| BUSINESSWEEK ONLINE : MAY 17, 1999 ISSUE | ||||||||
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| COVER STORY
'I'm Trying to Let Other People Dive in before I Do' Steven A. Ballmer's explosive temper is legendary. Back in his bad old days, before being appointed Microsoft Corp.'s president nine months ago, Ballmer would shout himself hoarse if a lieutenant didn't do his bidding fast enough. His motivational techniques drew heavily from Attila the Hun. When he directed the company's Windows product group, he put the fear of God into engineers by bellowing at them and pounding a baseball bat into his palm. And don't forget his outburst last May after the Justice Dept. sued Microsoft for antitrust law violations. ''To heck with Janet Reno!'' he blurted out. Today, you'll find a tamer Ballmer. Since he took over running Microsoft's day-to-day operations, the 19-year veteran has worked hard to fashion a leadership style that's diplomatic rather than bullying--more Eisenhower than Patton. He still has the booming voice, but what he does with it is more constructive. ''I'm trying to temper myself. I don't think I've mellowed. But I try to redirect my energy,'' he says, bursting into a raucous laugh. The difference is obvious to people who know Ballmer well. ''He's certainly changed. He's calmer,'' says Microsoft board member Jon A. Shirley. The fact is, Ballmer, 43, is coming into his own as Microsoft's president--and putting his mark on the company to boot. Since Ballmer got the job, he hasn't been content just to make the trains run on time. He's spearheading the effort to reshape Microsoft (MSFT). He dreamed up a plan--which he calls Vision Version 2--for energizing employees, focusing them on customers, and broadening their outlook far beyond the narrow confines of the PC and Windows. WILD CHEERS. It's quite a different role for Ballmer. He has long played loyal sidekick to Chairman William H. Gates III. The two met as undergraduates at Harvard in 1973. Both were math whizzes, but Ballmer was more outgoing. He managed the college football team, the Harvard Crimson newspaper, and the student literary magazine. Ballmer also was more firmly rooted in day-to-day tasks than the absent-minded Gates. Once, after Gates left his dorm door and window open to weather and burglars when he departed for Christmas vacation, a watchful Ballmer battened down the place for him. Gates eventually dropped out of Harvard to form Microsoft. But he didn't forget Ballmer. In 1980, he coaxed his pal to leave Stanford business school to join the fledgling company and whip into shape its chaotic business operations. The offer: A $50,000 salary and 7% of the company--a stake now worth nearly $20 billion. Later, Gates called on Ballmer to goose delivery of Microsoft's crucial Windows operating system. Then he relied on his friend to build a sales organization to compete with IBM in large corporate accounts. Ballmer was always the passionate heart of the company. He led wild cheers at company meetings--leaping around on stage like a burly Mick Jagger. On a dare, he once dove into a pond on the company's Redmond (Wash.) campus in November. Charismatic as he was, Ballmer always remained in Gates's shadow. Now Gates is sharing the limelight. ''Of the upper management at Microsoft, Steve's the one that gets it,'' says a former company executive. Not only does Ballmer get it, but he's doing something about it. As part of Vision 2, he hopes to transform a culture where he and Gates made too many decisions themselves. Now, he's pushing authority down into the ranks. And he's more inclined to listen to subordinates before he speaks. At a review of the Consumer Windows Div.'s product plans on Apr. 30, for instance, he made polite suggestions to managers, rather than quickly telling them what they ought to do. ''I see him coaching more than in the past--as opposed to pushing,'' says Bill Veghte, the group's general manager. Ballmer admits his biggest challenge is delegating. ''I'm used to diving in deeply,'' he says. ''Now I'm trying to let other people dive in before I do.'' Ballmer's getting atta-boys for his efforts. Gates praises the way he shepherded Microsoft's new E-commerce strategy. The company hopes to get 1 million businesses to use its software to create electronic stores linked to the MSN Web portal. ''I think it's a brilliant idea,'' says Gates. Others say Ballmer has notched up the level of teamwork in the company by forming a Business Leadership Team--14 managers who meet monthly to coordinate strategies across the operating units. ''Early days, but signs are good,'' says Paul A. Maritz, executive vice-president in charge of the Developer Group. Ballmer appears willing to do whatever it takes to make Microsoft successful. And that includes giving up his beloved baseball bat. In late March, when marketing vice-president Deborah N. Willingham spotted him with the bat in a hallway and urged him to be careful, he handed it over to her. ''He was saying you're the leaders--the bat swingers. It's a new world,'' Willingham says. Ballmer still unleashes his famous temper now and then--but at least he isn't swinging a bat anymore. By Steve Hamm in New York _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ BACK TO TOP |
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 Remaking Microsoft COVER IMAGE: Remaking Microsoft TABLE: Building Microsoft 2.0 ``I'm Trying to Let Other People Dive in before I Do'' RESUME: Steven Anthony Ballmer The Five Facets of Bill Gates's Tech Vision Q&A with the Visionary-In-Chief ONLINE ORIGINAL: Why Microsoft Shareholders Should Cheer the AT&T Deal INTERACT E-Mail to Business Week Online | |||
