"Being a leader is not a rank, it is not a position , it is not just a title. It is a decision; it is a choice! “ – Simon Sinek

Being a leader is not about holding a rank, position, or title. It's a decision and a choice. Leadership begins the moment you decide to look around, care for those beside you, empower them, teach, coach, support them, and share your vision. It's a gradual process where, one day, people recognize you as a leader—not because of a single action, but due to the accumulation of many small, seemingly insignificant actions.

There's no specific event or action that suddenly makes people trust you. True leadership develops through consistent, everyday actions that, on their own, might seem trivial. People often dismiss small mentoring practices as ineffective, and they're right—these actions alone won't work. But, when done consistently and genuinely—like greeting someone warmly, making eye contact, and sincerely asking about their day—these actions collectively build trust and demonstrate true leadership.

True leadership makes people love their jobs, not just like them. When people say, "I love my job," it means they're devoted to their work and colleagues, valuing their workplace as if it were family, regardless of external offers. Leadership is about fostering this deep sense of commitment and devotion among the people who have dedicated themselves to the organization. Last week was dedicated to celebrating our colleagues who graduated from the wonderful Aspiring People Managers leadership program. We conducted two sessions: one in EMEA and another in NOAM.

With 100 participants and numerous volunteers supporting us, our goal was to provide an unforgettable experience for both the attendees and contributors.

We embarked on this journey together, and I want to express my gratitude to everyone involved. Your participation empowered us to help you enhance your leadership skills, gain valuable knowledge, and implement core managerial capabilities in your roles. Our aim was to create unique opportunities for you to demonstrate and refine these skills, showing your readiness for promotion.

To ensure comprehensive coverage, we hosted multiple learning events aligned with various leadership capabilities, competencies, and attributes. This many-to-many relationship ensured a good overlap between the learning events and the skills we wanted to help you develop. Simply put, our goal was not to teach the birds how to sing, but to help them extend their wings.

And we had lots of volunteers : facilitators, subject matter experts, learning circle leads, mentors etc.

The facilitator role in the Aspiring People Managers program involves three key contributions:

Individual Contribution: Facilitators share their expertise during live sessions, providing relevant business context and creating impactful content for career development. This helps participants prioritize critical learning and achieve their career goals, contributing to Microsoft's overall success.

Building on Others' Work: Facilitators utilize session resources and pre-made presentations to create high-quality learning experiences, making sessions relevant and engaging for participants.

Supporting Others' Success: The program relies on volunteer managers. Facilitators' time and effort in bringing content and tools to life are crucial, significantly contributing to the program's success.

Overall, facilitators are essential to the success of the Aspiring People Managers program.

The role of a learning circle leader in the Aspiring People Managers program involves three key contributions:

Individual Contribution: Learning circle leaders share their expertise, providing a safe space for participants to apply skills and strategies from live sessions. This impacts individuals and their teams, helping participants prioritize critical learning and achieve their career goals, contributing to Microsoft's success.

Building on Others' Work: Leaders use session resources and pre-made presentations to create quality learning experiences, making sessions relevant and engaging for participants.

Supporting Others' Success: The program relies on volunteer managers. Leaders enable participants to apply their learning, discuss real-work implications, and strengthen colleague connections, significantly contributing to the program's success.

Overall, learning circle leaders are essential to the success of the Aspiring People Managers program.

The mentor role in the Aspiring People Managers program involves several key contributions:

Individual Contribution for Teams, Business, or Customer Results: Each month, mentors passionately guide participants on their career development journey. Their dedicated commitment greatly impacts the business by helping achieve program goals and providing valuable experiences that align with participants' career aspirations.

Results Built on the Work, Ideas, or Efforts of Others: Mentors support career development conversations during sessions and use session content and recordings to offer the best guidance. They leverage resources and collaborate with session leaders to assist participants in catching up on missed sessions or gaining additional insights to apply new knowledge in their roles.

Contributions to the Success of Others: The program relies on managers who volunteer their time. Feedback from participants highlights that the program's success is due to the mentors' contributions. Their support has exceeded program expectations and ensured many participants successfully completed the program.

Overall, mentors have played a crucial role in the success of the Aspiring People Managers program.

I want to take a moment and express my gratitude to all the people who participated in the program and contributed:

Thank you for participating in the program and allowing us to empower you

Jameela Esa Cynthia Rice Amanda Fox-Levandowski @Gabriel Costa @Gabe Rodriguez Tyler Finch Mark Perry Matthew D'Arezzo Brittany Pucke (Murphy) @Andrew Hawkins Hernan Marzoratti William Brad Spieker Ashley Brisco @Ishu Agarwal Brooke Macomber Augustine Tajomavwo Gustavo Garibay Covarrubias Dayna Hailey Nicole Sayler Lawrence W. Flack II @paul miller Tyrone Cabrera Hammad Aslam Stacy Flood Kristie Cronic

