The making of a Microsoft COO
The platform you stand on
determines the height of your reach.
Bob Herbold was born in Cincinnati, Ohio to a working class family. In 1942 no one imaged baby Bob would become the COO of the largest software company in the world, Microsoft. Dad was a pipefitter that persistently encouraged his children to, “Get an education.”
An intelligence test raised Bob’s platform.
Everyone thought Bob’s sister was the smart one until he took an intelligence test for admittance to Catholic school. When the guidance counselor told mom that Bob did very well, they wondered if he was talking about the wrong kid. Years later he walked away from Case Western Reserve University with a PhD in Computer Science.
A Deli job raised Bob’s platform.
Bob spoke fondly of his High School job at a Deli/Catering business. A year after beginning he ran the register and handled all the customers, big responsibility for a H.S. student.
P&G raised Bob’s platform.
Bob spent 26 years at Proctor & Gamble. He began like any good math geek – crunching numbers. One day they told him they’d like him to spend a year in Marketing. His first thought. Am I being punished?
I chuckled, it felt good hearing Bob talk this way.
The Proctor folks told Bob to pay more attention to his career and aim very high. He wondered who they were talking to. However, in 1990, before becoming the COO of Microsoft, Bob became the Sr. V.P. of Advertising and Information Services for P&G (’90-’94).
Raising Platforms.
Platforms reflect what you believe about yourself.
Raise a person’s belief you raise their
platform and you raise their reach.
- Focus on strengths rather than weaknesses, “You’re intelligent.”
- Reward competence with responsibility, “I trust you.”
- Believe in others more than they believe in themselves, “You can go places.”
Has someone raised your platform? How?
How do you raise the platform of others?
Loved this post Dan. He sounds like a very down-to-earth man.
Hi Bill,
Bob seemed to me to be very down to earth. Thanks for the good word.
Best,
Dan
Platform raisers are needed in the world today. So many potentials waiting to be believed in. Thanks for this post.
Ochuko,
I’m getting to the place that I think raising platforms IS what leaders DO.
Best,
Dan
“The platform you stand on determines the height of your reach” – awesome words to live by…
Hi Steve,
Thanks for the comment. I’m wishing you well as the day gets closer! 😉
Best wishes,
Dan
I was blessed to have parents like Bob (my wife has always supported me in the same way). I was constantly told that I could do whatever I wanted to do if I put my mind to it.
Hi Bobby,
You are fortunate. I know many that are more beat down than lifted up.
Best,
Dan
I enjoyed this post, and I really appreciate hearing about people who have risen to business prominence without forgetting their roots.
For me, my platform has been raised by people who are active in social media who shared freely of their expertise, experience, and reach. In particular, a Gen-Yer showed me the Twitter ropes and helped me have a comfort level with it that would otherwise have eluded me.
As far as raising the platform of others, I try to be very generous with letting others use my blog and my social media presence as their springboard. When I devoted a Wordless Wednesday blog post recently to a local student’s bike ride that is raising funds for Japan (www.ride4relief.com), someone asked how many people had responded. Even though the blog itself only got one comment, I knew that it had been noticed on Facebook and who knows how many people had read but not commented? Hopefully it at least gave his cause a bit more momentum. And I know from my side that I now have a new friend – these are the kinds of good ripples that extend farther than we sometimes know.
Hi Paula,
Thank you for your comment. It’s good hearing you enjoy reading about other leaders. The interviews I’m doing are really fun for me and I hope the Leadership Freak community enjoys them too.
I’m in the same boat with you. The people I’ve met online have raised my platform in astounding ways.
Your generosity shines through here.
Best regards,
Paula is a featured contributor on Leadership Freak. Read her bio at: http://leadershipfreak.wordpress.com/paula-kiger
Thanks, Dan. Reading about and experiencing other leaders has always been a beacon of learning those things I want to do more of, and things I don’t want to do. I am fortunate to have some great people to emulate. When I was young I did a number of jobs that “raised my platform” by solidifying my strengths and interest.
After many years as a CEO I now work as a coach, to continue to help others to raise their platform, to encourage, to challenge, to help them leverage more of their strengths, and to have clarity about what they want.
I believe it is the way we evolve as the human race. It requires people committed to giving away what they know freely. From this we learn how to to tackle greater problems, including the opportunity to improve how we relate to one another.
