business Solutions.</p><p>By 2007, Nadella had taken another step up the ladder. He was made senior VP of Microsoft Online Services, putting him in command of the Bing search engine, as well as early online versions of Microsoft Office and the Xbox Live gaming service.</p><p>In February 2011, Nadella was promoted to president of the Server and Tools division. It encompassed cash-cow products for data centers such as Windows Server and the SQL Server databases.</p><p>But it was also home to one of CEO Steve Ballmer's boldest gambles, the Microsoft Azure cloud platform.</p><div type="image" title="Steve Ballmer Microsoft" height="1000" width="1315" msid="112873310" hostid="261" sizebytes="34472"></div><h2 id="5dd84cbd-aad5-4c2d-be3c-d983120d0ca7">Trouble at Microsoft</h2><p id="5dd84cbd-aad5-4c2d-be3c-d983120d0ca7">In the early 2010s, Microsoft was running into trouble.</p><p>On the PC side, Windows 8 was a disaster, the iPhone and Android were outrunning Windows phones by leaps and bounds, and Bing just couldn't make a dent in Google's search dominance.</p><p>The company was facing an antitrust suit from the European Union and its stock price kept dropping.</p><p>In August 2013, an embattled Ballmer announced his departure, sparking a search for a new CEO. The search committee included Ballmer and Gates.</p><div type="image" title="nadella gates ballmer" height="714" width="1000" msid="112873312" hostid="261" sizebytes="81518"></div><h2 id="8f12e3e2-d7b2-4666-a412-bca2d001b945">Nadella takes over</h2><p>In February 2014, after much rumor and speculation, Nadella was announced as CEO, with the support of Ballmer and Gates.</p><p>He was awarded an $84 million first-year compensation package.</p><p>Nadella quickly won over employees by making big changes, quickly, in an effort to right the ship and win back customers.</p><p>He <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.thestreet.com/technology/satya-nadella-is-quoting-oscar-wilde-in-his-first-email-as-microsoft-ceo-12305159">sent a company-wide email</a> when he took over, calling for Microsoft to "prioritize innovation that is centered on our core value of empowering users and organizations."</p><h2 id="16ae683c-879a-4a80-aab0-0fdc3eb1415f">Partnerships with rivals</h2><p>Nadella proved he wasn't afraid to shake things up and invigorate the company by embracing partnerships with rivals including Apple, Google, and Amazon.</p><p>He started by adopting the rival Linux operating system for the Azure cloud — a once-unthinkable move.</p><p>But soon, Nadella had overseen the release of Microsoft Office for the Apple iPad; spent $2.5 billion buying Mojang, the studio behind the hit game Minecraft; and released first-class iPhone and Android apps, including Outlook.</p><p>Innovation also led to the development of HoloLens, Microsoft's super-futuristic holographic goggles, and its first laptop, the Surface Book.</p><p>When something didn't work he was unafraid to ditch projects, such as skipping Windows 9 to go straight to the superior Windows 10.</p><p>Nadella's philosophy is about partnering and ensuring Microsoft software and services are available wherever customers are — even if that's not Windows.</p><p>In fact, in 2015, Nadella used an iPhone on stage at an event to show off his favorite Microsoft apps. His predecessor Steve Ballmer, famously <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ballmer-snatches-microsoft-employees-iphone-at-company-meeting-pretends-to-stomp-on-it-2009-9">pretended to stomp on one</a> at a company meeting.</p><div type="image" title="Satya Nadella" height="1667" width="2500" msid="112873304" hostid="261" sizebytes="99996"></div><h2 id="3e881d2a-050d-4f99-8562-6c6b42694d52">Leadership style</h2><p id="3e881d2a-050d-4f99-8562-6c6b42694d52">Nadella's approach to leadership was credited with reforming the company's culture.</p><p>Many workers are fond of his leadership style, which emphasizes learning and making mistakes as a hedge against overconfidence and arrogance.</p><p>"It doesn't matter if you're a top executive or a first-line seller — he has exactly the same quality of listening," Microsoft executive vice president Jean-Philippe Courtois <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://hbr.org/2019/11/the-leader-as-coach">has said</a>.</p><h2 id="7e87fbb0-79da-4d05-9363-861e2796c15a">Personal life</h2><p>Nadella, 57, and his wife, Anu, have had three children and live in Bellevue, Lake Washington.</p><p>Their oldest son, Zain, was born with severe cerebral palsy and required specialized care. He died in 2022, aged 26.</p><p>"Becoming a father of a son with special needs was the turning point in my life that has shaped who I am today," Nadella wrote in<a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://blogs.microsoft.com/accessibility/satya-nadella-the-moment-that-forever-changed-our-lives/"> a 2017 essay</a> on LinkedIn.