Anniversaries are great times for reflection. Saturday marks the completion The last four years have been an amazing ride. After three great years in our Tampa office, I landed a role in Singapore, moving my family to the other side of the world. The following four thoughts are taking me into the future.

  1. Authenticity is absolutely fundamental to leadership, even more so in tough times. We create the space for others to bring their full, true and authentic selves to our efforts when we are doing the same.
  2. Our Diversity and Inclusion efforts are real. And — in a meta-way — we must be inclusive in these diversity efforts. Further, what inclusion looks like can vary around the world. As I settle in Asia, I’ve been struck by how openly people’s ethnic origin is discussed, particularly compared to my American experience. Colleagues comment that someone from China looks Korean, or ask whether someone on the team is Chinese or English (a broad term, meaning white European/American/New Zealand/Australian). Religious diversity in a multi-cultural world shows up in many practical ways as well. For example, a business dinner during Ramadan must start after sunset.
  3. As much as our home culture shapes us, people are people wherever you are. We are all individuals. We are all complex, multi-faceted, and ever-changing. We are all figuring it out, learning to be better, learning to be our best versions of ourselves.
  4. Finally, everything we do, we do together. We are at our best when we’re lifting each other up. We all have different strengths and may be on different cycles of energy. A piece of chocolate dropped on my desk can be just the thing that gets me through the afternoon. When my seatmates do this, I feel seen and cared for and, well, I get chocolate. On a broader scale, we all go through phases of our lives, times when we are more capable of helping and time when we are in more need of help. Having people around us that care without judgment makes everyone better.

My time at Microsoft has been amazing. I have the opportunity to work with the best people in the world, solving the toughest challenges with the best tech. Our family’s move across the world to settle in Singapore has given me the opportunity to work with tremendous colleagues across Asia and to learn an entire new part of the business.

I’m excited to see what the next year will bring!