RIP Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata. Here are 5 ways he was a great leader

Nintendo said today that CEO and president Satoru Iwata, 55, died on Sunday after battling a bile duct tumor for over a year.

Iwata rose to become Nintendo’s president in May 2002 – the first outside of the Yamauchi family to lead the century-old game and toys company.

He was a programmer at heart; he majored in computer science. Despite Nintendo’s woes since the rise of smartphones and smartphone-based gaming from about 2008 onwards, Iwata steered the company with aplomb. Here are five lessons in leadership that entrepreneurs and coders can learn from Iwata.

1. He was hands-on

“On my business card, I am a corporate president. In my mind, I am a game developer. But in my heart, I am a gamer.” That was Iwata’s opening to a keynote in 2005.

Even at the helm of Nintendo, he continued to think like a coder in order to stay in tune with the gaming world and what consumers want. That’s exactly the kind of thinking that technical founders need to balance with their new-found business acumen.

When needed, Iwata rolled up his sleeves and got his hands dirty even though he was the captain of the ship:

Iwata was badass. The kind of CEO who was personally debugging Smash Bros Melee to help it ship in time. And wise in business strategy.

— Phill Ryu (@phillryu) July 12, 2015

"What kind of company president is this!?" pic.twitter.com/9PzLqkXqdQ

— Phill Ryu (@phillryu) July 13, 2015

2. He saw trends coming

3. He communicated clearly with customers

4. He took a pay cut to set an example

5. He admitted when he was wrong