Nawres S. @J.d. Sutton @Flavia Cortes Wyatt Matos Ummama (Uma) Aman Alex Fiala Luis M. Hernandez Vega @Patricia Hendricks Sarita Anumalashetty Jabril Newton @Jeff Snowden Sean M. @Quyen Pham @James Adams @Yaman Deep Jeeban Prasad Pattanaik Gena Lakeman @Jo Bernal de Castro @Jad Galiano @PB @Rebecca Anthony Jason Hewgill Prasanna Penumarthi Jeremy Lindstrom ?? Kathleen Carter, M.S Neeraj Inani

Abbas Nandwani Alexandru Rosu Ana-Maria Florea Andrea Hauszar Angela Caloianu (Lotcu) Beatriz Morganheira Marques Tania Salavessa Ovidiu Antoche Cláudia Amaral Eli Sagie Eliza Voinea @Enrico Sisti @Francisco del Amo @Francisco Pires Giovanni Tafi André Silva Riccardo Pomato Jamie Bowden Jose Paulo Pendao @Julia Medina @Justin Tina @Kent Collins @Laila Haddad @Nelson Texeira

Maria Mede?an Arkadiusz S. Catalina Necula Bassem Wahid Danilo Bernardo Evelina Stoenescu @Nuno Rodrigues @Murat Orguz Kiran Siddineni Matt Stallwood Nayan Khadua @Hamzeh Abu Alawad Juan Arlandis Villarroya Jo?o Nascimento @Luis Pinheiro De Sousa Carlos Stefano Crivellaro Ricardo Catarrunas @Motasem Sallam Peter Endersz Kiran Siddineni Manuela Doutel Haghighi Moad KALLIDA Luca Scarpa Omar AbouelRegal

Thank you Facilitators:

Daniela-Maria Cochirleanu Ulku Yildiz Ioan Catrea Henk van Roest Sorin Alexandreanu Luís Serra Libório Emma Neal Valentin Craioveanu, (PMP)? Laila Alia Oana Ni?? Cezar Ionescu Mark Bebbington Debbie Kneller Andrei Ghita Roxana Milas Lara Próspero Iulia Chichirau (Slincu) Catalina Tarabuta Catalina Constantin Ashish Kanwar Abdeslam Menacere @James Miller Daniel Lugo Daniela Slavu Laurent Le Guyader Stacey L Campbell Patrick Abbott Travis Hedrick Morgan Epperly

Thank you Learning Circle Leads:

Selvakumar Rajakumar Alexander Morris Inga Israelyan Kristin C. Thomas @Asma Ahmad Ana Navarro Mihai Dobre Yasmin Hushki Catalina Tarabuta Catalina ConstantinAbdeslam Menacere @James Miller Daniel Lugo Laurent Le Guyader Patrick Abbott Morgan Epperly Iulia Chichirau (Slincu) Oana Ni?? Ina Negrea @Raquel Vicente de la Rosa Laila Alia Cezar Ionescu Ana Dobre

Thank you mentors:

Kristin C. Thomas @Asma Ahmad Faizah S. Laurent Le Guyader Raj Madhusudan Christian Tobon Thomas Roughley Stacy Gray Laurie Helms Patrick Abbott Mindy Bakke Inga Israelyan @James Miller, John Yakob Taylor Skare Mihai Dobre Shara H. Daniela Slavu Thomas Bragaloni Matt Whitten Daniel Lugo @Poncho Rodriguez Abdeslam Menacere Kraig Dingwell @Gautam Kakade Stacey L Campbell Stephen Sorenson Prasanna G. Jorge Delgado Alexandru Sferle Sanziana Pradan Kobi Attiya @Hussein Jaber Ulku Yildiz Cezar Ionescu Debbie Kneller Andreea-Elena Suharov Ioan Catrea Suneel Deep Agarwal Nati Grand Paulo Gon?alves @Silvio Fernandes @Mat Sleightholme Ana Navarro Luís Serra Libório Claudiu-Catalin Mesterelu Hugo Ferreira Florin Ciuca Darchil Mansuklal Alaa Bakhit Erzsebet Jenet Camelia Ni?ulescu @Surinder Badial Adrian Dumitru Philipp Sand Sorin Alexandreanu Maria Farroco Ruxandra Hirsovescu Alina Dobroiu Victor Baescu Alexandru Lapos @Miguel Silvestre des Santos Claus Lindemann @Nicu Simion Sylvia S.W. Lau Olivier Ciesielski Jamilu Abubakar Ana Dobre dan tudor ???? Mark Bebbington Laila Alia Mário Moreira Iren Chestny Olga Shimiakova Andrei Ghita @Luis Guiterrez Sanchez O. Militao Magdalena Konca Mike Radders

I would also like to thank to the wonderful Learning & Development team that was helping me on my goal(to become a global career alchemist, transforming potential into success one development program at a time),I could not have done it without you Andrei Vrabie Tiago L. Costa Katelynn Tarrant Christophe Desproges (He, Him, His) @divya sunkari Amani Manasa Miguel Batista @fish ge Ashish Kanwar Sharon López Ramu Kumar Gande + Lara Próspero who supported me along the way.

Remember: Being a LEADER is not a rank, it is not a position , it is not just a title. It is a decision, it is a choice!