How does a leader engage in the change process? Monika Patrycja Owczarzak 1816228 24.10.2023 University of Wals Trinity Saint Davis Introduction This essay is presented for Microsoft company under a leadership of CEO Satya Nadella and how the leader engages in the change process. This essay will critically evaluate the leadership style and leadership strategy of Satya Nadella, and the changes which happened during this time. According to Satya Nadella, cultivating a positive company culture is his first and most crucial responsibility as CEO. Reviving the business environment was therefore his primary goal. The story of how Satya Nadella transformed Microsoft's culture into what it is now.( Whitworth 2022) After replacing Steve Ballmer as CEO in 2014, Nadella brought fresh ideas and a different approach to Microsoft's distinctive path. This essay explores the connection between Nadella's vision and leadership style, highlighting the critical need to strike the right balance across a dynamic organisational culture and encouraging leadership in order to achieve high organisational performance. .( Whitworth 2022) BACKGROUND TO ORGANISATION AND LEADER Microsoft was founded on April 4, 1975 by Bill Gates and Paul Allen. The company produces computer software. 1979 and developed into a significant international technology company over time. The year that Microsoft went public in 1987, thirty-one-year-old Bill Gates became the youngest billionaire in history. Microsoft, formerly known as Micro-Soft for microprocessors and software, was founded by Gates and Allen to develop software for the Altair 8800, an early personal computer. Microsoft had sales of more than $1 million by the end of 1978.Based on sales, Microsoft emerged as the largest personal computer software company in the world by the late 1980s.( A&E Television Networks.2020) Microsoft's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer is Satya Nadella. Prior to being appointed CEO in February 2014, Nadella oversaw the company's consumer and enterprise divisions. After joining Microsoft in 1992, he soon established himself as a capable leader who could transform some of the company's largest product offerings by spanning a wide range of businesses and technologies. Nadella was vice president of the Microsoft Business Division and directed R&D for the Online Services Division prior to this. Nadella worked in Sun Microsystems' technology department until joining Microsoft. Nadella was born in Hyderabad, India, and now lives in Bellevue, Washington. He graduated from Mangalore University with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering, a master's degree in computer science from the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee, and a master's degree in business administration from the University of Chicago. Nadella acts on the boards of directors of both his alma mater, the University of Chicago, and Starbucks (microsoft.com) Leadership style Based on the information gathered and overview of Nadella it can be say that he is a democratic leader. As democratic leadership as a style of leadership aims to foster discussion and debate, increase others' influence and involvement in decision-making, and foster a sense of identity as co-creators of a community. These objectives are in line with the viewpoints on democracy of power, communication, and belonging that were covered in the preceding section. The concepts of democratic leadership are also reflected in collegial and participative leadership models, which value cooperative methods as well as shared authority and decision-making.(Wood,2019). Democratic leadership can be calling a positive as that is what Nadella is. According to Marel Fox is Nadella uses words like "growth mindset" and "empathy," which are supported by deeds, because he believes in the power of positive leadership. Positive leadership is just one style that can impact a thriving workplace culture where employees feel inspired and trusting, motivated by purpose, and prepared to collaborate with others to achieve shared goals, as we've seen with leaders who challenge command-and-control leadership styles in the past. Nadell is all about growth-focused culture, he wrote to Microsoft employees in an email that he believes to create good culture "requires us to truly understand and share the feelings of another person," He believes in the growth mindset philosophy, which focuses on how individuals and organisations are able to develop and flourish rather than holding back. Because of this theory, he feels that success, or key learnings, can be found in any situation. (Fox,2019) How ever according to Deepti Prakash the leadership of Nadella is identified as authentic leadership style which characterise, By implementing particular behaviours that are guided by beliefs, values, and words, authentic leaders support establish an environment at work where creativity is promoted and recommended. This fosters an honest and open relationship between them and their followers. Nadella's leadership style has fostered an environment of innovation and creativity. Leaders should give their followers the option of thinking and acting, and