What I Learned

And lastly, thanks and gratitude are sadly underrated. Your team will be significantly more productive and happier if they feel appreciated.

Mich Mathews
Senior vice president of marketing, Microsoft

My philosophy is that business is one big fun game; it's all about strategy and facts and logic. If emotion gets in the way, it can color judgment. I also believe attitude is everything: you always have to keep perspective and bring a sense of humor to your job. I often say to people, "Hey, look. You know, no children have died here. There's always tomorrow. At the end of the day, it's only a job."

I'm a believer in connecting with people personally and knowing them as human beings. I guess some people might say that's more of a feminine quality than a male one, but I feel it's important not to lose your identity just because you're in a very male culture or an engineering culture.

You can see a mile off a woman who has confidence, who carries herself well. Confidence breeds success. It's imperative that you go into meetings prepared, know the three or four facts that add value and show you are really on top of stuff. Exude confidence and people will look at you and say, "Wow! I have faith in this person. I have trust that they're going to do a really good job. Wow! I'm going to give them the promotion."

I decided about four or five years ago that I should do a lot more to help build women leaders at the company. I've seen the impact on people who didn't have the confidence or weren't thinking about the game in the right way; they didn't have the right advocates; they didn't have the right network. It's inspiring to see these women who have now gone on to get promoted and run big parts of our business. They spread it to other women, and the ripple effect is powerful.