Rethinking Disruption: why leadership needs to change

When people talk about disruption and being disruptive in business, it’s usually in the context of industry change. Think of disruption and you think of innovation, technology and bold new ways of working that transform the way things are done in a particular sector.

But disruption isn’t just about shaking up your market. It’s also about how you lead, how you operate and how you build an organisation. In short, true disruption starts from within.

Building a disruptive business from the inside out

When my co-founder, Jay Gorga, and I launched Interlink in 2018, our goal wasn’t just to disrupt B2B lead generation, although that was long overdue. We wanted to fundamentally change the way business was done in our industry, to prove that growth, innovation and ethics can (and should) coexist.

We built Interlink without a single penny of external investment and that was a deliberate decision. Bootstrapping gave us autonomy in our formative years, which allowed us to make unconventional choices. Plus, we were able to move fast, to take risks and, perhaps most importantly, we had the freedom to not only make mistakes but to learn from them too.

That independence has shaped everything about who we are today: a profitable, high-growth business operating across London, New York, Singapore and Pune, helping global tech clients bridge the gap between sales and marketing through transparent, AI-powered lead generation. While our technology is a big part of our success, it’s not the whole story. The real disruption lies in how we lead and the culture we’ve built.

Redefining what disruption means in leadership

Being a disruptive leader isn’t just chasing trends or constantly reinventing the wheel. It’s having the courage to question what’s ‘normal’ and challenging whether this normal is the most effective way of serving your people, your clients and your purpose.

This mindset led us to implement one of the most impactful changes we’ve ever made, the introduction of a four-day working week. In an industry known for long hours and relentless targets, it definitely raised a few eyebrows but it’s one of the best decisions we’ve ever made. Productivity, innovation and retention all increased; people were more focused, more creative and, frankly, happier.

Disruption in this instance wasn’t about working less, it was about working smarter, building a culture of trust and accountability that allows people to perform at their best without burning out.

As well, hybrid and flexible working are cornerstones of our culture. The world has changed and so have people’s lives and priorities. Leaders who cling to outdated models risk losing the very talent that drives growth.

Wellbeing shouldn’t be a ‘perk;’ it simply has to be a strategic priority, and we’ve learned that you can’t have sustained high performance without it. As we’ve scaled year-on-year (on average 74% YoY since we started in 2018) we’ve made sure that our people feel supported, seen and valued at every stage.

The human side of an AI-powered business

Our business is built around technology, specifically AI-driven lead generation, but what truly differentiates us isn’t just the tech; it’s the people behind it. AI gives us efficiency, scalability and data-driven precision, but our competitive edge lies in how we apply it. The creativity, judgement and transparency that our team brings to every project are what turns the data into meaningful client outcomes.

In a market full of black-box solutions, we pull back the curtain and show what’s really going on. We share our data and we challenge briefs, bringing fresh, sometimes uncomfortable ideas to the table. This honesty and openness are forms of disruption too, going against the grain in an industry that often hides behind jargon and opacity.

Disruption doesn’t mean replacing humans with machines; instead, it’s augmenting humans alongsidemachines. It’s using technology to create space for passion, creativity and innovation – all the things that AI can’t replicate.

Culture: the ultimate differentiator

Culture isn’t something you can retrofit. It’s the byproduct of your values and those values must be lived out from day one. For us, culture means showing up with integrity, transparency and purpose, whether we’re dealing with a client, a partner or each other.

In that respect, we’ve worked hard to make sure that as we’ve expanded globally, our culture scales too. It’s not a case of copy-and-pasting a UK model into New York or Singapore, it’s using our values as a lens for every decision, while trusting regional teams with the autonomy to apply these values in a way that fits their context.

It’s this trust that sustains culture across time zones. We’ve been named a Great Place to Work for three consecutive years, recognised among the UK’s Best Workplaces for Women™ 2025, and won Best Flexible Working Policy at the UK Company Culture Awards. With 60% of leadership roles held by women (in a business that’s 70% female overall), we’re proof that inclusion and high performance go hand in hand.

Disruption through patience and discipline

It’s easy to see disruption as synonymous with speed, but lasting change takes time. Over seven years, we’ve had to rebuild our structures and processes repeatedly, not because they failed, but because we outgrew them.

For me, that’s a sign of success, not instability. The ability to anticipate change and prepare for it is what keeps a business evolving. I used to think we’d eventually reach a point where we were ‘done’, but there is no ‘done’. The journeyis the destination.

That lesson has definitely shaped how I lead. I’ve learned to embrace the rebuilds, the learning curves, even the chaos, because perfection means standing still, and that’s the opposite of growth.

Disruption as a leadership philosophy

When people talk about being disruptive, they often focus outwards, so looking at markets, competitors or technology, for example. But the most powerful disruption happens inwards. It’s how you lead, how you build trust and how you show up for your people.

At Interlink, we’ve proven that you don’t have to sacrifice culture for growth or values for velocity. The businesses that will thrive in the years ahead are those brave enough to do both: to innovate relentlessly while leading with empathy, integrity and courage.

The truth is, disruption isn’t just about changing your industry, it’s about changing yourself and, in doing so, setting a new standard for what good leadership looks like.

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