Coaching: What does it take to be a leader?

By Neil Halloway, Microsoft CEO for Europe, Middle East and Africa and Corporate Vice-President for Microsoft Corporate.

Many companies want to know “what does it take to be a leader”? Great leaders demonstrate strong performance in three major areas. In all three.

The first is about strategic thinking and leadership. Some professionals may be good in rational thinking but not so good in strategy. This means presenting clearly the company’s general direction, the policies to be defined for employees and for business associates.

The second is about people. It’s about the ability to select the right person, develop his/her skills and give him/her the necessary structure towards success. And make sure that this person has also the skill to choose the right people, as this is a most critical point.

The third area is related to execution, as some leaders are good in strategic thinking and in selecting people, but are simply not good in execution. If you examine successful companies you’ll see that sometimes the difference is not in the idea, but in its execution. A great leader is one who can keep balance between thinking, directing, knows how to hire, develop and motivate. He has the know-how to execute an idea quickly, with determination and transparency. And he creates a learning environment where people can define what worked and what didn’t.

How do you develop leadership in a company? By identifying the necessary attributes that form a great leader. You must see this potential to bring in professional coaching. And more: it’s important from the strategic thinking and leadership point of view as well as execution excellence to create an ambience where people can learn and receive coaching.

In our company we select someone with good performance and send him/her to a new area. This person receives coaching so that he/she can relate correctly to his/her new position and also to learn the strategy to be adopted and the kind of people he will have to hire, instead of merely telling them how the process works, we give him/her professional coaching. We have open sessions with new and long time employees. We seek to know what their goals are and try to grasp what is their understanding of the company’s overall picture. It may seem paradoxical, but what I am saying is that to be a leader, you must be outstanding in strategy and execution.

You are responsible for creating conditions. That is, to identify and develop talent. At Microsoft we do not develop talents through business administration schools. We select an employee and lapidate him/her by means of challenging roles. And we are by his/her side, with coaching, through all the process.