</p><p>He called Zain "the joy of our family, whose strength and warmth both inspire and motivate me to keep pushing the boundaries of what technology can do."</p><p>Nadella has said the experience has encouraged him to lead with empathy, telling <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/inspirational-stories/a46221/satya-anu-nadella-microsoft/">Good Housekeeping</a> "it has had a profound impact on how I think, lead and relate to people."</p><h2 id="18b1412a-52c4-4c02-9c90-bbfc66c963c4">Nadella's acquisitions spree</h2><p id="18b1412a-52c4-4c02-9c90-bbfc66c963c4">Under Nadella, Microsoft has made some of its biggest acquisitions, including the $26 billion purchase of LinkedIn in 2016, the $7.5 billion acquisition of code-sharing site GitHub in 2018, and the <a target="_blank" rel="noopener" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-set-to-buy-activision-blizzard-billion-2023-10">$69 billion deal</a> with video games publisher Activision Blizzard in 2023.</p><p>Nadella has said <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-satya-nadella-shares-what-makes-good-acquisition-2023-10">he has two main criteria</a> when eyeing acquisitions: what value Microsoft can add and how much financial sense it makes.</p><div type="image" title="Satya Nadella standing between the OpenAI and Microsoft logos." height="1304" width="2000" msid="112873309" hostid="261" sizebytes="38986"></div><h2 id="ce34d74d-b43a-4173-ba30-0561e95e2080">What's next</h2><p id="ce34d74d-b43a-4173-ba30-0561e95e2080">Nadella's been busy. And investors love it: From 2014 to 2015, his first year, Microsoft stock jumped 14%.</p><p>But over the past decade, it's soared to new heights, and Microsoft started this year by knocking Apple off the top spot to become the<a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-becomes-world-most-valuable-company-market-cap-apple-ai-2024-1"> world's most valuable public company</a> and becoming only the second to exceed a <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-stock-price-market-cap-trillion-apple-ai-magnificent-seven-2024-1">$3 trillion valuation</a>. Apple has since regained the number one spot, but both milestones were highly notable.</p><p>Nadella's biggest move in recent years has been <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/apple-microsoft-openai-agreements-differences-iphone-chatgpt-sam-altman-2024-7">investing billions in OpenAI</a>.</p><p>During the week of leadership chaos at OpenAI, Nadella stuck firm to ousted CEO Sam Altman, <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-has-hired-former-openai-ceo-sam-altman-2023-11">offering him a job</a> at Microsoft. This provided crucial leverage for Altman to reclaim his CEO position while cementing Microsoft as an essential partner for the pioneering AI company.</p><p>Microsoft is also making its own mark with a generative "AI companion" called <a target="_blank" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-copilot-everyday-ai-companion-paid-subscription-2024-1">Copilot</a> to be integrated into its suite of apps. It's a bet on a future in which every person and organization has their own <a target="_blank" class="" href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ai-personal-virtual-assistant-work-home-chatgpt-deepmind-2023-9">personal AI assistant to handle mundane tasks</a>.</p><p>Vodafone and Microsoft also have a partnership to bring generative AI, digital and cloud services to European and African markets.</p><p><em>January 31, 2024: This story was updated to clarify that the specific figures associated with Microsoft's investment in OpenAI haven't been officially confirmed.</em></p>

Satya Nadella's career rise, from computer science student to turning Microsoft into a $3 trillion titan as CEO

Tech giant <keyword id="10387" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="microsoft" source="Orion">Microsoft</keyword> has said its Chief Executive Officer <keyword id="276564" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="satya-nadella" source="Orion">Satya Nadella</keyword>'s son <keyword id="13280417" type="General" weightage="20" keywordseo="zain-nadella" source="Orion">Zain Nadella</keyword> has died.<br /><br /><keyword id="6389779" type="General" weightage="80" keywordseo="zain" source="Orion">Zain</keyword> was 26 and was born with cerebral palsy.<br /><br />"Very sadly Satya's son Zain <keyword id="2045946" type="General" weightage="100" keywordseo="nadella" source="Orion">Nadella</keyword> has passed away. The Nadellas are taking time to grieve privately as a family," a Microsoft spokesperson said in response to an email query by PTI.<br /><br />Meanwhile, condolence messages poured in on social media platforms and many took to Twitter to mourn the demise.