they should motivate and encourage trust in order to build positive interpersonal relationships that can foster creativity. Followers should be given the freedom and opportunity to share their opinions and ideas. Leaders must foster followers' feelings of loyalty to their company by promoting integrity, honesty, and discouraging unethical behaviour, which leads to a positive environment and trust, and thus creativity. He should also emphasise employee collaboration, learning, empowerment, positivity, empathy, and growth. Create opportunities for people's voices to be heard, as well as a successful communication channel, to establish a culture of trust that can build creativity. However Nadella authentic leadership style as a aggressive. The bold approach and visionary leadership of Nadella were increasing Microsoft's profitability. Additionally, it covers the latent dimensions of successful authentic leadership, which are highly recommended for leaders looking to improve their leadership abilities and raise profitability within their organisations in this cutthroat market. (Prakash, Bisla, Rastogi, 2021) In the other hand Kassa describes Satya Nadella leaderships style as transformational . He welcomed a change and brought Microsoft back to the forefront of the technology industry after it had become stagnant. Employees are trusting Nadella because he is real and focused on building relationships. Nadella was able to bring about change and turn Microsoft into the third US company to reach a trillion-dollar market capitalization in 2019 with the help and confidence of his staff. The technical, human, and conceptual capabilities of the leader are highlighted by the skill-based strategy. this style highlights a leader's inherent qualities, such as honesty, tenacity, and confidence in oneself. In contrast to the previous two, the behaviour approach takes into account a leadership style that prioritises relationship-building or task completion, or both. A relationship-focused leadership style that is behaviourally based includes cultivating, empowering, acknowledging, and supporting people. This strategy boosts motivation and performance on an individual basis, has a positive impact on the well-being of the organisation, and cultivates open and trustworthy relationships at all organisational levels. Behaviourally based leadership styles include transformational and authentic leadership. (Kassa,2018) Change Model Implicating Lewine change model, Microsoft went thought 3 phases of change as Unfreeze, Change, Freeze. “Changing as Three Steps: Unfreezing, Moving, and Freezing” A successful change includes therefore three aspects: unfreezing (if necessary) the present level 1, moving to the new level 2 and freezing group life on the new level. Permanency suggests that the new force field is made relatively secure against change, since any level is determined by a force field. . (Lewin, 1947a). The goal of the investigation is to establish a relationship between change model and change. This relationship explains how leaders share their knowledge to implement change, and this sharing pinpoints the stages of the change process, which in turn define the functional significance of the relationship between organisational change and change implementation.( Morgeson,Nahrgang 2005) The corporate environment had become poisonous. The business was lagging behind its rivals. and its staff members felt disappointed and unsatisfied. According to surveys, people didn't think Microsoft was headed in the right way.(Whitworth.2022) The culture need to be change, everything was so formal, meeting and relations between mangers and employees the place of spontaneity and creativity had been taken over by hierarchy and hierarchical order. ( Chaudhary,2021).Nadella aimed to change the culture to create one that would result in a happy, revitalised workplace for every employee.( Whitworth 2022). Nadella's leadership philosophies have led to the growth mindset's adoption. Instead of expecting his staff to be "know-it-alls," he encouraged "learn-it-alls" and encouraged cooperation both within and outside the company. Today, a portion of an employee's evaluation is based on how much they have assisted their teammates. Managers face the risk of pushing words rather than actions during any change in company culture, and of HR staff being the only ones aware of the change. Microsoft has made an effort to avert that outcome by incorporating the growth mindset philosophy into its everyday operations and providing its staff with growth mindset psychology training.