The following is a 2006 interview with Rhea when she was a Director at Pricewaterhouse Coopers, London. She has now started her own consultancy - Corporate DNA Consulting. The interview was handled by Nishma Gosrani for the news feature Crème De La Crème.

Rhea Duttagupta is a Director at PricewaterhouseCoopers in London. Born in London, she grew up in India before settling back in the UK. A lead practitioner on talent management and organisation development, Rhea dedicates her professional success to over ten years of international management consulting experience in cross cultural contexts (US, Middle East, East Asia, Japan, Europe, UK and India). Her clients include UK and US corporates and others including His Highness, the Crowne Prince of Dubai. She is known for her trusted advisor status with management boards, women in leadership roles and senior management teams.

A regular commentator and speaker, Rhea has featured in The Wall Street Journal, The Economist and The Conference Board. A keen writer, her first book on leadership is underway in 2007.

Featured in the 100 must inspirational women of the year, Rhea is involved in a number of humanist activities –Champions for Change by the List foundation, Asian Women’s achievements, Arab Women’s Network, and others. She has recently given twelve international scholars from the London School of Economics, an excellent insight of the UK corporate world from a female-leader perspective.

What first attracted you to the field of talent management?
The word talent has meant something for me right from childhood. It is a word I often heard at home and school. It was associated with “passion”, “not being more of the same”, “being different”. And then, unusual as it might sound my interest in art inspired me more on talent. Most paintings are more of the same; it took real talent for a masterpiece to stand out. Organisations are no different. There is a plethora of mediocrity and that can help to play the game, but to win the game you need talent, people who are “more than” and “better of” and “truly different”. Yet there was hardly anything to identify and nurture these scarce resources. I wanted to do something on shaping talent management with a real edge - that was my drive.

Is there any one personal characteristic or opportunity that you feel has opened the most doors for you?
At home, it’s been my mother and my upbringing. Striving to give me a privileged childhood while being separated from her husband in the 70s/80s was not easy. But she always encouraged me to excel in school, and nurture my interests in art, dance, and writing. She put up this wonderful poster in my room which inspired me over the years “You only live once, but if you live right, once is enough”. So that was a great starting point.

Professionally, in the last decade of my consulting career, I have been extremely fortunate to be exposed to an extraordinary range of boardroom and leadership experiences across cultures. Above all being around very senior leaders (clients and colleagues) who have genuinely invested their personal time and energy, and acted as mentors, inspiring me and allowing me to make mistakes, and learning from them.
As for personal characteristics, there is a relentless hunger in me to make the most of life, a heartfelt curiosity, and to lead and push the boundaries – I am glad I was born that way! Sometimes it can be rather frustrating, because it makes you restless, but it is also the one trait that opens endless possibilities for me.

Do you believe women find being a leader harder than men and does culture, race and nationality play a big part in this?
This is a difficult one because being honestly it’s not something I have experienced personally. At the same time I have seen other women, including close female clients and friends, face challenges. It’s almost something about having to always go that extra mile to prove themselves relative to their male counterparts. So whilst fully empathising with the issue, I would hesitate falling into a stereotype because some men can also be fantastic natural leaders and some women are less able. And vice versa.

Saying that, women need to believe in themselves more. I think it’s very much to a woman’s advantage to make use of the resources she has within (I think we are lucky in having more innate resources than men) to make her mark and be top of the game. It’s about self belief, conviction drive, and humility.

From my perspective, the corporate world is craving for some fresh thinking; some differentiation, some new insights and my gender, culture, race and nationality have always enabled just that! All three elements have created fantastic opportunities for me and the timing couldn’t be better. My advice to all women is to cherish their differences and be proud of what makes them unique.

What was the most difficult decision you have had to make in the course of your career?
Nothing really difficult during my career, except perhaps an early acknowledgement of the journey and what that would entail. I remember I cried on my first day of consulting, ten years ago, it seemed like a mountain to climb. I realised in a complex fast paced world it would be very important for me to define my own path (rather than taking its own course) acknowledging the effort and energy that would take. When I look back, I am happy I acknowledged the journey early on and decided to be persistent and not take my eye off the ball. I am lucky I married this year at 32 after having got my directorship and we don’t have children yet – because when I do, I don’t think I have to compromise on my career (or it will be less of a challenge!). I am so proud of women who can do both at the same time.

What do you believe is the biggest obstacle or barrier to more women reaching the top in business?
Two things – First of all, the old school male-world mindset still exists in some organisations and the historic biases are frozen into the corporate psyche, although it’s rapidly changing and that’s fantastic!

Secondly one of the biggest obstacles to women being on the top is women themselves! Women need to believe more, ask for more and feel less underprivileged. Again my mantra to all high potential women is “Be yourself. Be proud of being a woman”. Sometimes it’s their own perceptions which reinforce the challenge, rather than reality itself, which, from my perspective is rapidly changing!

Where did you experience your greatest challenge in business? What did you learn from the experience?
Two observations. A more serious one first. Traditionally management consultants were seen as business doctors who go and fix a problem. My greatest learning working with senior leaders across different cultures was in recognising early on, consultants and clients work in partnerships to diagnose and solve a problem together. They work in mutual partnership and for mutual favour. That helped me be more successful
A slightly less serious one – many years ago, I was in a boardroom delivering a presentation and one of the male members said “That was good, Rhea, not just a pretty face”! What was seemingly a compliment reinforced the male stereotype I talked about earlier. The comment made me conscious and I became uncomfortable of my looks especially when in a board room. I started wearing dark glasses to impose a harder look! I soon realised this was all in my mind. When you have substance and intellect, appearances don’t matter. The learning was “be who you are and with confidence and style”.

What have you done that you are most proud of in your life, professional and/or personally?
Personally and this may sound insignificant I have struck a better work/life balance after getting married. This wasn’t easy but the results are rewarding.

I have also made the time to start writing a book on my experiences of leadership as a women and blending some themes across cultures. It’s hard to find time but I am disciplined about writing a few pages a week (!)

Professionally I am happy with becoming a director at 32 and consulting with board members, and above all helping men and women get to the top – it provides me with a lot of meaning.