When star executive Gail McGovern (opens in new tab) first met the young and ambitious Dan Schulman (opens in new tab), it was not love at first sight teaching. I vividly remember calling him Don," McGovern laughs about their awkward meeting at a telecom awards ceremony in the late '80s. But even then, Gail recognized something unmistakable in Dan: natural leadership qualities.

Today, Dan Schulman, PayPal's pioneering president and CEO, draws on his decades-long mentorship with McGovern to provide leadership in his values-driven commitment to his employees. Says Shulman, "It's about building the best management team possible and creating a competitive advantage." And since he took the helm of the brand in 2014 and McGovern (now also president and CEO of the American Red Cross) joined PayPal's board in 2015, the tech and finance giant has become a leader in the Equal Pay (open with a new tab) initiative, recently supporting black-owned businesses pledged $530 million to support black-owned businesses (opens in new tab).

The two executives sat down with Marie Claire editor-in-chief Aya Kanai to discuss what leadership means today and how a focus on diversity plays a key role in a company's success.

Aya Kanai: Gail, how did you perceive Dan as a leader?

Gail McGovern: He is tough, strategic, sets high goals and expects his team to achieve them. He always seems to have a vision of what the future holds.

AK: Dan, I think you were a true pioneer in putting the needs of your employees first. Did your relationship with Gail influence your path to this values-driven leadership style?

Dan Schulman: I think a lot of the things that Gail said about me, I said the same things about her. I learned from Gail what it means to be your authentic self at work. Many people have a "work persona" and a "personal persona," but if you can bring your whole self into the work environment, you have more power. Gail is one such person.

She was always the rock star I looked up to and admired, but she was also the only leader with a heart as big as her intellect. When I met her and got to know her, she truly had me in her arms. I imagined and hoped that she would be my mentor.

AK: Dan, you are a pioneering Employee Financial Wellness P (opens in new tab)rogram (opens in new tab)-Employee with pay raise and expanded benefits for PayPal employees starting in 2019 Financial Wellness P (opens in new tab)-when you were creating the (opens in new tab)-did Gale's council have any impact on you?

DS: I think the only way to have a sustainable competitive advantage is to have very good employees working for you. And the only way to have the most talented employees working for you is if they believe in what you are doing, if they believe in your values, if you value them, respect them, listen to them, and know that they matter.

From my mentorship with Gail, I learned that I cannot do it alone. She developed a personal relationship with the team, both as a group and individually. And I saw what a competitive advantage could be created by focusing on the employee, rather than on herself.

AK: How do you think diversity and inclusion can be promoted in a C-suite position?

GM: As soon as I was in a position of power, I tried very hard to promote women because there were no women at the executive level. I tried to embrace diversity and inclusion because I understood what it was like to be in an organization where there was diversity and not many people like me. Especially for women, there is this idea that "if I work really hard, someone will notice and promote me." But I think we all have an obligation to look for the stars that shine brightly.

AK: And Dan, how can men in executive roles help promote diversity in the next generation of leadership?

DS: They need to demand it.

Gail was the first person I recommended to the PayPal board. Until then the board was 100% white male. Today we are 50% diverse in gender. Why, because we demanded it. Yes, there were plenty of really talented, very capable, white men who could have been on the board, but we found incredible women and people of color and asked them to join us and expand our worldview. The board is emblematic of who we are as a company, and throughout PayPal, we are nearly 60% diverse, and I think that's a big reason why we're so successful.

AK: And of course now there is a sense of urgency to achieve diversity and equality at all levels.

DS: I can't believe we are still talking about equal pay. When I started at PayPal and asked the question, "Are we paying people equally?" we did a survey and found that of course we are not. I know it's hard work, but that's no excuse."

Then came the big numbers that we had to deal with. People said, "Why don't we just take three years to close the gap? It was like, "Let's close the gap next month and then do it all over again every year, across ethnicities and genders.

Think about the competitive advantage gained by doing so, and the degree of passion unleashed within the company as a result. If more leaders understood that this is not about saving money, but about building the best possible management team and creating a competitive advantage, this problem could be solved very quickly.

AK: What advice would you give to young people looking for mentors?

GM: It's not the same as saying, "Let's go to the store right now and buy a mentor." It's about promising people that the seniors want to mentor. When I look for people I want to put on the shortlist, I always look at just two things: they are smart and they have a good feel. There is very little you can do in running an organization except put the right people in place. So paying a lot of attention to that is good for the company and ultimately good for me.

DS: Mentorship is not the same as someone calling you and asking for advice or counsel. A mentor is someone you're going to be dealing with for years to come. It's not about the occasional "what would you do here" or "I have two different jobs I'm considering, which one should I do?"

What happens in any good mentorship is that you become friends because you trust them and they trust you. When Gail is on my calendar, it is my favorite call of the day. It's because we can talk about each other's lives, compare experiences, and learn from each other. It's something that has developed into a deep friendship.

GM: Dan and I are at a point in our careers where we are really learning from each other. He recently called me and told me some of the things he is doing to get through these incredibly difficult times. It's great to have a colleague like that and it's an honor to be able to emulate what he's doing.