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Chief in Tech S1E10 - Rashmi Kumar: My Path to the C-suite · Chief in Tech Deep Dive Shortcast

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  Welcome to the Deep Dive. We're your shortcut
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  to strategic knowledge, taking complex sources
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  and pulling out the key insights you can use.
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  And today we're looking at personal and professional
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  transformation. Not just the ideas, but the real
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  practical principles used by a leader who made
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  it to the C -suite in tech. a really tough, fast
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  -moving field. Yeah, we want to get past the
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  usual buzzwords. We're really digging into the
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  specific things, sometimes the uncomfortable
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  things that actually lead to success. Like, what
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  really drives growth on purpose? How do you handle
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  massive risks? Right, and how do you build your
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  own sort of personal system for innovation? And
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  the sources, they really circle around this core
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  idea. If you're comfortable, you're probably
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  not growing. you're stagnating. So we're going
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  to explore this whole framework for, let's say,
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  sustained discomfort and how that way of thinking
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  really fuels innovation. OK, let's unpack this
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  because it sounds like the whole foundation,
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  the starting point for this leader success, it
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  comes down to something seemingly simple, but
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  something that takes real professional guts,
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  relentlessly asking why. It sounds basic, doesn't
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  it? Yes. Gut. The sources are clear. Asking why.
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  again and again, is, well, the most powerful
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  tool there is for real dialogue, for deeper insight.
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  It's the difference between just looking at data
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  and actually getting the why behind it, the cause,
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  the implications. Exactly. And this means, for
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  you listening, you need to think about what you're
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  doing with your seat at the table. It's not just
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  about being there. No. You have to actually use
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  that position, challenge the assumptions, ask
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  the questions, even if everyone else seems ready
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  to just move on. That takes courage, like you
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  said. A specific kind, yeah. The courage to dig
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  for what's real, even if it makes things awkward
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  or shows that maybe the established way isn't
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  the best way. So critical thinking isn't just
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  a nice -to -have skill. No, it's mandatory. It's
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  a requirement for actually moving forward strategically.
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  Okay, but let's get practical. The advice given
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  is call it out right then and there. if something
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  feels off, if you disagree, how do you actually
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  do that in a high stakes meeting without derailing
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  things or looking like you're just being difficult?
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  That's the tricky part, isn't it? It's not about
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  being aggressive. It's framed as being helpful.
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  Ah, OK. See, if you hold back a really fundamental
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  question, you're actually hurting the whole effort.
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  The idea is to phrase your why. Like, hey, if
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  we just clarify this assumption now, will the
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  whole project be stronger? Rather than just,
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  I don't get it. Exactly. It's about pushing the
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  collective thinking forward, not just showing
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  you have a question. That makes sense. So that
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  courage to ask why. It connects directly to the
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  next big theme, doesn't it? This whole idea of
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  growth needing discomfort and calculated risk.
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  Yes, absolutely. We heard this consistently from
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  the source material. The biggest lesson, personally
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  and professionally, the value in actually seeking
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  out discomfort. If you want to grow, you have
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  to step outside what you know, what's comfortable.
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  You have to push your limits. And this is where
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  the story gets really interesting. The source
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  talks about a huge risk they took. A life -changing
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  one. The move to the U .S. Right. With a spouse
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  and two four -year -old twin boys, just based
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  on the idea of finding new professional opportunities,
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  that decision apparently reshaped everything.
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  And that's not a small thing. That's a massive
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  gamble involving the whole family. But the crucial
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  word is calculated. It wasn't random. It was
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  based on seeing that staying put, staying in
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  the predictable zone, meant stagnation. This
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  is what defines a transformation person. Someone
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  who finds routine difficult. Yeah, the source
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  says, if my today look like yesterday and my
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  tomorrow will look like today, it becomes difficult.
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  They actively look for the change. And it's fascinating
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  how that huge real -life risk connects to a sort
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  of daily philosophy that Kobe Bryant analogy
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  comes up here. Always trying to ratchet it up
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  by an inch. Yeah. It's such a great metaphor
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  because it's not just sports, it applies everywhere.
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  What's that extra inch of challenge you can take
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  on this week? Maybe it's a project slightly outside
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  your expertise. Or leading that tough meeting,
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  challenging senior people perhaps. Growth happens
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  when you do things. When you try that extra inch,
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  see what happens, and you venture into that unknown
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  space. Okay, so if you embrace that transformation
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  mindset, constantly pushing, where does that
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  lead in today's business world? It seems to point
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  straight towards digital transformation. And
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  crucially, the role a tech leader needs to play.
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  And digital transformation, it's just a necessity
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  now. It's not some buzzword. Think about your
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  own life, booking flights, restaurants, paying
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  bills. It's all digital. Exactly. Consumers demand
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  it. So businesses have to adapt. They don't have
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  a choice. But this changes the game for tech
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  leaders, doesn't it? It's not just about implementing
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  the latest cool tool. No. Definitely not. The
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  focus has to shift completely. You need to look
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  at business processes end to end. How do we use
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  tech to get real, measurable business outcomes?
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  So tech people need to stop thinking like just
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  tech people. And start thinking like business
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  leaders? That's the toughest leap for many. You
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  have to truly understand how the company makes
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  money, how it creates value for customers, or...
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  how it runs efficiently inside. Right. And any
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  tech project must tie directly back to those
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  business goals. You can't just do innovation
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  for innovation's sake. That's just wasting time
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  and money. The focus always has to be on the
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  end user, solving their problems, adding value.
