In this QZ article Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft shares what he looks for in leadership talent:
#1: The ability to create clarity when none exists
This is “the most important attribute that any leader needs to have—and it is often underestimated,” said Nadella. “You don’t need a leader when everything is well defined and it’s easy, and all you have got to do is follow a well-written plan. But in an ambiguous situation, where there cannot be complete information, that is when leadership will matter.”
#2: A knack for sparking energy
Along with clarity, a leader needs to bring sincere enthusiasm, Nadella argued. “One of the classic things you face as a leader is, you will have someone walk into your office and say, ‘Hey you know what, I’m very good, my team is very good, but everything around me is terrible,’” he said. “That’s not creating energy.”
“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.”
#3: An ability to succeed in “an over-constrained space”
His advice for cultivating a third trait feels applicable to anyone, not only those who are ambitious in business. “When leaders come in and say, ‘I’m not able to do this or I’m not able to drive success or achieve success because of all these exogenous factors.’ Guess what? Everything is exogenous,” he said. “Life is an over-constraint problem. So you can’t say, ‘You know what, I’m just waiting for you to remove all the constraints, and I’ll be perfect.’
Additional to the last trait we promote everyone and every organization to take on more than can be managed, but then to apply a smart filter to select the most valuable actions, customer, projects… We are living in a time where not being fully loaded means certain decline.