<br /><br />Nadella's son was born on August 13, 1996, in an emergency situation after his wife Anu during her thirty-sixth week of pregnancy noticed that the baby was not moving as in a normal situation.<br /><br />The Microsoft CEO in a blog in 2017 mentioned that Zain did not cry at the time of birth and had to be shifted to Seattle Children's Hospital with its state-of-the-art Neonatal Intensive Care Unit from the hospital in Bellevue across Lake Washington.<br /><br />Nadella had said he learnt that damage caused by utero asphyxiation caused severe cerebral palsy in his child.<br /><br />He also wrote that as a father of a son with special needs was the turning point of his life and helped him better understand the journey of people with disabilities.<br /><br />Several political leaders in India expressed their condolences for the Nadella family.<br /><br />"Saddened to hear abt passing of @satyanadella's son Zain. My deepest condolences to him and his family n friends. I pray that God gives him n family the strength to bear wth this loss," Minister of State for Electronics and IT Rajeev Chandrasekhar said in a tweet.<br /><br />Satya Nadella is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of global software giant Microsoft.<br /><br />Hyderabad-born Nadella was named CEO of Microsoft in February 2014. In June 2021, he was also named as the company's Chairman, an additional role in which he would lead the work to set the agenda for the board.<br /><b>SEE ALSO:</b><br /><br /> <b><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/the-russia-ukraine-war-will-not-fade-away-in-history-a-group-of-reddit-users-is-making-sure-of-that/articleshow/89918132.cms">The Russia-Ukraine war will not fade away in history, a group of Reddit users is making sure of that</a></b><br />

Satya Nadella's son Zain Nadella passes away

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella talks AI, closing the Activision Blizzard deal, and his best business decision so far

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella thinks empathy is an important business skill, not just a <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/soft-skills-leaders-need-for-success-2016-4#:~:text=The%20soft%20skills%20that%20all,Insider's%20homepage%20for%20more%20stories.">soft skill.</a></li><li>Nadella spoke about empathy's role in his own life at Axel Springer's annual award ceremony Tuesday.</li></ul><p><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-rise-of-microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-2016-1">Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella</a> thinks that empathy is more than just a soft skill — it's crucial in both personal and professional life.</p><p>"Empathy is not a soft skill," Nadella said in an interview with Axel Springer CEO Mathias Döpfner on Tuesday. "In fact, it's the hardest skill we learn — to relate to the world, to relate to people that matter the most to us."</p><p>Nadella described how his <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/satya-nadella-microsoft-ceo-lesson-learned-leadership-cerebral-palsy">experience as a parent to a child with disabilities</a> reshaped his outlook on life. His son Zain, who died in February 2022 at the age of 26, was quadriplegic and had cerebral palsy.</p><p>"For the first, I would say even multiple years, I was more in grief about what happened to my plans," Nadella said. "Watching my wife Anu and what she was doing — she gave up her job as architect and would walk, drive him up and down Seattle to every therapy possible. I watched that and came to reflect on it and then realized that nothing happened to me. Something had happened to my son and I started seeing the world through his eyes."</p><p>Nadella described how this experience was a breakthrough for him.</p><p>"It reshaped me as a human being, as a parent, as a partner, and as a leader at work," Nadella said.</p><p>This isn't the first time Nadella has spoken about the <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-managers-can-make-workers-happier-in-2023-2023-1">importance of empathy at work</a> — he's previously said that having empathy for your team can play a crucial role in <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/where-are-great-companies-for-career-growth-opportunities-comparably-ranking-2023-6">career development</a>. </p><p>"If you have empathy for your people, they will do their best work and you'll make progress," Nadella once said on an episode of LinkedIn's "Hello Monday" podcast.</p><p>Studies have found that <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/ey-research-finds-americans-arent-getting-empathy-from-their-bosses-2021-10">empathy is one of the most important leadership skills</a>. Almost 90% of US workers surveyed said that having an empathetic manager increases their job satisfaction, productivity, and cultivated loyalty, according to a 2021 Ernst &amp; Young report, while over half said that they had left a job because their boss wasn't empathetic enough about issues at work or in their personal life. </p><p>On a broader level, Nadella also thinks empathy plays a key role in driving innovation.