Meet Jeannie COYLE

We recently connected with Jeannie COYLE and have shared our conversation below.

Jeannie, we’re so excited for our community to get to know you and learn from your journey and the wisdom you’ve acquired over time. Let’s kick things off with a discussion on self-confidence and self-esteem. How did you develop yours?

Over time, I developed an appreciation for my particular strengths — a strategic mind that excels in both analytical and systems thinking, an insatiable curiosity that makes me a fast learner, and a high level of creativity with a penchant for innovation.

Early in my career, as I found myself in new situations, I leveraged these natural talents to excel in my work. I was noticed for my job accomplishments. But it wasn’t enough. I was always hungry for more learning runway and the opportunity to have more impact.

If the roles did not stretch me, I pursued new ones. Or more often, I took advantage of opportunities that were in front of me. Even if I did not have all the experience and skills to do them. My love of learning gave me the confidence to take risks because I would never say, “I don’t know.” I would say, “I haven’t learned it yet.”

Let’s take a small detour – maybe you can share a bit about yourself before we dive back into some of the other questions we had for you?

I have over 50 years of experience with chapters as a C-suite Fortune 200 company executive (including an early rapid career rise from an analyst to Senior Vice President reporting to the President of American Express) and an entrepreneurial consultant and coach to CEOs and top leaders in multiple industries and companies ranging from mid-market to massive.

I found myself at a stage of life where I wanted to redesign the next chapter of my own work and life. I wanted to better balance volunteering, semi-retirement fun, and meaningful contribution. I took on a few assignments to help talented women leaders who sensed a greater calling beyond their current success. Women who knew, deep down, that there was an untold chapter of their story waiting to be written.

I decided to switch from consulting and executive coaching to a boutique, high-end service for select mid-career women leaders. I have transitioned to this model in the last few years and am loving the work.

I used my design chops to invent a new blend of executive coaching and career coaching. My own “been there, done that experience and ability to go beyond one-size fits-all coaching, have worked wonders with my clients.

There is so much advice out there about all the different skills and qualities folks need to develop in order to succeed in today’s highly competitive environment and often it can feel overwhelming. So, if we had to break it down to just the three that matter most, which three skills or qualities would you focus on?

Throughout my long career, these strengths have served me well: master strategist, a complex problem solver, and an innovative thinker.
The personal trait that has most fueled my success is my insatiable curiosity to learn. This is what gives me the courage to take risks others would not.
My advice to leaders is to think of your early career as a learning journey. One where you experiment to learn about and use your strengths as well as try out new things to add to your stash of knowledge and skills. Seek out and learn from feedback. It can be uncomfortable, but that is the only way to understand your impact on others. You can learn knowledge from studying, like you did in school. You can only learn to have an impact by understanding how others see you. As Microsoft CEO, Satya Nardelli said, “The learn-it-all will always do better than the know-it-all.”

Alright, so before we go we want to ask you to take a moment to reflect and share what you think you would do if you somehow knew you only had a decade of life left?

I probably only have a decade or two of my working life left. Some friends look at me in dismay and say, “You flunked retirement!”
My happy place is to still do the work that I do best, where I get to impact women leaders’ success at a smaller scale, leaving room for volunteering in my community for causes I care about deeply–and enjoying life.

That means taking trips to be in places with people we love, kicking back in the log home we built above a reservoir in Central Oregon, and enjoying biking, skiing, and hiking.

Especially sweet is the opportunity to make a difference in the work and lives of talented women. This is my legacy lap.

Here is what Lisa, my first, says about our work together.

“I was at a crossroads after having found myself out of a job. I sensed the opportunity in the challenge – and so did Jeannie! After being a startup tech entrepreneur for the better part of two decades, I made the leap with Jeannie’s guidance.

Fast-forward three years later, I have a Master of Science in a tech field and am working on my PhD at a leading engineering school in Europe. I’m on track to my big goal: melding humans and technology to make a significant impact on the world’s biggest problems – and I have my eye on working for the UN.

I love Jeannie’s one-of-a-kind approach to know the human client – personality, strengths/weaknesses, and most importantly – dreams and potential. She’s always ready to dream big with me, and then encourage me to aim higher. Her total confidence in my abilities and destiny has emboldened me and always gives me an extra dose of courage when I need it most.”

An update on Lisa. She is realizing her dream to meld use AI to solve world problems. ” I’m currently in Kenya, launching my AI in a rural hospital here to augment the education for surgical residents while reducing the cognitive load of the faculty who train them. It’s beautiful” surgeons to use the AI assisted program she developed with a Stanford Surgical instructor.

I am so proud of her and grateful that partner with her to redesign her work +life so wonderfully.
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Contact Info:

• Website: jeannie@jeanniecoyle.com
• Facebook: jeannie@jeanniecoyle.com
• Linkedin: .www.linkedin.com/in/jeannie-coyle
• Other: email:
  jeannie@jeanniecoyle.com

Image Credits

Photos by Timothy Parks