June 21, 2024 - CIA to CEO Rupal Patel and (Religious) Executive Search William Vanderbloemen

School for Startups Radio

Rupal Patel – Founder of Entreprenora and Author of From CIA to CEO: Unconventional Life Lessons for Thinking Bigger, Leading Better, and Being Bolder

My job at the CIA was in many ways even cooler then people would
imagine it to be. It’s an incredible place full of some really smart people
doing really groundbreaking work. No one fit a mold.

Rupal Patel’s high-octane career has taken her from military briefing rooms in jungles and war zones to corporate boardrooms and international stages. During her thrilling career as an analyst and field agent at the CIA, she advised Four-Star Generals, earned War Zone Service Medals, and was recognized by the CIA Director for “superior support to the President of the United States.” After leaving the CIA, she earned her MBA and started her first award-winning business over a decade ago. Called a “Power Woman” by Harper’s Bazaar Magazine and a “super-strategist” by her clients, Rupal is a sought-after international speaker, corporate consultant, and executive advisor who has spoken in front of thousands and delivered leadership and talent development programs for Fortune 500 companies around the globe and the White House. Her trailblazing work has been incorporated into the MBA and Executive MBA programs at elite business schools across the US and UK where she serves as visiting faculty, and has been featured in USA Today, Business Insider, and other prominent media outlets. In 2023, Rupal was named “One of the Most Influential Women of the Year.” Her commitment to developing the next generation of leaders and change-makers extends into her pro bono work for Virgin Startup, and through her roles as Entrepreneur in Residence at London Business School and Alumni in Residence at the University of Chicago. She is the author of the international best-seller From CIA to CEO: Unconventional Life Lessonsfor Thinking Bigger, Leading Better, and Being Bolder, which has been translated into multiple languages and been hailed as an “essential manual for entrepreneurs” and “one of the best business books,” and and her TED talk explores the power of “owning your weird” to unleash personal excellence.
William Vanderbloemen – Founder and CEO of Vanderbloemen Search Group and Author of Be the Unicorn: 12 Data-Driven Habits that Separate the Best Leaders from the Rest

Speed! Responsiveness or speed, the bias toward getting back to people
really quickly, is an easy separator of the best from the from the rest. If
within 60 seconds of a lead coming in to a website, if you respond personally
and intentionally, you have a 99% chance of having a sales call with that client.

William Vanderbloemen has been leading the Vanderbloemen Search Group for 15 years, where they are regularly retained to identify the best talent for teams, manage succession planning, and consult on all issues regarding teams. This year, Vanderbloemen will complete their 3,000th executive search. Prior to founding Vanderbloemen Search Group, William studied executive search under a mentor with 25+ years of executive search at the highest level. His learning taught him the very best corporate practices, including the search strategies used by the internationally known firm Russell Reynolds. Prior to that, William served as a Senior Pastor at one of the largest Presbyterian Churches in the United States.