The leadership lesson they don't teach at Business School
- Zoe Farrow
- Apr 2
- 2 min read
Sol Rashidi's biggest win became her toughest challenge. Here's what she learned.
The failure that redefined success
Every leader faces defining moments - those failures that force a shift in perspective
and change the trajectory of their leadership. For Sol Rashidi, one such moment came when she delivered exactly what her CEO had asked for: a data-driven, 360-degree view of the company’s customers. The system worked flawlessly, consolidating data from 21 key sources, generating insights, and streamlining operations. The executive team was thrilled.
Until they weren’t.
Sol’s team had uncovered a major business inefficiency: a high-value customer segment, long thought to be the company’s most profitable, was actually costing millions due to untracked compensation across multiple service centers. Presenting this insight to the executive committee should have been a crowning achievement. Instead, it backfired. The business unit leaders felt blindsided, their authority undermined. Within hours, Sol found herself shut out of key meetings, her calendar wiped clean.
The cost of truth without trust
What went wrong? The data was sound, the insight invaluable. But as Sol reflected, the problem wasn’t in the numbers. It was in the delivery. She had underestimated the human element: how people react to surprises, how trust is built (and lost), and how even the best insights must be framed within the right relationships.
It took nine months of rebuilding those relationships, acknowledging the misstep, and learning to approach leadership not just as a problem solver but as a coalition builder.
Insight vs. influence
Executives know that success isn't just about finding the right answers. It's about ensuring the right people embrace those answers. Sol's experience reshaped how she approaches leadership:
Relationships before results. Before executing on a mandate, she now prioritizes building trust and alignment with key stakeholders.
No surprises. Instead of unveiling major insights in high-stakes meetings, she pre-aligns with business leaders, ensuring they have ownership in the discovery.
Making other people the hero. True influence comes not from claiming credit but from enabling others to succeed. Since this lesson, Sol has made countless game-changing discoveries - but now, they're shared in a way that empowers business leaders, rather than putting them on the defensive.
A mindset shift for all executives
For leaders navigating change, Sol’s story is a reminder that insight alone isn’t enough. The ability to lead people through change - by ensuring they feel ownership, trust, and confidence in the process - is what differentiates great executives.
At Blend, we champion this kind of leadership: one that values cross-industry insights, builds trusted peer networks, and ensures leaders don’t have to navigate these challenges alone. Because in the end, leadership isn’t about being the smartest person in the room. It’s about making sure the smartest ideas actually take hold.
This conversation stemmed from Fall Forward - our podcast where bold thinkers and industry leaders open up about leadership, change, and the hard-earned lessons that shape success. Each episode explores real stories - ones that challenge the norm, spark new perspectives, and leave you thinking differently about what it means to lead.
Don’t just read about it, watch and listen to the full conversation now.
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