alt Hacker NewsI agree with you that Satya typically has a flat, measured style that comes across dry and he also stage manages himself rigorously. But it's also worth mentioning that being the CEO of a massive, high-profile public company puts him under different expectations and constraints than a long retired CEO. Nadella is still spokesperson #1 for the company, products and stock.
That said, I'm not sure we'd see a dramatically more forthright and unfiltered Satya when he's ten years out of MSFT. I think much of Satya's style is simply the way he is all the time.
Replies
There seems to be different personality clusters amongst CEO's but it is not so obvious which one is obviously better.
Elon has had good success with this brash behaviour while the others like Satya, Zucc and Sundar have taken the other route.
I think another point is that there's a huge difference between a founder-CEO (or near founder like Ballmer) and a manager/employee-CEO. The former has nothing to prove and can speak their mind, for better or worse, and the latter has to tow the company line.
Generally agree but if you look at the body language and how engaged Steve is vs. what you generally see from Satya, there is a massive difference and Satya being #1 spokesperson for the company doesn't explain it in my opinion.
Matter of fact, I'd even argue that being #1 spokesperson and giving this low energy vibe is kind of bad for how the company is seen by the public. I'd rather have the "developers developers developers" CEO over whatever Satya is.