Lesser Known Facts About The Billionaire Philanthropist Melinda Gates
Melinda French Gates is an American philanthropist former computer scientist and general manager at Microsoft. She runs the worlds wealthiest charitable foundation and is a pioneer of global health gender equality education among other causes. Guy Razs talk with Melinda Gates on his Luminary podcast Wisdom From The Top Its packed with insights from her personal and professional life.
¡°If you are successful, it is because somewhere, sometime, someone gave you a life or an idea that started you in the right direction.¡±
- Melinda French Gates
Consistently ranked as one of the world¡¯s most powerful women, Melinda French Gates is an American philanthropist, former computer scientist and general manager at Microsoft.
She runs the world¡¯s wealthiest charitable foundation and is a pioneer of global health, gender equality, education, among other causes. Quite naturally, she¡¯s a role model for people across the world.
I was overjoyed when I came across Guy Raz¡¯s talk with Melinda Gates on his Luminary podcast ¡°Wisdom From The Top¡±. It¡¯s packed with insights from her personal and professional life.
Luminary
Here are some of my favourite moments from the podcast-
¡°In High School, I Managed The Drill Team¡±
In senior year, she was the captain of the school¡¯s drill team. This meant getting all the girls on a bus on friday night to be driven across Texas, making sure they showed up with their boots on and pompoms ready - Melinda was a leader from the get-go.
She¡¯d take a stand for the girls who couldn¡¯t make it, had fool-proof backup strategies and had a successful stint at managing such a huge team.
¡°If you can manage 150 high school girls, I think you can manage almost anything¡±, she said.
¡°Sometimes You¡¯re Just Put In The Right Place At The Right Time¡±
After her graduation, Melinda had a standing offer from IBM. She also wanted to apply to Microsoft, which was a small, upcoming company then.
When the hiring manager at IBM called her up, she opened up about interviewing at Microsoft and keeping that option open as well. The hiring manager¡¯s response stunned her. She said, ¡°If you get a job offer there (Microsoft) you should take it¡±. She spoke about how IBM would be a fabulous place for Melinda, but at a company like Microsoft that¡¯s growing so fast, Melinda¡¯s growth would be meteoric.
We couldn¡¯t agree more with the HR at IBM!
After 1.5 Years Of joining Microsoft, Melinda Considered Leaving The Job
Melinda speaks about the rash work culture at Microsoft - how she used to work 12 hour shifts, employees used to fight tooth and nail to defend their point, among other things.
She discussed how she didn¡¯t like herself anymore, she¡¯d become short with people and overtly curt too. Even her best friend from high school tried to guide. ¡°Life is about more than just smart people¡±, she said.
That was a wake-up call for Melinda. She decided to be herself at work, without worrying about people¡¯s judgement. She became kinder and had her employees back. In no time, she was managing bigger teams and attracting talent from across the company.
¡°I Absolutely Did Not Discuss Microsoft Issues With Bill On A Date Or At Home Or Wherever We Would Be¡±
While they¡¯d told the office staff that they¡¯re dating, she would never discuss Microsoft issues with Bill anywhere outside of work. The biggest proof was - when they¡¯d go into meetings, Bill would be as surprised as anyone else in the room to hear her inputs and suggestions.
Melinda believed that having these boundaries was the only way teams could work for her & she could be candid with them.
In addition to this, Melinda also discusses her charitable ventures in great detail. In the course of the podcast, she talks about the Gates Learning Foundation, her big mission ¡°global health¡±, malaria vaccines, and how their foundation is helping relieve the pain and suffering of today.
This 50-minute podcast on Luminary is full of life lessons, inspiration and hope. So if you¡¯re the kind who likes an insightful yet uplifting podcast, this one¡¯s for you. Click here to hear Melinda Gates get candid on Guy Raz¡¯s ¡°Wisdom From The Top¡±.
To explore the complete list of podcasts on Luminary, click here.
