My First Year at Microsoft

A path of discovery...

One year ago, I accepted an invitation to take a journey with an incredible team to do epic stuff. Little did I realise that this would be the place where passions could be pursued to realisation instead of remaining dreams, and that I could be my unedited self and truly be part of something bigger with the power to impact so many more lives than just my own.

My journey started with several conversations about joining Microsoft. I use the word conversations and not interviews deliberately, because that’s exactly what they were. They were pleasant, energising and interesting and did not focus solely on my experience, skills and competencies – there was genuine interest in the whole and real me; what I enjoyed, what I wanted to learn, what was important to me, how I liked to engage and so much more. I felt that Microsoft truly wanted to get to know me, which put me at ease and allowed for these uninhibited conversations.

When I was fortunate to be asked to join Microsoft, my decision was easy because, through these conversations, I had glimpses into the culture of Microsoft which called me to come as I am, do what I love and create the future I want.

My experience during my courtship with Microsoft is what I experienced once I joined and throughout the time I have been with the organisation.

My first day arrived. Up until that point, I had never been in the technology industry and certainly never part of an organisation where the mission was to empower every person and organisation on the planet to achieve more.

Not on that day, or any other, did I fear the unfamiliar because I was surrounded by the people, resources, information, access, support and comfort I needed to be a learn it all and not a know it all. This made all the difference in feeling safe to be myself, excited to participate to the fullest, confident to ask as many questions as I needed (trust me I needed to ask loads!), and innovative in applying my experience.

Over the next few weeks and months, I immersed myself into experiencing the environment, getting to know our people, understanding the business - whilst driving and supporting achieving our business aspirations and people priorities.

I was experiencing an authentic Microsoft. I recall the moment when I realised this. I was just under five months in, standing at the coffee station in our canteen (waiting for our wonderful Kabelo to make “ten roses” as only he can), aimlessly watching our Microsoftees milling around the canteen and there it was, like a warm wave.

By this time, I had connected meaningfully with a large part of the organisation (locally, regionally and globally), been through the first business and people milestones and cycles, and had experienced, through participation, Microsoft in market through customer engagements and Microsoft events. I had experienced this authenticity far and wide.

There are many highlights that I can share from the past year; I have selected just three as examples of the opportunities we have, and how we rise to them.

As a collective Human Resources and Business Leadership team, we continually look to make an impact through our individual contributions, through leveraging the work of others and through contributing to the success of others – these are the fundamentals of our performance framework throughout the organisation. Our people are naturally coded to think beyond themselves. This has been incredible for me to experience and, as an HR Practitioner, this is a pure gift because it allows us to go that much further in innovating for our customers, our diversity and inclusion practices, advancing a learning culture and nurturing potential.

 Learning is embedded in Microsoft’s DNA. Together with our performance approach, this is the right mix for meaningful collaboration and orchestration, learning all we can about our customers’ needs and challenges with a beginner’s mindset, and then bringing innovation and practical solutions to meet their needs and surprise and delight them. I have not only seen our learning culture in action by our teams but have personally experienced this through the opportunities to engage our customers sharing how we support business by the way we do HR inside of Microsoft. Because of this, we have enabled many of our customers to learn to work more collaboratively, to better leverage technology to enhance their own employees lives and to drive their own productivity.

 A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….okay so it was not that long ago (I am a Star Wars fan!), I was interviewing with our President for Microsoft Middle East and Africa, Samer Abu-Ltaif. In my introduction I said that I was new to Microsoft. When it was Samer’s turn, he said he was new too. Now he has been with Microsoft for 15 years, so I could be forgiven for giving him a bit of a sideways look. At the end of the discussion, I asked Samer about this and he said that he has had the opportunity to reinvent himself so many times at Microsoft that he feels new. Through the years his passion, excitement, energy and curiosity did not wane. I found this intriguing, so I set about having conversations with individuals who had lengthy tenure in different parts of the business. I was fascinated by the feedback which told a similar story. There really is something special about Microsoft and in that moment, I felt privileged to have the opportunity to experience it myself, but also to be in a position to empower others to do the same.

Each day continues to bring ample opportunities to innovate, collaborate and create new experiences – for ourselves and those around us.

Satya speaks about thinking about how we can use Microsoft as a platform for finding and amplifying our purpose and, through our culture of Growth Mindset, I have realised that because we have the opportunity at Microsoft to make a difference and empower those around us, we have the responsibility to do so. This is wildly inspiring and extremely fulfilling when shifting from being possible, to being realised.

So, what does this all mean? Simply translated, I have not worked a day in the last year, I am part of an incredible group of people, empowering the people who empower the planet, and having fun along the way.

I am deeply grateful to each and every person who has invested in me and who continues to do so, unselfishly. You have made an impact and difference in my life, and my thanks will be to strive always, to do the same for others.

“When you love people and have the desire to make a profound positive impact upon the world, then will you have accomplished the meaning to live” – Sasha Azevedo.