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When Asha Sharma became CEO of Xbox earlier this year, it wasn\u2019t the culmination of a carefully plotted path to the corner office at one of the world\u2019s biggest gaming brands. If anything, it was a reaffirmation of a philosophy she\u2019d followed for years: instead of dreaming of the future, focus on excelling at the job in front of you.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never obsessed on what I wanted to be when I grew up,\u201d Sharma said at Fortune<\/em>\u2019s Brainstorm Tech conference in Aspen, Colorado, on Tuesday.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI only obsessed on what I wanted to do\u2014whether it was selling coupon books or putting on concerts\u2014so I could raise money, so I could have my lunch money\u2026whether it was being the best at taking out the trash at the park that I worked at, I just tried to obsess on being great at what I was doing, so I can earn the next job.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That mantra traces back to her roots in the Midwest, where she earned a business degree from the University of Minnesota, and launched a park center for at-risk teenagers in Minneapolis. From there, she built a career that zigzagged through marketing at Microsoft, a COO stint at startup Porch Group, product leadership roles at Meta, and a COO post at Instacart before returning to Microsoft in 2024 as president of CoreAI product. <\/p>\n Each move looked less like a master plan and more like someone who kept proving herself until the next door opened.<\/p>\n Now in her late 30s, Sharma was tapped in February to replace long-serving gaming chief Phil Spencer\u2014a move that raised eyebrows given her non-gaming background. The business she inherited hasn\u2019t exactly been humming: according to Microsoft\u2019s most recent earnings report, Xbox hardware revenue fell 33% year-over-year, with content and services down another 5%. In many ways, Sony\u2019s PlayStation and Nintendo\u2019s Switch have pulled ahead in the console wars, and the pressure on Sharma to reverse course has been loud.<\/p>\n But her early moves have at least injected new energy into the brand. She cut the price of Xbox\u2019s Game Pass service\u2014a widely praised call\u2014and at Brainstorm Tech this week, hinted at new exclusive game offerings and more flexible consumer plans. Her operating philosophy on consumers, she said, mirrors the one that got her to the job: \u201cearn every single player.\u201d<\/p>\n The social media response to her ascent has been broadly warm. \u201cHiring her may be the single best thing Microsoft has done,\u201d read the top comment on Fortune\u2019s<\/em> Instagram post of Sharma discussing AI in gaming\u2014racking up more than 5,000 likes.<\/p>\n \u201cI think it\u2019s really special to be the CEO of Xbox,\u201d she concluded on stage with Fortune<\/em>. \u201cIt\u2019s beyond my wildest dreams.\u201d<\/p>\n Sharma is part of a broader pattern among business leaders who admit career growth often comes less from chasing titles and more from focusing on excellence in the role already in front of you.<\/p>\n Ron Vachris, now CEO of Costco, has described a similar philosophy in his own rise through the company. Earlier this year, he said advice from his father shaped his approach to career progression: \u201cDon\u2019t chase a title. Don\u2019t chase anything big. Just go make yourself your own success.\u201d<\/p>\n Similarly, the CEO of hotel search company Trivago, Johannes Thomas, said that going with the flow actually can be a secret career unlocker\u2014and it elevated him to the C-suite.<\/p>\n \u201cI never had concrete plans in my life,\u201d Thomas told Fortune<\/em> last year. \u201cI just followed where the energy was, where my curiosity was.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think the more you stay adaptive and do different things and not be too focused in one thing and not stay in the comfort zone for too long, I think the more likely are your odds of having a thriving future,\u201d Thomas added.<\/p>\n Even Sharma\u2019s boss has echoed that mantra. Speaking with LinkedIn in 2023, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said that especially early in his career, he always felt it was important to focus less on the next job\u2014and more on how he can be successful with his current tasks.<\/p>\n \u201cI felt the job I was doing there was the most important thing,\u201d Nadella said. \u201cI genuinely felt it. And then of course it helped me get my next job.\u201d<\/p>\n The best acceleration advice he ever got, he\u2019s said, came from a manager who pushed him to think bigger: \u201cWhat if you thought of your job not as your job but as my job\u2014and what would you do?\u201d<\/p>\n However, Nadella revealed that some of the best career acceleration advice he ever received came from a manager who encouraged him to expand his view of responsibilities: \u201c\u2018Hey, what if you did a thought experiment and thought of your job not as your job but as my job, and what would you do?\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nXbox has fallen behind Sony and Nintendo\u2014and Sharma is banking on new energy<\/h2>\n
Like the new leader of Xbox, the CEOs of Costco and Microsoft have embraced flexibility over a 10-year career map<\/h2>\n