Time to Move On : Journey from FY-04 to FY-17 at Microsoft

From FY-04 to FY-17 has been a long journey for me at Microsoft. 10th Oct 2016 is my last day with Microsoft.

It’s been an amazing journey with this great company and great friends, and a privilege to see the evolution and transformation of MSFT with 2 CEOs Steve and Satya. I would like to thank all the smart folks that I worked with all these years around.

While I move onto my next role; just wanted to put down my top learnings of Corporate life at Microsoft. 

1. Take bold goals. Enjoy your goals and trust your team to deliver on the goals in addition to developing a strong execution plan.
2. Know your business and always seek 360 degree feedback. Do what’s best for business and don’t fall in the trap of instant gratification (Always look for long term benefits). Cloud consumption business is a different ball game. You need to plan 15-18 months ahead and adjust your investment and goals every 3-4 months. Most of the time you would get 1:1 ratio (Investment : Consumption) on your investment in first 6-9 months but if you invest it right you will get 3-5x incremental YOY.
3. Take care of your team like family but ask yourself whether you would rehire them if they leave.
4. It is hard to learn everything. Smart person knows who is the expert / SME on an area and they build network of experts / SME
5. Mentors are critical. For best results ensure mentoring is a 2 way relationship and not a one way street
6. Don’t burn too many bridges because they will burn one soon
7. Personal brand will carry you forward, especially in the bad times.
8. Organizations can’t guess what you want to do with your career. So speak-up and plan. The only person you can fool is , well, yourself.
9. If you have a point of view then share it. If you have concerns then raise them. You need to be THE CHANGE that you want in your team –> group –> region –> Company.
10. More than the Manager, it’s the Manager’s Manager who decides your fate.
11. Sometime it is best to LET IT GO.