In the fast-paced world of business, constant innovation is key.
Microsoft Canada President Eric Gales was on campus last week to speak to Ivey students.
For Microsoft Canada President Eric Gales, that also applies to leadership skills.
“Leadership is very much a choice and you need to be willing to learn at all times,” says Gales. “The day I die is the day I stop learning.”
Gales spoke last week as part of a presentation by the Richard Ivey School of Business’s Centre for Building Sustainable Value, on directing a successful business.
“You always have to know there is a better way because leadership is about change,” says Gales, who took over the helm of Microsoft Canada just under a year ago. “Think of any leader you know and you will find a willingness to change, and the ability to drive and motivate that change in others.”
In the technology sector, staying ahead of the competition is key – “only the paranoid survive.”
“You need to have an inner-confidence; a willingness to challenge the norm and status quo and be willing to stick your neck out and challenge yourself. In the absence of that, you have nothing.”
In 2007 Microsoft Canada (with more than 900 employees) was recognized as one of Canada’s Top Employers by Maclean’s Magazine and was among the 50 Best Workplaces in Canada in Canadian Business Magazine.
“You need employees that have the capacity to look at big problems and consider different options and not just jump to conclusions.”