(Stewart and Lebowitz,2020) It is now imperative for leaders throughout the organisation to demonstrate their own growth mindset through three key competencies: providing active role modelling, coaching staff to be active role models, and demonstrating a genuine concern for their personal development. Their coaching programme is well-designed, with the expectation that each leader will coach his teams and make sure that the same is carried down the line. At Microsoft, the manager position is being redesigned as part of this new leadership paradigm. The newly defined role became evident after thousands of internal surveys and focus groups: a manager empowers success by holding their team members accountable and empowered. Microsoft prioritises providing coaching skills to each of its managers. How they develop and nurture the next generation of leaders is reflected in how they motivate and encourage them. A far cry from the Microsoft Nadella inherited in 2014, Microsoft now enjoys 95% approval ratings on Glassdoor, one of the biggest job and recruiting sites in the world that also provides a database of company reviews from current and former employees, and is ranked as one of the best places to work for. ( Chaudhary,2021). As a result, Microsoft's stock price, which was $32 per share when Nadella took over as CEO, has increased to $299 per share (as of August 2021), nearly ten times higher than it was during that time. Also ranked as one of the best places to work, and the company's market share has grown. Furthermore, Microsoft has once again embraced an innovative culture. Nadella reversed this tendency, which has been known to be a silent demise for big businesses, and put Microsoft back on the path of rapid expansion.(Duff,2021) According to Microsoft executives, the company's new employee evaluation system promotes cooperation. In keeping with the general trend of businesses doing away with annual reviews and having managers converse with employees on a regular basis regarding their work, managers and employees meet frequently to discuss performance. Nadella has demonstrated his capacity to energise the entire company. While providing precision and clarity is greatly beneficial, it was insufficient to help the company achieve the success that Nadella had in mind. Furthermore, Nadella aimed to in still a sense of excitement and passion for the company y's upcoming endeavours among all staff members, particularly the top executives. When Nadella took over as CEO, he started some significant, far-reaching restructurings that put the company on the right track for cloud computing success. The company's marketing and development teams used to be in competition with one another, which led to a lazy mindset and complacency within the organisation.( Dhiraj,2022) Conclusion Nadella extraordinary skills of leading, managing and developing people had extreme impact on culture change within the company. From hierarchical organization he created new culture based on empathy and understanding employers needs. He puts a lot of attention to his workers and to develop and let them progress. There is evidence that his democratic leadership approach with positive authentic leaderships style brought the company to it best. The performance of employees shows in the numbers how the Microsoft gowned over the years under Nadella leadership The dynamic relationship between the company and the markets it visible. Implementing change model of Lewin we can confirm that the change was needed. Unmotivated bad performing team became though the change highly performed and motivated. Reference 1. A&E Television Networks.2020) https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/microsoft-founded 2. Duff,2021)https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/why-satya-nadellas-culture-shift-microsoft-needed-cameron-duff 3. Chaudhary,2021 https://www.livemint.com/news/business-of-life/how-satya-nadella-brought-a-growth-mindset-to-microsoft-11614874643362.html 4. Deepti Prakash, Meenakshi Bisla*, Shweta Gupta Rastogi.Understanding Authentic Leadership Style: The Satya Nadella Microsoft Approach, Open Journal of Leadership,Vol.10 No.2, June 2021 5. Ilies, R., Morgeson, F. P., & Nahrgang, J. D. (2005). Authentic Leadership and Eudae-monic Well-Being: Understanding Leader-Follower Outcomes. The Leadership Quar-terly, 16,373-394. 6. Lewin K. (1947c). Group decision and social change. In Newcomb T. M., Hartley E. L. (Eds.), Readings in social psychology (pp. 330-344). New York, NY: Henry Holt. 7. Microsoft website https://news.microsoft.com/exec/satya-nadella/ 8. Mekonnek Kassa, Uncovering a Leadership Style: Satya Nadella, December 2018 9. Maren Fox, 2019, Examining the Leadership Style of Microsoft CEO, Satya Nadella https://ideas.bkconnection.com/examining-the-leadership-style-of-microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella 10. Prof. Dr. Amarendra Bhushan Dhiraj https://ceoworld.biz/2022/03/24/microsoft-ceo-satya-nadella-is-the-most-successful-ceo-of-tech-industry/ 11. Prof. Dr. Amarendra Bhushan Dhiraj Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella is the most successful CEO of the Tech industry. March,2022 12. Philip A. Woods, Democratic Leadership, Centre for Educational Leadership, University of Hertfordshire, January 2019 13. Stewart and Lebowitz,2020 https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/news/case-study-how-satya-nadella-overhauled-microsofts-cutthroat-culture-and-turned-it-into-a-trillion-dollar-growth-mindset-company/articleshow/74466098.cms#:~:text=Microsoft%20is%20a%20trillion-dollar%20company%20thanks%20largely%20to,hard%20work%20and%20challenges%20are%20opportunities%20to%20learn 14. Whitworth 2022 https://www.shortform.com/blog/how-satya-nadella-changed-microsoft/