</p><p>"Innovation is about meeting the unmet unarticulated needs of customers. What's the source of it? You could say it's <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stanford-professor-design-thinking-achieve-your-goals-2016-2">design thinking</a>, but design thinking is empathy."</p><p>Nadella spoke on Tuesday in Berlin while accepting the <a href="https://www.axelspringer.com/en/axel-springer-award" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">Axel Springer Award</a>, which the company says is given to "outstanding personalities who demonstrate an exceptional talent for innovation, create and transform markets, shape culture, and also face their social responsibility."</p><p><em>Disclosure: Axel Springer is Insider's parent company.</em></p>

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella says empathy isn't a soft skill — it's actually 'the hardest skill we learn'

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Empathy is one of the biggest leadership lessons Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella learned after his son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy, he said on an episode of <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/satya-nadella-dont-be-brilliant-be-curious/id1453893304?i=1000459056419">Linkedln's "Hello Monday" podcast.</a></li><li>This experience helped Nadella better relate to his employees and understand where they're coming from. </li><li>It's important to remember that building empathy takes time, but it can be a great tool to build rapport with employees, he said. </li><li> <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/prime?module=article&amp;area=summary">Click here for more BI Prime content.</a></li></ul><p>Empathy, or the ability to share feelings and connect with another person, is a critical skill for nurturing employees' success. </p><p>In an episode of Linkedln's <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/satya-nadella-dont-be-brilliant-be-curious/id1453893304?i=1000459056419">Hello Monday</a> podcast, Microsoft's CEO Satya Nadella said the best way to learn empathy is to offer it to people in your everyday life. During the interview, Nadella said empathy was one of the biggest lessons he learned after his son, Zain, was diagnosed with cerebral palsy.</p><p>Zain, who is now in his early 20s, was diagnosed with the condition when he was born, according to <a href="https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/inspirational-stories/a46221/satya-anu-nadella-microsoft/">Good Housekeeping.</a> By empathizing with others, Nadella has not only learned to understand other people's feelings, but it has given him a sense of how others perceive the world. At work, this means showing you<em> truly</em> care about your employees or coworker's well being, he said. </p><p>"Having empathy for your team is perhaps the best way to make progress in your career," Nadella said on the podcast. "If you have empathy for your people they will do their best work and you'll make progress." </p><p>Nadella's advice about having empathy for employees is backed by research. <a href="https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/378546/empathy-2019/2019%20Empathy%20Exec%20Summary/businessolver-2019-workplace-empathy-executive-summary.pdf?__hssc=244580634.2.1583175249001&amp;__hstc=244580634.63dd988786b62e30c5aace32935d9b26.1583175249000.1583175249000.1583175249000.1&amp;__hsfp=2913075046&amp;hsCtaTracking=184e6df9-5773-4123-8822-6f5df646b551%7Cef554b97-ba28-4f64-8a4b-ff8092126d49">The State of Workplace Empathy report </a>from benefits administration company <a href="https://cdn2.hubspot.net/hubfs/378546/empathy-2019/2019%20Empathy%20Exec%20Summary/businessolver-2019-workplace-empathy-executive-summary.pdf?__hssc=244580634.2.1583175249001&amp;__hstc=244580634.63dd988786b62e30c5aace32935d9b26.1583175249000.1583175249000.1583175249000.1&amp;__hsfp=2913075046&amp;hsCtaTracking=184e6df9-5773-4123-8822-6f5df646b551%7Cef554b97-ba28-4f64-8a4b-ff8092126d49">Businessolver,</a> showed that 82% of employees would consider leaving their job for a more empathetic organization. The report also found that 72% of CEOs said their company needs more empathy, but many do not know how to implement it. </p><p>If a company lacks empathy employees are often <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/8-warning-signs-from-employees-emotionally-intelligent-leaders-act-on-2019-8">more distracted</a> and have <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/communication-business-skill-2018-5">poor listening skills. </a></p><p>Nadella's comments are echoed by other top executives. For example, Hilton values hiring employees who display empathy, the hotel giant's talent chief <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/how-to-get-a-job-at-hilton-empathy-hospitality">previously told Business Insider.