Financial Analyst Meeting Leadership Insight

The most important thing I learned from the Microsoft Fiancial Analyst (FAM) meeting was that Steve Ballmer has learned some things recently.

In the second paragraph of his FAM keynote, Mr. Ballmer admitted that he met some shareholders and had his eyes opened.

This is a good thing for Microsoft.

Why? Good leadership, once finally exposed to negative or bad news or views, is able to discern griping from real issues. And Lordy, does Microsoft have some shareholder issues. (Raise your hand if you'd own more shares if your options weren't hanging about with Davy Jones.)

But great leaders identify real issues and address them before they become gripes and blossom into large, hairy issues that require a special trip to Wall Street in order to have their eyes opened.