Satya Nadella on growth mindsets: “The learn-it-all does better than the know-it-all.”

We all have fundamental qualities, these things we’ve learned over time to be true about ourselves. Like me? I’m a good writer. I’m pretty intuitive. I am not great at writing headlines.

So here’s a question for you: are you the kind of person who believes that these qualities are fixed? Or, do you think you can change and improve?

This week’s Hello Monday guest has a strong point of view on the answer: “If you take two kids at school, one of them has more innate capability but is a know-it-all. The other person has less innate capability but is a learn-it-all. The learn-it-all does better than the know-it-all.” 

That’s Satya Nadella. He’s the CEO of Microsoft. Which, technically, means he’s my boss, since Microsoft owns LinkedIn. But, I’ve known him since I was at Wired, right after he became CEO. And this idea he has that it’s more important to be a good learner than to be a genius? He didn’t invent it. It came out of research from a Stanford psychology professor, Carol Dweck. She calls this a “growth mindset.”

Nadella embodies a growth mindset. Microsoft was a stodgy and stagnant company in 2014 when he became CEO, and pushing people to think of themselves as students was part of how he changed things. 

Even more, this is Nadella’s personal approach to his life and his career. We talked a lot about it this week. You can download the episode to hear about it. Then, please, share your own thoughts and tag them #HelloMonday so I can jump into the conversation.

Here are some highlights….

On empathy and leadership: “Basically being a leader is a privilege you have. Your job really is about being able to help people realize their best potential. That's what in fact is expected of you right now...Having empathy for your team is perhaps the best way for you to make progress in your career. Because if you do have empathy for your people, they will do their best work, your team will do your best. You will make progress.”

On what he’s learned as CEO: “Ultimately you have to take accountability and responsibility. It’s fascinating, when you have someone you work for, how much you rely on that mentorship, that leadership. Sometimes it takes a lot of pressure off. And so to ultimately say, well, now for the 100,000+ people of Microsoft, I need to make sure we have a sense of purpose.”

On the CEO role: “One of the things I've recognized is the CEO's job is to figure out how to harmonize the multiple constituents who are all important...It's not about just investors, is not about customers, employees, partners, uh, it's governments. It's about all of them”  

On growth mindsets: “If you take two kids at school, one of them has more innate capability but is a know-it-all. The other person has less innate capability but is a learn-it-all. The learn-it-all does better than the know-it-all.” 

On daily rituals: “For me, the daily ritual is just a half-hour of hitting the gym every day. It doesn't matter where I am, what time zone, how late I got in, I get up and get to the gym. It's just, 30 minutes of running, and it just makes a huge difference. 

More on daily rituals: “There was this one thing that a sports psychologist for the Seahawks taught me: when you step out of bed, the first thing you know, you put your feet down and just say, what are you thankful for? That is a habit I picked up just five years ago. That's another daily ritual of mine and it's just grounding. It gives you the ability to get up in the morning and orient yourself for the day.”

I want to hear from you…

Do you yourself believe that your qualities are fixed, or that you can change?  Drop us a line at [email protected], or post on LinkedIn, using the hashtag #HelloMonday.

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