588: Tara Viswanathan (CEO Of Rupa) - Handling Rejection, Creating Magical Moments, Leadership Hiring 'Must-Haves,' Learnings From Lululemon, and Keys To a Great Off-Site Retreat

Jun 23, 2024

CEO of Rupa, Tara Viswanathan, discusses handling rejection, creating magical moments for employees, importance of high expectations in leadership hiring, and keys to a successful off-site retreat. Emphasizes the difference between being nice and kind, and the essential qualities for hiring a leader like raw intelligence, communication skills, and a sense of humor.

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Intro

00:00 • 3min

Parental Influence, Confidence Building, and Leadership Lessons from Lululemon

02:31 • 20min

The Journey of Rupa: Functional Medicine and Longevity Practices

22:45 • 6min

Building Meaningful Relationships in Startup Fundraising

28:22 • 4min

Handling Rejection and Building Resilience

32:38 • 6min

Setting High Expectations and Leadership Qualities

38:35 • 16min

Creating Impact Early in Your Career

55:00 • 8min

Order our new book, The Score That Matters https://amzn.to/3VJoYFZ

Full show notes at www.LearningLeader.com

This episode is supported by Insight Global. Insight Global is a staffing company dedicated to empowering people. Please CLICK HERE for premier staffing and talent.

Rejection is a learned skill. Tara has gone through rejection therapy. Go out and ask for something crazy big. Get comfortable with being rejected. Hearing the word no. Go big.
Confidence is about keeping promises to yourself. Create evidence for yourself.
Create magical moments for the people you’re leading. Show them how much you care for them. The small touches are a big deal. The magic is in the small details.
How to have fun at your company: Fun (and culture) cannot be outsourced. You cannot delegate “culture carriers." You (the leader) are the ultimate culture carrier. It has to come from you.
"Ask for money, get advice. Ask for advice, get money."
"If it's too easy, you get soft."
It's important to set high expectations for the people you're leading. "The boss I respected the most was a hard ass and very demanding."
The difference between nice and kind:
- Nice = Soft, easy.
- Kind = Set high expectations. Hold you accountable to them. You're better long-term being kind.
Tara's "must-haves" when hiring a leader:
- Raw intelligence - How quickly can you learn? Must be a clear and critical thinker.
- Fantastic communicator
- Intensity, drive, hunger
- Sense of humor - Need to be able to laugh and have fun.
Values:
- Business owner
- Kid at heart
- Design thinking - Craft for the end-user
- Peak performance
- Be human
Keys to a great off-site retreat
- Craft for the people
- High energy
- Sense of connection - get to know each other
- Peak performance workbook - set goals
- Small touches - personalized gifts for the team (like picture frames with personalized pictures in them)
- Create magical moments to connect
- Focus on the arrival - make it special
- Eliminate loneliness - Assigned seats, name tags, conversation prompts (especially helps introverts)
Tara worked at LuluLemon while in grad school at Stanford. It was a useful learning experience for her. She worked for a world-class manager.
What Tara learned from her parents:
- Leadership is about modeling the right behaviors.
Advice - "If you want to be extraordinary, you can't fit in."
"Give way more than everybody else."
"Follow great people and be around greatness."
Tara created a 50-slide PowerPoint while going for a role as a part-time content writer. Going above and beyond for that leader left an impression and that woman who Tara impressed remains a mentor, investor, and friend to this day more than a decade later. You never know what will happen if you consistently over-deliver for people.