Being an Effective Executive Leader - In conversation with Ravila Gupta
Serving as President and CEO, one is posed with multiple challenges. Navigating through challenges, resonating with employees, putting out fires — all whilst staying true to the mission of the organization, and yourself.
We are in conversation with Ravila Gupta — she’s a successful CEO, President, an executive coach and she has served on boards. All her experiences have equipped her to deal with complex problems, and have molded her mindset — and she is telling us how.
Ravila, your executive experience exposed you to high-level problems and you were able to create solutions. This is an attractive quality on a board — looking at the larger picture and acting accordingly. Tell us more about your experience as an executive and how that contributed to the mindset you hold today.
“When working as a senior executive leader, one of my responsibilities is to delegate. I need to be able to work effectively with people and get things done through the people on my team. The main skill in this becomes the ability to influence. By this I do not mean to be dictatorial in any way — but it is about understanding people’s motives, their interests and then being able to work with them and communicate in a way that will resonate with them. I do a lot of this by being a good listener. That provides me with a better understanding of a person’s perspective, where they are coming from, and what is the best way to align them to reach our desired outcomes. Moreover, it helps me identify common ground with the people I am working with, creating a stronger foundation to create sustainable solutions.
“I partly attribute my success in executive leadership and ability to solve problems to my strong intuition. I have learned over the years that my intuitive nature is my superpower. I have honed this skill over the years and given it space to grow so I can effectively use it. I can gauge a person’s mindset very quickly and the same holds for navigating certain situations. Moreover, I think this is what makes me a good coach.
“Another factor that contributed to my accomplishments as an executive is that I focus on the big picture with a strategic sense. I look at the big picture and provide oversight. When working at that level, it is important to see things as part of a larger ecosystem and not get distracted by the details.”
Thank you for sharing, Ravila.
Connect with Ravila on LinkedIn.
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