A interview with Rupal Patel, former CIA agent and now CEO of The Global Leadership Lab and author of the international bestseller From CIA to CEO. How CIA Techniques Will Help You at Work (Polish edition published Fall 2024), who will be a special guest at the Perspective Women in Tech Summit (June 4-5) in Warsaw.
Does the business world resemble the world of warfare?
I think comparing business to warfare is very unhelpful for many reasons, but especially because it assumes that one business’s gain has to mean another business’s loss. It doesn't work that way. In almost every situation there are enough customers/market to go around, and assuming that business has to be a zero-sum game creates much more antagonism and comparison than there needs to be. Also, thankfully, business is not a life-or-death context, but warfare is. So comparing business to warfare minimizes the stakes involved in warfare. Some lessons from warfare can be translated for use in business, but not as many as people think, and I think it’s long past-due that we stop making this comparison.
In an interview, you mentioned that a key trait of managers, in addition to knowledge and collecting as much data as possible to make good decisions, is humility. Where did you get this idea?
I think humility is is a key trait in any context, but particularly in the context of leadership, because being humble acknowledges the reality that no single person can know everything, do everything, predict everything, or have all of the answers. Leaders need to surround themselves with experts, ask for help when they need it, and admit when they don’t know something.
Be ready to admit their own weakness?
It's not weakness, it's honesty. Too many leaders make bad decisions because they feel they have to act alone to justify their position, but the best leaders know how to drive progress, growth and innovation by leveraging the knowledge of those around them and coordinating how everyone works together.
So how would you define the qualities and competencies we should be developing with an eye toward the future?
For too long in the business world, intangible skills such as empathy, effective communication, effective decision-making, leading through uncertainty and emotional intelligence have been downplayed as “soft” skills. However, these are precisely the skills that technology will not be able to replicate or replace. There is no formula or algorithm for the complex ways in which people interact, so strong interpersonal and “soft” skills will be more important “tomorrow” than ever before for leaders and professionals.
How do you define success in general?
For me, success is liking who I am, liking what I do, and liking how I do it.
And are there any gender-related traits that determine success?
No. I think each person - male or female - has a unique set of traits that can help in certain situations. The problem is that for too long, traits typically defined as “masculine” (aggressive, assertive, etc.) have been rewarded in the context of the workplace, but this has prevented many other people - men and women - who did not exhibit these traits from achieving leadership positions. Success and leadership can take many forms, and the key for leaders in any place is to identify their unique strengths and then find ways to leverage those strengths for the success of the organization.
Do you think that women in technology can change the way we create and implement innovations?
There is this false idea out there that women aren’t into tech or we have nothing important to contribute, when the reality is that the first ever computer programmer was a woman (Ada Lovelace), the person who pioneered the technology that forms the basis of WiFi, GPS, and Bluetooth was a woman (Hedy Lamarr), the person whose calculations of orbital mechanics were critical to U.S. crewed spaceflights was a woman (Katherine Johnson)... The list of women’s innovations is endless, but often hidden. Women have always been at the forefront of technology and innovation, but our stories are not being told, our contributions have historically been stolen by men who take credit for them, and the culture in many modern technological environments is unfriendly to women and discriminatory. So yes: I don't just think, I just know that women can change the way we create and innovate, because we always have.
Is there a woman who has particularly inspired you?
I don't have my own “role model,” as this question refers to. I think that part of what lies behind the concept of role models is a bit too simplistic and too external. In my opinion, having a role model requires us to look *outward* for inspiration and excellence, but every time we do that, we ignore our own potential for greatness.
So you don't get inspiration from others?
Of course I am inspired by others, impressed by others and admired by others, but I have never chosen one person (or many) that I consider to be a model of who or what I want to be. Their lives are different from mine. Their values may be different. Their circumstances, ambitions, backgrounds will be different.
So I turn the issue around and say that I myself try to be my own role model. I try to inspire and push my own self-defined boundaries. I try to prove to myself what I am capable of. I remind myself that I don't have to see something to be it - and neither do you. I can be myself so that others can see what I am, and I can see what I am capable of.
And you can be yourself so that others can see you, and you can see what you are capable of. You can be your own role model. Why not?
Thank you for the interview.
Interview conducted by Magda Tytuła
