Associated Press

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES

It was a fleeting moment once the camera had gone off, but some say it’s indicative of the leadership style Satya Nadella brings to his new job as CEO of Microsoft Corp.

Nadella’s impromptu town-hall webcast had interrupted business meetings between Microsoft employees and outside partners at the company’s Executive Briefing Center in Redmond, Wash. Hours earlier, he had been named only the third leader in company history. When the brief web-cast was over, he didn’t want to hog the limelight.

“If you have to get back to [a meeting] because it’s more interesting or important, please...,” Nadella said as the town hall transitioned into a light reception.

The gesture is just one example of Nadella’s calming, collegial style, which stands in stark contrast to the blustery, passionate, rally-the-troops approach employed by Microsoft’s previous CEO, Steve Ballmer.

Experts on leadership say the change in tone is a necessary cultural shift for a mature company transitioning into new businesses while letting go of past successes and missed opportunities.

“It’s very symbolic,” says Suresh Kotha, a professor at the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business in Seattle. “I think that sends a very strong message, that work is important.”

“He’s saying ‘I’m here to help you, I’m humble, I’m willing to listen,’” Kotha says. “Symbolically I think it’s very important to see he’s separating himself from Steve Ballmer.”

Richard Metheny, a management coach for executive search firm Witt/Kieffer, latched onto comments Nadella made in introducing himself as CEO, about how he buys more books and signs up for more online courses than he could possibly finish.

“It means he’s open to ideas, open to others,” Metheny says.