Great Leaders or Great Missions — Which Comes First?

Dear Friends,

In 2009, I had a great fortune meeting Steve Ballmer and had an opportunity to ask a question which was recorded on YouTube as well. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lUoGKtZwxsI) He was the CEO of Microsoft (2000 to 2014). As of May 2025, his estimated personal wealth is around $151 billion, making him the eighth-richest person in the world.

Ballmer joined Microsoft in 1980 and became Microsoft's 30th employee and the first business manager hired by Gates. Ballmer joined Microsoft with a salary of $50,000 plus 10% of the profit he generated and no equity. However, Ballmer's profit share started to balloon out of control as Microsoft grew. When Dave Marquardt (investor in Microsoft) suggested that Microsoft reorganize as a corporation instead of a private partnership, he proposed that Ballmer own 8% of the company in exchange for cancelling the profit-sharing model. Paul Allen (co-founder of Microsoft along with Bill Gates) initially disagreed, but Gates and Allen reached an agreement to give an 8% stake to Ballmer (Wikipedia).

This is called Intrapreneurship (you are an employee but you work like an entrepreneur). Sometimes, you do not need to be an entrepreneur to experience entrepreneurship. Being an intrapreneur, you can still achieve entrepreneurial goals. Another interesting insight was that although as a child he was very shy, as an adult, he became known for his excited stage appearances at Microsoft events. They were widely circulated on the Internet as viral videos (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WW2JWIv6G8). Now tell me, how many employees can get this recognition and become the 8th richest person on the earth as an intrapreneur?

Similarly, I see another intrapreneur in Chandrasekaran of Tata. He studied in Tamil medium, completed his B.Sc. and Master of Computer Applications (MCA) (no MBA from IIMs or engineering from IITs). He joined TCS in 1987 as a trainee and became CEO by 2009. He is now the first non-Parsi and professional executive to head the Tata Group as Chairman.

Of course, there is no free lunch in this world. You need to relentlessly work smart and hard and also be in the right position at the right time. Not everyone gets that position. A thousand divine actions should support you in the background. Whether you call it good karma, luck, or nature, it has a significant role in creating a career in one’s life.

Having said that, sometimes a bad decision, misguided action, or complacency can cause catastrophic damage to a career. If you see a few leaders like Kay Whitmore (Kodak) – Complacent Vision – caused Kodak to collapse; he ignored the digital camera.Warren Anderson (Union Carbide) – Negligent Oversight of process – killed thousands in the Bhopal  disaster.John Sculley (Apple) – Ego Clash with Steve Jobs (ousted him) – led Apple into decline; fired after a decade.Ken Lay (Enron) – Ethical Collapse – accounting fraud; Enron lost 99.7% value; died before a 30-year sentence.Gerald Ratner (Ratners Group) – Public Disrespect – called his own products “crap”; customers fled; lost business and job.Chen Jiulin (China Aviation Oil) – Speculative Gamble – hid $550M losses; jailed 4 years; destroyed firm credibility.

Why am I writing this story?

In fact, if you watch my conversation with Steve Ballmer, I asked one simple question –
“Do organizations with successful missions build great leaders, or do great leaders build successful missions?”

What is your viewpoint? I request you to watch the above video for Steve Ballmer’s interesting response!

Ravi Saripalle