</a> Last spring, Apple's CEO, Tim Cook encouraged graduate students to have empathy for one another. Cook said this will have a lasting impact on the solutions they offer customers throughout their careers. </p><p>Nadella said empathy is a skill every employee should develop at some point in their career. Here's why empathy is such a key part of Nadella's leadership strategy. </p><h3><strong>Developing empathy takes time </strong></h3><p>At first, Nadella struggled to cope with his son's diagnosis. He even recalled: "mourning the change" in his life. But slowly, he learned to empathize. </p><p>"My son has challenges and I needed to step up as a father and as a parent to give him the best support," Nadella said. His son's disability inspired him to focus on making workplaces more accessible.  </p><p>"Even with my own son I had that difficulty of not being able to put myself in his shoes," Nadella said. Through understanding his son's feelings he was able to connect more with his family.</p><p>Nadella has adopted this strategy at Microsoft, where he learned to listen and identify the needs of his employees. Employees believe colleagues show empathy by helping one another, whether it's by giving a colleague a hand with a report or talking out their challenges at work.</p><p>"I was able to relate better," Nadella said. When working with an employee he will try to assess their needs and think about their feelings.</p><h3><strong>Being empathetic at work can help build rapport with employees</strong></h3><p>Research shows that empathy is one of the best tools leaders can use for success with their employees. For example, being a good listener is a sign of empathy, which is one of the top 10 traits of a "perfect boss," <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/the-best-bosses-do-these-things-according-to-google-2019-6#5-is-a-good-communicator-listens-and-shares-information-5">according to research from Google.</a></p><p>Another strategy Nadella pairs with empathy is the "growth mindset," or the belief that skills develop through hard work. For instance, Microsoft reviews employee performance partly on how much they helped their colleagues succeed, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-company-culture-change-growth-mindset">Business Insider previously reported</a>.  </p><p>"Business is all about finding the unmet and unarticulated need in the marketplace," Nadella said. "I think design thinking is empathy." </p><p>However, you can't "turn on the empathy button," Nadella said. Building empathy requires time and a vested interest in the needs of others. But we all have the ability to be empathetic, he added. </p><p>"I believe this innate capability is within all of us," Nadella said. "It's not about striving for perfection, it's more about a muscle that you need to exercise every day." </p>

Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella reveals the key lesson he learned about leadership after his son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Bob Bryan, Business Insider</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>In the past month, two major tech companies announced surprising deals.</p><p>The first - Microsoft's $26 billion acquisition of LinkedIn. The second - Tesla's $2.8 billion purchase of SolarCity. </p><p>Both LinkedIn and SolarCity as stocks have struggled this year, making them interesting acquisition targets. LinkedIn was down 40% before the deal, while SolarCity had dropped 60%.</p><p>In addition, though they have very different price tags, as a percentage of market cap, the two deals are relatively similar - the deal's equate to roughly 6.5% for Microsoft and 10% for Tesla. </p><p>Much has been written about whether these deals will be good for the acquiring companies. Microsoft drew criticism for the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/microsoft-linkedin-the-10-biggest-tech-mergers-in-history-2016-6">size of its acquisition</a>, while Tesla was chastised for <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/musk-bad-solarcity-tesla-deal-2016-6">the optics</a>.</p><p>Analysts and Wall Street pundits will hash out the details over the weeks, months and years to come. But what is more important long-term are the insights that can be gained from looking at these deals from a strategic perspective, which clearly shows that Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is making better strategic moves than Tesla CEO Elon Musk. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Tesla</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Acquisitions tend to fall into three core frameworks: (1) a company-centric acquisition that provides scale or additional capabilities; (2) a response to market developments, like changes in technologies and industry dynamics; and (3) a move to address evolving consumer needs. </p><h2><strong>A Ravenous Sinkhole</strong> </h2><p>Tesla's acquisition of SolarCity is a company-centric move that may, at least on the surface, seem to make sense - two green energy companies combining to create a healthier planet, from how you travel to where you live.</p><p>Complicating matters, however, is the appearance that the SolarCity bid is just a move to financially engineer Elon Musk out of a bad position. As the chairman of SolarCity's Board, he owns more than 20% of the company - even financing some of his stock purchases with loans that use the stock as collateral. </p><p>Of course, Musk sees it differently, arguing that the combination of the two companies was a "no brainer." On a call with analysts, Musk even went so far as to say, "I have no doubt about this - zero." Investors disagreed. Tesla shares dipped more than 10%, a decline that essentially values SolarCity at $0. </p><p>While that level of confidence has worked for Musk as Tesla's value gained five-fold <span data-term="goog_776877692"><span>in three years</span></span>, it does not tend to work well in acquisitions. Blending two companies with different cultures, focuses and business models is a challenge even for the most seasoned CEOs.</p><p>With Musk embroiled in developing new technologies in new industries, he is creating an additional burden on Tesla that won't add any possible value while trying to save Solar City. </p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.facebook.com/solarcity/photos_stream">SolarCity</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div>Few would know that better than Microsoft.</p><p>In the past, many of Microsoft's acquisitions involved buying hardware-centric companies, where the devices and equipment would create an audience of captive users on their software. Superficially, this strategy made sense as Microsoft looked to gain scale, something that Tesla is also looking to do. In reality, however, if was flawed because it forced Microsoft to follow the industry and make bets in highly-competitive categories where it had limited expertise and capabilities. </p><p>For example, in Microsoft's $7.9 billion acquisition of Nokia's devices and services business, the tech giant chased the market, desperately trying to make up ground in the iOS and Android mobile phone wars. The strategy, which rarely proves successful regardless of the acquirer, eventually led to more than $7.6 billion in write-downs.</p><h2><strong>How Microsoft-LinkedIn is Different</strong></h2><p>Contrary to its history and Tesla's proposed SolarCity acquisition, the Microsoft-LinkedIn deal is not about ego. Instead, it is a consumer-centric move where Microsoft is looking at the landscape and projecting value it might add to users on a long-term timeframe. </p><p>Evidence of Nadella's new thinking could be seen in the early press releases, as well as the decision to leave LinkedIn a separate entity.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_left"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Tony Chung, LinkedIn</span></p></div><p></p></div></div>LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner, <a href="http://news.microsoft.com/2016/06/13/microsoft-to-acquire-linkedin/">in an interview</a>, said he and Microsoft's current CEO, Satya Nadella, spent a lot of time "riffing" strategically, a move that unearthed opportunities for both brands as better ways to serve their customers. </p><p>This is the type of thinking that enables brands to succeed in today's insight economy. Consumers want brands to add value, solve problems and make life easier. In return, consumers will bond with brands.</p><p>Microsoft and LinkedIn aim to unlock efficiencies for their users by integrating Microsoft's core business productivity tools with LinkedIn's social resources. </p><p>Tesla and SolarCity don't (yet) have a plan for customers. Instead, it's a plan for Tesla and SolarCity. History has proven that to be a rough road. </p><p><em>Zain Raj is the CEO and president of <a href="http://www.shapiroraj.com/">Shapiro+Raj</a>, a top-10 independent market research and insights firm in North America. </em></p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/everyday-phrases-smart-people-say-incorrectly-daylight-saving-deep-seated-2016-6">Everyday phrases that even smart people say incorrectly</a></h3>        <div>            <div>        <div class="ooyala-video-player" data-video-autoplay="false" data-video-id="44Z3ZoeDrznjy0zyuh6chLpAhZsFsPBY" data-player-variable="ooyalapopvideo" id="ooyalaplayer_popvideo" style="width:1280px;height:720px"></div>        </div>        </div>            </div>

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