On leaving

I didn’t set out to leave Microsoft.  Just like I didn’t set out to join Microsoft, 14 years ago.  But more on that later.

Was my whole time at Microsoft wonderful? No.  In fact I once had a truly horrible manager. It took me years to get over it. While my time at Microsoft had it’s downsides, overall it was a great experience.  I worked on a crazy number of projects and with amazing people. I am still friends with people on my very first team (and every team since).  There was never a year where I wasn’t learning.

I never planned on staying more than 5 years.  At 5 years, I thought I’d never last 10 years.  Then in my 12th year, I decided I was a Microsoft lifer.  Isn’t that how it goes? Or is it just me.  We’ll I certainly could have stayed my whole career. No doubt at a company with such breadth, the possibilities are endless.  The funny thing is that I’ve never been better setup to be able to do anything at Microsoft as I was this year.

So what the heck, right?

I’ve seen so many sides of the same company, but it has been a very long time since I’ve learned from an entirely different environment.

I’ve spent years learning what I am good at an who I am. One of the things I most value is leading smart, technical teams.  I love helping people grow and achieve more than they ever expected.  I love building happy, productive teams.  This isn’t news.  What I wanted was the opportunity to lead and learn from a different culture. So I picked my next place based on my understanding of what their leadership philosophy is. And soon I’ll see what it’s really all about.