Businessweek

I read the article on MS and J today. I was really pleased to see that they decided to write an article like that. I really respect Jay Greene (even though I've not met him personally). I think he gets it. I hear a lot from my friends that Microsoft has lost its edge. We're not an innovative company anymore. All we care about is the Windows and office business. Blah, blah, blah.

I've worked a lot of different places in my career. I started off at MS as an intern (many, many years ago). I worked as a consultant, I worked at an internet start-up. I worked for one of MS' competitors (RealNetworks, if you must know). And I decided to come back to Microsoft about 5 years ago.

When asked, the answer is simple. There are two things that matter. Working with people who are wiling to think big and take chances. Microsoft is full of folks like that and I get to work with them every day. It isn't just J, either. There's an entire crop of senior managers who are now taking the reins. Without big thinkers and risk takers, we wouldn't have products like MCE, Smartphone, Xbox and Zune. Sure, we have products that haven't done so well either, but we're willing to take big risks, which is incredibly exciting and rewarding.

What's more is that anyone can steer the ship. I hear a lot about the bureaucracy. I'm sure it exists. But, I've been fortunate to work on some incredibly nimble teams. The responsibility doled out to people is incredible given that there are over 70K people at the company. Present your case to the senior management and usually they will say go make it happen. I don't know of any other Fortune 500 company like that.

So, when I read stories about the new batch of MS leaders, I applaud the authors. It is absolutely true. These guys are the visionaries. What we do today will affect my child in the future.

And, I'm really happy they decided to feature J as an example of the leadership. I don't work for J, so I have no reason to brown-nose here. I've gotten to know him over the last 8 months and I've got to say, he's just a great guy. Sure he's dresses cool and drives a fast car. Yep, he always knows the newest and hottest bands (heck, I sometime see him hanging out with them). But the real reason why I like J is that he's a leader. It is very rare that you find someone at any company that inspires such devotion. I'd walk over broken glass for the guy. I think his teammates would do the same. Combine the vision with the loyalty and you have quite a formidable combination. If I were the competition, that's what I'd worry about.