Ranjay Gulati

Ranjay Gulati holds the prestigious Paul R. Lawrence MBA Class of 1942 Professorship of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and previously led the school’s Organisational Behavior Unit. An organisational sociologist and one of the most cited scholars in economics and business, he studies how winning companies unlock human potential and build high‑growth organisations in turbulent markets. His recent books include Deep Purpose: The Heart and Soul of High‑Performance Companies (HarperCollins, 2022) and How to Be Bold: The Surprising Science of Everyday Courage (Harper Business, 2025), which offer science‑backed playbooks for aligning strategy with purpose and developing courage as a learned skill. Gulati’s research has earned him numerous honours, including the 2024 CK Prahalad Award for Scholarly Impact on Practice, and he is regularly recognised by The Economist and Financial Times as one of the world’s most relevant management thinkers. He advises and speaks to corporations globally and holds a Ph.D. from Harvard University.

In our conversation, Ranjay shares the personal and academic journey that led him to study purpose‑driven organisations and, more recently, courage. He explains how deep purpose – a commitment to making a positive impact beyond profit – drives performance and resilience, and why aligning organisational and personal purpose is essential for scaling with integrity. Drawing insights from How to Be Bold, Ranjay unpacks the nine Cs of courage, showing how qualities such as confidence, commitment, connection and comprehension build the foundation for principled boldness. He and Brendan discuss how leaders can nurture collective courage across teams by fostering clan, charisma and culture, and how to distinguish between smart, values‑aligned risk‑taking and reckless bravado. Ranjay illustrates these concepts with stories from business, sports and civil society, offering practical exercises to strengthen courage muscles. Together they explore why ambition alone isn’t enough, how purpose and courage support each other, and what SME leaders can do to lead boldly amid uncertainty. This episode offers a masterclass in purposeful, courageous leadership for anyone striving to scale with impact.

Connect with Ranjay Gulati

– Website: ranjaygulati.com
– LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/ranjay-gulati
– Books: How to Be Bold, Deep Purpose