Everything is Rented: Leaving a Leadership Legacy Beyond Your Title


In this week's Proc N Roll, Conrad and Natasha Gurevich sat down for a rare live, in-studio jam session at Graphite HQ. Fresh off her time teaching at the World 50 / Next Leader program at Sundance Mountain Resort, Natasha shared some incredibly powerful insights on leadership philosophy, integrity, and the realities of executive life.  

Here is a breakdown of the main topics and takeaways from this insightful conversation.

1. Everything is Rented

• A Temporary Lease: Your title, your salary, your recognition, and even your team are all temporary.  
• Be a Great Renter: The best leaders act as "great tenants" who elevate their people, make them highly marketable, and leave the organization in better shape than they found it.  
• The Air is Thin: The top of the mountain has thin air by design; you aren't supposed to dwell there, but rather conquer, leave your mark, and move on.  

2. Build a Personal Board of Directors

• Stop Suffering Alone: Senior executives often feel isolated when facing complex business or ethical dilemmas.  
• Find Your Safe Zone: It is crucial to cultivate a trusted circle of peers outside your organization where you can brainstorm without fear of judgment.  
• The Redwood Metaphor: Like California redwoods, professionals stand strongest when their roots spread out and intertwine with others for support.  

3. Truth-Telling Over Corporate "Storytelling"

• Beware the Spin: Many companies over-index on corporate storytelling, which can sometimes manipulate employees' perspectives rather than giving them the facts.  
• Authentic Transparency: True authenticity in leadership requires telling the truth about where the business actually stands.  
• The Filter Question: Before sharing sensitive or volatile news, a leader must always evaluate the situation by asking: "Will sharing this information actually help someone?".  

4. Leading with Head, Heart, and Hands

• The Hands: Early in a career, professionals tend to lead with their hands by acting primarily as doers and executors.  
• The Head: Later in their careers, leaders rely heavily on their head to process information and strategy rapidly.  
• The Heart: The best leaders ensure they don't forget the heart—aligning what is right and how it impacts people before making things happen.  

Transcript: Proc-N-Roll | Everything is Rented: Leaving a Leadership Legacy Beyond Your Title


Conrad: Hello everybody, and welcome back to Proc and Roll, your guide to practical procurement! Today we have a jam session with one of my favorite people. Natasha is here in studio with me. What a pleasure to have you here at the Graphite headquarters.  

Natasha: I am so happy to be here and see you guys live and in the flesh! You know, I just spent the week up at Sundance Mountain Resort. For a nature lover like me, those mountains just gave me energy for the next couple of weeks. I can't wait to go back and just hike the hell out of that place.  

Conrad: It is a beautiful place, Robert Redford's little brainchild. You were basically up there at seven or eight thousand feet above sea level with fifty leaders from different companies around the world, focused on leadership. I was lucky enough to join you for your closing remarks. One of the things you said as you were wrapping up was that "everything is rented"—your title, your position, the high chair. Tell me a little bit more about that thinking.  

Natasha: I think being possessive is probably a natural human feature, but when we are in leadership roles, we have to double-check how tightly we are clinging onto something that is not actually ours. We identify ourselves with the titles and say, "my team, my project, my execution." But none of it belongs to us. Position is temporary, salary is temporary, recognition is temporary. If everything is rented, probably the best thing for us is to just be a great renter. Elevate your people, give them the tools to be marketable, and leave the place in a better shape.  

Conrad: That reminds me of the book Good to Great and Level 5 leadership. When a Level 5 leader moves on, the organization thrives in their absence because they built systems that operate without them.  

Natasha: Exactly. I heard a quote from Jill Ellis, the coach of the US national women's Olympic team. She said that the top of the mountain is very small and the air is thin. It's by design, because you're not supposed to dwell there. You conquered, you came, you left the mark, and you move on to the next thing.  

Conrad: That ties perfectly into another piece of advice you shared: the importance of having a personal board of directors.  

Natasha: Yes, my farewell words to them were encouragement not to suffer alone. The higher you go in corporate hierarchy, the more complex situations become. What we often miss as leaders is a safe zone—a circle of friends or a personal board of directors—where you can come and say, "I have an ethical or business dilemma." Having someone to brainstorm with at this level is sometimes all we need to arrive at the right solution.  

Conrad: There is so much power and value to go talk to somebody at other companies doing a role similar to yours. Our friendship grew that way, starting at the Bay Area Procurement Council. It reminds me of a book I read about being grounded. It talked about the super tall redwoods in California. They don't have super deep roots, but they spread out and wrap around each other to support one another.  

Natasha: Absolutely, and investing time in those relationships makes our nervous system more stable because we know we are not alone. The business world can be cruel, intense, and judgmental.  

Conrad: Speaking of the business world, I listened to a podcast with Seth Godin recently about authenticity. He argued people don't want us to be authentic—they just want us to perform. Like a surgeon, you don't care if they had a bad day, you just want an excellent surgery. But I think there is power in authenticity, as long as you don't let your negative energy spill into the organization.  

Natasha: I agree that I don't care about my surgeon's bedside manner as long as they don't miss any medical facts. But in the business world, I connect authenticity with telling the truth. Today, in very many companies, the mastery of corporate storytelling has replaced the necessity of truth-telling. I've seen leaders volunteer information—like a CEO stating on stage there would be no layoffs just to win brownie points—when the layoff strategy had actually been worked on for months. It damaged his credibility long-term.  

Conrad: Wow. So how do you balance being truthful without oversharing?  

Natasha: Before bringing something up, I ask myself: "Will it help someone?" If bringing something up will not help anyone, especially if it's sensitive, then don't bring it up. Give as much truth as you can without breaking confidentiality rules.  

Conrad: That is a great standard. Before we wrap up, how has your leadership evolved from the experiences you've had at the conference?  

Natasha: A great reminder came about leading with the head, the heart, and the hands. These three components are integral. Earlier in our career, we lead with hands as doers. Later, we lead with the head because we process information and draw on previous experience quickly. But we very often forget the very important part in the middle, which is the heart. We have to feel how decisions will impact our people and the enterprise. Once that is aligned, then it is all hands on board.  

Conrad: We are within a week of our two-year anniversary of the podcast, and I have absolutely noticed your leadership with your heart. Between you, me, and Zach, you are the heart, Zach is the hands setting trends with AI, and I guess I'm the mind! Thank you, Natasha, for spending a little bit of time with us here in the studio.  

Natasha: Thank you for inviting me to your real Proc and Roll studio. That's very exciting!  

Conrad: And to all of you out there listening, thank you for showing up. Please don't forget to like, comment, and share. We have a lot of really great episodes and amazing visiting guests queued up as we get into the fall season. Take care!

This transcript has been edited for clarity while maintaining all substantive content