Social media can be a wonderful platform for us to give away learning and marshal like-minded resources for very positive gains.
Your insight is so refreshing, Dan. I like the mental concept of raising people up on a platform instead of just simply supporting them.
I was mentioning to one of my co-workers recently how solid support, much like a well built ladder, is a vital trait of authentic leadership. Unfortunately in the educational world, I don’t see much of this trait. All the more reason for me to focus on the platform raising concept!
Thanks for sharing your Bob Herbold interview with us. What an exemplary leader!
Hi Jan,
Thanks for your comment.
My conversation with Bob challenged me to get more intentional about raising people up. I think I’m positive and wanting the best for others but when it comes right down to it, I found I needed to become more specific.
Best,
Dan
Has someone raised your platform? How?
How do you raise the platform of others?
Hi Ajay,
Thanks for asking. Yes several people raised my platform.
Two youth workers in my elementary school years helped me get to youth camp. My basketball coach in High School. It wouldn’t surprise me if many folks have been raised up by involvement in team sports.
How do I raise the platform?
For the people I coach I begin with helping them clearly understand their values. After that we discuss how their values find expression in the most useful/beneficial context.
Finally, I suggest they have more potential than they realized. I help them raise their thinking from what THEY can do to what they can help OTHERS do.
In my opinion, raising others means believing in them more than they believe in themselves. Encouraging, helping create steps toward progress and acknowledging their own greatness.
I find many people have been beat down. It’s pretty easy to raise a platform for them.
I think the trick is to not push them too far but far enough for them to surprise themselves.
I’ll add that I recently put a coachee in charge of the organization of a major initiative. I meet with them once a week to work through the process. It’s great seeing them begin to believe they can make significant contribution.
Well there are a few ideas.
Thanks again for asking,
Dan
Dear Dan
I agree that leader should create trust in others more than they have in them. Leader should also focus on strengths than weaknesses. It is rightly said ” Perfection is the enemy to progress”. so we should move ahead focusing on strenghts. In the process weaknesses will automatically converted into strenghts. This line is superb one” The platform you stand on determines the height of your reach and Raise a person’s belief you raise their platform and you raise their reach”.
This is the power of trust and culture. Platform is culture and trust is leadership. Leaders create culture of good platform that creates trust. My family and frineds who belief that I can do more that what I have achieved. They always push me to achieve more and I keep on raising my platform and try to fulfill their expectations. For me, It is the power of belief that encourages to raise my standard.
In turn, I do the same with others. I encouarge others to find their goal. I appreciate and push them to achieve more. I keep full faith in them, and appreciate even they do not make progress. I focus on their effort and keep them on track by reminding them their focus.
‘
Dan, impressive work you do. How’d you get Yahoo’s CEO to endorse your book?
Isn’t funny how as we get ‘comfortable’ with our new platform how it seems to slowly grow bars and has a cage-like feel and we don’t notice it. Others may and offer to us that a higher platform or standard is what we are capable of. I had one mentor consistently endorse that I could/should step up and aspire further and yet, did not see both why or how I could or should. Eventually of course, my eyes did open.
For others, I ask
In fact, I change my job recently for more responsabilities and trust, because someone believe in my potential.
So yes it’s an important retention factor.
Dear Dan,
A very interesting post with a catchy picture & the title so given.
You need a good superior/mentor to make you realize the platform level and the height that you can reach by encouraging words like “You’re intelligent”,“I trust you.” “You can go places” etc. That motivation can bring the best of you.
As a leader, of course, we can raise the platform height for others.
Platforms reflect what you believe about yourself. yes Dan you are right about platform. some one is raising my platform each day although not directly but faster than a direct way. i read a person post every day and i consider him my mentor. I am learning how leaders work, how they break the resistance wall and now I am realizing that I will be leader and I am a leader because I read Dan’s post every day.
Thank you Dan.
This reminds me of an excellent book by Steve Farber, “Greater Than Yourself”. Helping others to be what they want to be! Though there is a slight difference.
The post here suggests that others saw more in Bob than he saw in himself. Is that the case? Or is this a lesson in humility?
This seems to be a break from the “Successful people set goals and strive to achieve them” approach. Rather than pursuing a position, it appears that others recognized his abilities and the career followed.
This is certainly refreshing and suggests that he earned his position and was rewarded accordingly. Great read.