1) What is your name, title, organization and accountability?
I’m Lin Coughlin, President of Linkage, Inc. I am accountable for running Linkage’s business units to ensure success of the entire company.

2) When and why did you attend WLC (Women Leading Change)?
I completed the program in February, 2002. It was a life-changing, galvanizing time. I actually went to immerse myself in the influence of Rayona Sharpnack. I had met her at senior leadership journey during Linkage’s Women in Leadership Summit in 2002. I was really impressed with Rayona’s experience and inspired by the senior leadership journey.

I was really starting to go deep in the development of a personal vision. I had made a decision to leave Scudder Investments after 16 years, where I had been managing director of the mutual funds business. It was synchronistic that I met Rayona at a big time of change in my life. I had decided to move on but was not sure what I wanted to do. I sensed that the time with Rayona would inform me.

3) What skills have you used the most since the program?
I learned about and am applying the importance of ‘being’ as much as ‘doing.’ That in ‘being’ it is critical to be grounded in one’s values and what you stand for. It’s important to be at peace with that, if not energized by it.

For me, the course was all about choosing where I am ‘coming from,’ and how it shapes who I am being and what I am doing. It really positioned me to go deep, create my vision, move on in my career and take a totally different direction in career and life.

I really thank Rayona for that learning from a very practical standpoint. It wasn’t all a spiritual encounter, although there was some feeding of my soul in the intensive program time. It was also very practical in terms of what I’m going to do in this career. My prior career over 25 years has constituted much of my identity. I began to discover what I going to do and who I am going to be in second half of my life. Rayona’s the best.

4) What results are you most proud of having produced at work? What did the results allow for?
Remember I was in process of transitioning. The big initial result was the courage I gained during the course. I also put a lot of work into the planning of my future. The program galvanized my articulation of my vision which gave me the courage to take the big step of a whole new career. Gaining a deep understanding of my vision has allowed me to ‘land’ running and make a significant impact in the first 90 days. We now have goals/strategies in place through 2006. We want to double the size of the company and become a model of a culture that is values-based.

My confidence in myself as a woman leader has been greatly enhanced. One of the big outcomes of the work on my vision was a lot of work I’ve done on my values. My values have become solidified as a woman leader. I feel confident about them. Having them in place has given me confidence in the first 90 days in new job and new industry, to be clear in my own mind about how I need to lead. I’m clear how to go about envisioning priorities with the team.

5) What resources do you want from or do you have to offer the rest of the IWL community as you continue your leadership journey?
What I have to offer is the sharing of my story. I can share it in the context of helping other women who are considering challenging transitions and want to continue to feel very grounded. I’m in the early days of implementing a big decision and am feeling very grounded. For those women who might be thinking about a big transition, I’ve been through a lot in decision making process and would be happy to share it.

Lin’s email address is lcoughlin@linkage-inc.com