Rachel Kyte: Leadership Can Set Society Right to Tackle Future Challenges

Rachel Kyte, Dean of The Fletcher School at Tufts University is a successful professional in many fields. In this interview with Diplomat Magazine, Rachel identified influences that contributed to her growth and explains that with the right leadership, society can find answers to future problems.

Those reading your biography or listening to your speeches might want to be as successful as you are, could you please tell us how you managed to have such a successful career?

We all stand on the shoulders of those who come before. I am the first in my family to go to university from school, but my values, work ethic and interest in nature and literature, come from people for whom educational opportunities weren’t there.In school and as a young woman, people pushed me on, often when my own lack of self-confidence would have held me back – a head teacher, a girl guide leader, a boss, a mentor – just a light touch on the balance of life. Now I try to do the same thing. But advice for people at the beginning of their careers – sometimes we are worried about the job title, but the person you work for and those you work with are the critical factors in a job choice. You can learn so much from working for good people.

In your role as a female leader, have you faced any barriers to success or growth and how did you overcome them?

There were the people who said a woman couldn’t do the job. There were the people who thought the job was too difficult – couldn’t be done – and so they gave it to the young woman because if she failed it didn’t really matter – so a glass ceiling and a glass cliff. But I have found over the years that I have collected a remarkable network of other women leaders and we buoy each other.

Successful career journey is mostly full of sacrifices, throughout your career, what sacrifices have you made?

Time with my kids and with my family. There have been times when the travel kept me away and I missed key moments despite my best efforts to not do so. It’s not so much birthdays and holidays – I would invariably get back for those – but the chance conversations that are critical for both you as a parent and for children.

What are some strategies that could help women succeed at work?

Well, especially after noting the tension between family and career – women need to ensure they have effective support networks, professionally and personally, be kind to yourself – no one can have it all and we must change the breakdown of who does what in the unpaid labor of home and family – while we do that – be kind – you are doing your best.

What is your definition of leadership and how can a great leader change society?

I don’t have one definition of leadership- but it is about being able to pull people forward, push them from behind – having a vision, understanding where people have come from and being able to bridge the two. In the past few years as we face challenges where the past is not a predictor of the future – climate change, zoonotic pandemics and AI – leadership is also about reciprocal vulnerability – having the confidence to say that we don’t have all the answers today, but together we will find them. Those leaders that practice this have done better in managing fast moving agenda.

Over the years, what has been your most valuable leadership lesson?

Trust your gut and do the hard things. Sometimes you know what needs to be done, but the easiest thing is to go along, or not make the change – invariably it would be better to have moved sooner and incisively.

What is the reason of your visit to Georgia and how well do you know this country and its people, considering that you have visited Georgia several times in your previous roles?

I am delighted to visit Georgia where The Fletcher School has deep ties and many alumni over the years. I am also pleased to be in this part of the world as the world experiences economic and political shocks. It is important to understand how the world looks and feels from different vantage points. I am also pleased to visit with former and current colleagues indifferent organizations committed to ensuring Georgians and businesses that locate here can thrive.

What would be your main message to the conference participants?

In fragile political situations, or in changing geopolitics,keeping small and medium sized businesses working and continuingto find ways for investment to flow to them is essentialboth in resilience to change but also as the foundation for futuregrowth. The economic vibrancy of this sector is key to stabilityand growth and cannot be forgotten.

What would you do to improve the world if you were given world leadership for a year?

Shift investment to clean energy and remove harmful subsidies responding to the UN and UN Secretary-General’s call for stepped up action to mitigate carbon emissions urgently. Find a way to put an effective price on carbon, globally.

Make changes to the Bretton Woods Institutions so that they take more risk to support increased public and private investment flows and work to reschedule debt and bring China alongside the Paris Club so that countries can invest in their own development.

Clarify how the trade regime can work for clean and green resilient growth and development.

Oh, and so many more things – from how social media firms cork to control disinformation, to steering funds to early childhood education and healthy sustainable diets and clean water for everyone (the SDGs). Oh and tackling corruption at FIFA – football should be fair for everyone!!