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  Always. I want to unpack some of that C -suite
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  language we came across. The source mentions
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  connecting the dots east -west and north -south.
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  What does that actually mean in practice? It's
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  about breaking down silos, you know, the walls
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  between departments. East -West could be linking,
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  say, sales and marketing insights directly with
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  your supply chain planning. North -South is more
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  about the vertical link, connecting the big picture
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  strategy from the executives all the way down
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  to what people are doing on the front lines.
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  So it's about seeing the whole system. Exactly.
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  If you only fix a tiny problem in one department,
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  like optimizing one marketing tool, that's just
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  a point solution. A real business leader thinks
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  systemically. They understand the whole value
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  chain and solve problems across it. And to understand
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  that whole value chain, you need a broad skill
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  set, right? Which brings us to the next key point.
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  Being really intentional, almost selfish about
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  your own development. Yes, this is really practical
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  advice. You have to manage your career with your
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  own agenda. Are you consciously building new
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  skills every year? Are you adding more value?
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  You can't just wait for someone else to plan
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  your growth. If you do, you'll probably fall
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  short. You need to drive it. And the sources
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  say building that kind of indispensable skill
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  set means getting experience across different
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  areas, different industries, different technologies.
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  But importantly, they point out, you can often
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  do that within one large company. By moving around.
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  Yeah, moving between functions. Maybe start in
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  a client -facing role, then move into finance
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  or HR or operations. Get that broad perspective.
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  There's a great example given, wasn't there,
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  about early career training? At Tata Steel. The
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  leader started as a metallurgical engineer, but
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  spent a year learning the entire business, from
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  raw materials to customer delivery, finance,
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  everything. That kind of experience is invaluable.
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  It teaches you that core business principles
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  are transferable. Once you understand how value
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  is created, really understand it, you could apply
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  that thinking anywhere. So you become the driver,
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  not the passenger in your career. You make the
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  news, you don't just report it. That's a good
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  way to put it. And recognition. The sources say
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  that's just a byproduct. If you focus on making
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  a real impact, driving real change and innovation,
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  the recognition tends to follow. But making that
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  impact sticking to your own agenda... That takes
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  some serious self -awareness and that's where
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  this idea of a personal board of directors comes
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  in. Yes, and this isn't just about having mentors
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  who pat you on the back. Right. Your personal
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  board should be people you genuinely aspire to
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  be like. People operating at the level you want
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  to reach. And the crucial difference. You have
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  to explicitly ask them for critical feedback.
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  Yeah. The tough stuff. Yeah. Not just encouragement.
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  That's the hard part. How do you set that up
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  so they actually give you the unvarnished truth?
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  You have to be direct. Go to them and say, look,
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  I need you to tell me what I'm missing. Where
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  are my blind spots? What political currents am
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  I not seeing? You're basically asking them to
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  be your toughest critic. Exactly. You need that
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  counterbalance, especially when you're taking
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  big swings aiming high. Because the sources say
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  you don't expect 100 % success when you're pushing
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  boundaries. Yeah. You shoot higher, except some
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  misses, but you need that network giving you
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  the objective reality check. OK, so let's bring
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  this all together. To sustain this kind of high
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  impact transformation, Two final things seem
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  essential, inclusion and resilience. Right. And
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  inclusion, again, is framed as a business necessity.
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  It's not just the right thing to do, although
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  it is. Inclusive teams simply perform better.
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  They get better results. The source used that
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  phrase, if you want to go far, go together. Simple
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  but powerful. And for leaders, especially those
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  from technical backgrounds, engineers, for example,
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  who are often solution focused, it means shifting.
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  Shifting from being the person with all the answers
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  to being the leader who asks the right questions.
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  To unlock the team's potential. Exactly. And
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  making sure those quieter voices, the ones that
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  might hold crucial insights, actually get heard.
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  You need to amplify them. And all this happens
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  against a backdrop of constant change, constant
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  disruption, which demands resilience. Huge amounts
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  of resilience. But resilience here isn't just
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  about toughing it out. It's defined more actively.
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  It's about moving fast. Yes, sometimes falling
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  down. But the key is getting back up fast. Recovering
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  quickly. That's the critical part. So when things
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  inevitably go wrong, when there's failure or
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  disruption, you need the systems and the culture
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  to learn from it immediately. Right. Learn fast,
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  make sure it doesn't happen again, and then get
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  back on track, driving to that next milestone
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  even faster than before. That cycle speed, failure,
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  learning, rapid recovery, that's what keeps high
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  impact change going over the long haul. Precisely.
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  It's the engine that sustains transformation.
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  So, what does this all mean for you listening?
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  It seems that the path to being a real catalyst
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  for change involves, well, intentional self -critique,
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  taking strategic risks, sometimes huge ones like
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  moving your family across the world, and leading
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  by asking brave questions, not just having answers.
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  And we've heard that recognition should ideally
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  just follow naturally from making a real impact.
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  But here's a final thought to chew on. What if
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  you were consistently making a difference, adding
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  real value, but that recognition just isn't coming?
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  Thinking about that personal board director's
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  concept, what specific part of that strategy
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  could you, or maybe should you, leverage to become
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  your own best advocate? How do you ensure your
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  significant impact is actually seen and valued
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  by the organization when it isn't happening automatically?
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  Something to think about. Harness that power
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  of transformation within yourself. Be courageous,
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  be critical, and never stop looking for that
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  extra inch of growth.