Managing in the age of AI, with former Microsoft leader, executive coach, and author Sabina Nawaz

Geek Wire

17 hours ago

Executive coach and author Sabina Nawaz explores the hidden forces that derail managers — and how to lead with intention — in her book, You're the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need). (GeekWire Photo / Todd Bishop)
This week on the GeekWire Podcast: Executive coach and former Microsoft leader Sabina Nawaz joins the podcast to talk about her new book, You're the Boss: Become the Manager You Want to Be (and Others Need) — and why she believes pressure, not power, is what truly corrupts leaders.
Management is undergoing a dramatic transformation as AI agents handle more routine work and companies including Microsoft and Amazon reduce their leadership layers, leaving fewer managers responsible for larger teams.
We discuss this thinning layer of middle management, how AI tools are changing the landscape, and why some workers no longer aspire to lead. Nawaz shares tools and tips from the book, including Micro Habits, the power of 'blank space,' and how managers can stop micromanaging and start serving as the 'container, not the content.'
She also reflects on her time advising Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer — including a memorable moment involving Ballmer, a name badge, and an umlaut — and explains why getting promoted from individual contributor into the management ranks might be the riskiest moment in a person's career.
Listen below, and continue reading for key takeaways.
AI and the 'Great Unbossing': Nawaz challenges the common refrain from managers dealing with layoffs who say they're 'doing more with less.' She says many leaders haven't yet made the mental shift to treat AI and automation as real resources — instead falling back on a scarcity mindset and personally taking on even more work.
'Is it really doing more with less?' she says. 'Because what you're truly doing is you're trading human head count for compute power.'
Managing in flatter organizations: Nawaz warns that traditional management approaches won't survive the current industry transformation. With companies like Amazon and Microsoft cutting management layers while expecting the remaining managers to oversee larger teams, she says the heroic 'sole provider' mentality is unsustainable.
'If you manage the old way, you're going to get insurmountable levels of pressure, and it's just not going to scale. It's going to fall apart,' she says.
From hierarchy to collaboration: With fewer management layers, Nawaz says it's especially important to move past the traditional command-and-control approach. Rather than managers hoarding decision-making authority based on their titles, she advocates for distributing ownership across teams.
'The fulcrum of power and ownership needs to shift from positional to people,' she says. 'It needs to shift from people who have the title of manager to all the people who are responsible for the work.'
Pressure, not power, corrupts: Nawaz's central thesis challenges conventional wisdom about leadership failures. 'It is not power that corrupts, but pressure,' she says. 'Pressure is the silent corrupter. It affects everyone. It's everywhere and constant, and it doesn't just stress us out. It changes how we act.'
Her research shows that the same person can be both 'the best boss ever' and 'the boss from hell' — depending on how they handle pressure.
Managing that pressure: So how do leaders avoid letting pressure corrupt their actions? Rather than dramatic overhauls, Nawaz suggests tiny, sustainable changes.
Examples include taking three deep breaths before delivering difficult feedback — a simple act that, as she notes in the book, helps regulate emotion and creates space to respond with intention rather than reaction.
She also recommends building what she calls the 'shut-up muscle' — holding back and letting others speak first, instead of always being the first voice in the room. In a similar vein, another tip is taking time for 'blank space': two hours of completely unplugged time each week to let solutions emerge naturally.
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Podcast audio editing by Curt Milton. You're the Boss, by Sabina Nawaz, is published by Simon & Schuster. It's also available as an audiobook, read by the author.