CHALLENGE
MANAGING THROUGH VOLATILITY
Elizabeth Gaines knows how to get off to a fast start.
Since she took over as CEO of Perth-based Fortescue Metals
Group in February 2018, the stock of the world’s fourth-largest
iron ore miner has delivered a total return of 90% vs. 5% for
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 benchmark index, pushing the
company’s market value to around $20 billion. And for
BUSINESSPERSON OF THE YEAR
78
FORTUNE.COM // DECEMBER 2019
CEO Gaines in
Fortescue’s
headquarters in
Perth. In August,
the Australian
iron ore miner,
founded in 2003,
reported record
sales and profits.
tor” of the company’s
culture, no small task in
a Microsoft that Nadella
has pushed to grow
from a “know-it-all to
a learn-it-all” mindset.
Hogan has spearheaded
tweaks to Microsoft’s
HR approach, including
revising the company’s
forced-curve review
system, which encour-
aged internal competi-
tion, to measurements
that reward individual
achievement and col-
laboration. “The amount
of programmatic work
that needs to happen in
order to make cultural
transformation an ev-
eryday exercise is a fairly
sophisticated organiza-
tional capability,” he says.
Microsoft’s recent win
of a $10-billion cloud
computing contract
from the Pentagon
encapsulates the team
approach. Microsoft
emerged as a techni-
cally competent bidder
thanks to having in-
vested heavily in a sector
Amazon leads. It stayed
out of a nasty inside-
the-Beltway fracas that
tripped up others. And
because Nadella heard
out—and then over-
ruled—employees who
opposed working with
the government, Micro-
soft didn’t face a rebel-
lion that might have
given pause to contract-
awarding officials.
“CEOs can only do
what they do if they
have an amazing team,”
he says. “I’m blessed to
have that.”
ÑAdam Lashinsky
E L I Z A B E T H
GAINES
CEO FORTESCUE METALS GROUP
