There are bosses, and then there are leaders. Wanji Walcott, who quickly rose up the ranks at PayPal Inc., is a natural leader, according to some of those who work closest to her.

In early 2017, Walcott stepped into the general counsel role at the San Jose, California-based payments company. It was a very busy time: Last year the company inked partnership deals with Facebook Inc., Apple Inc. and Google Inc. and fintech startups such as Acorns, an investment app.