RIYADH, 11 November 2006 — Nothing about the visit of Bill Gates was "normal" — except the man himself. Unlike a music or movie star, he didn't have a massive entourage surrounding him. His security was low key. On only one occasion did Gates' private security officer prevent people from approaching the Microsoft chairman.
That was when two Saudis tried to follow Gates into the restroom located near the conference suite where he'd been having a light lunch.
It's apparent that Gates has had excellent tutoring in how to handle the massive amount of attention created by his mere presence. After eating lunch privately, he came out from the conference room and graciously greeted a group of nervously giggling Abaya clad businesswomen who "just wanted to say, 'Hello.'"
Gates didn't even flinch as he was asked the same silly questions over and over again by both the public and the media.
His general tactic in dealing with ridiculous queries was to provide information on the same topic which was more relevant to his mission either as the head of Microsoft or the co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
What's it like to be the richest man in the world? Three times in four hours Gates stated in answer to this question, "My wealth is all pledged to go back to the world at large through my foundation. This means that I have a huge responsibility. I need to be able to point to things that (my foundation) has actually been able to make a difference in doing."
That requires Gates to follow an approach similar to the one he used in building Microsoft, which includes hiring smart people and setting key goals.
Saudis were curious as to how they could raise their own children to have the potential of becoming the next Bill Gates and there his advice was clear, "My parents definitely encouraged me to read," he replied. "They were very stingy on most things but I could have any books that I wanted. They also sent me to a very good school."
Plus, his parents stood back and let him follow his own life path, even when they thought that path might lead to failure. Of failure, Gates said that it was not necessarily a bad thing and that Microsoft does hire people who have had failures, "because they can have a better sense of what works and what doesn't work."
In response to a question about his own biggest failure, Gates mentioned several missteps, including one in regards to Internet search technology where he admitted that "Google has taken the leadership. But I can't call that a failure because we can overcome the slight delay there and do something better. "
Then he added, "It's like the old saying, 'just tell me where I'm going to die and I'll be careful not to go there.' So I don't know what my biggest failure is yet. Ask me in another 20 years and I hope I'll still be able to tell you that I don't know."
