Leading from the Inside Out: The Transformational Journey of Great Circle Associates (GCA) and Lin Coughlin
About Lin Coughlin and GCA
Lin Coughlin is a seasoned operating executive, executive coach, board member, results-driven consensus builder; and author.. As the founder of Great Circle Associates, she has coached hundreds of leaders globally, and guided transformations in some of the world’s most respected organizations.
A thought leader frequently featured in Forbes and co-author of Enlightened Power, Lin is known for her incisive thinking, drive, focus, empathy, and relentless commitment to enabling clients to exceed their own expectations and that of key stakeholders.
She is focused, among other outcomes, on breaking from the vagaries of imposter syndrome, navigating toxic cultures to lead with full power and purpose, and advancing strategies that break from the status quo toward the creation of sustained competitive advantage.
Few leaders redefine what it means to lead from within. Lin Coughlin, Founder and President of Great Circle Associates (GCA), is one of those rare catalysts for change. Her work spans industries, continents, and career levels. She is resolute about her 20-year old personal Mission: To rehumanize leadership, enable sustainable transformation, and ignite personal breakthroughs at moments that matter most.
People as the Engine of Change
At the heart of GCA’s success is a singular belief—that people are an organization’s most strategic asset. Coughlin’s proprietary framework, Change at Core™, focuses on empowering individuals and organizations to break free from deeply embedded dysfunctional mindsets and structures. Her method is not merely about incremental improvement, but bold sustainable transformation at the individual, team and organizational levels..
GCA’s Mission is: To enable-strategically considered, outcome focused, change at the individual, team, and enterprise levels in support of audacious growth or turnaround goals.—this while imparting authentically expressed values and best practice leadership techniques” – the “soft skills” that many thought leaders would argue to be the 21st century “hard skills.” Under Lin’s guidance, GCA has grown steadily since its founding in 2008, driven almost entirely by referrals and outcomes that consistently exceed expectations.
Coaching Beyond the Boardroom
Lin’s coaching approach is anything but conventional. She doesn’t just teach leadership; she transforms it by integrating the achievement of strategic priorities with best practice leadership techniques. Her clients—CEOs, executive teams, and high-potential leaders—arrive at inflection points: navigating acquisitions, managing turnarounds, preparing for succession, etc.
Each of Lin’s engagements begins with a discovery phase. This immersive process explores leadership strengths and roadblocks, values, traits, skills, and communications styles. From this emerges a Work-Life Map, a purpose driven, action and outcome focused roadmap, that aligns the implementation of career aspirations and commitments with a larger life mission. The result is not just transformed leadership—it’s empowered leadership with measurable ROI.
Coughlin’s coaching doesn’t stop with the individual. Clients share their development plans with their teams and other key stakeholders, contributing to the development of trust, mutual support, transparency, and shared accountability. These shared commitments ripple outward, energizing teams and supporting the creation of cohesive, high-performing organizations.
Battling the Imposter Within
One of Coughlin’s most critical contributions is her work with imposter syndrome—a quiet but pervasive barrier to growth and breakthrough results –faced by, research has shown, some 60% of the most successful and highest potential leaders. She coaches clients to identify and dismantle the internalized fear of being exposed as a fraud. According to Lin, the presence of imposter syndrome is one of the biggest reasons high-potential leaders fail to actualize their full potential.
“We owe it to ourselves and to our stakeholders to break from the shackles of imposter syndrome and, in turn, the tyranny of the status quo,”
she affirms.
GCA’s work creates space for authenticity and bold decision-making. In doing so, it unleashes leaders to fully step into and confidently own their power.
The Power of Empowerment
Learning to master the leadership competency of empowerment is core to Lin’s coaching work. Empowerment, Lin argues, is not about relinquishing control but about providing the guidance, authority, and resources needed for employees at every level to learn, grow and contribute. The data backs her up: Organizations that lean into the development of widespread empowerment practices enjoy up to a 50% increase in engagement and a 22% rise in productivity.
Through GCA’s framework, leaders learn to: Go for game changing outcomes Create inclusive, feedback-rich environments Recognize and reward contributions Set clear expectations while encouraging autonomy Normalize failure as a stepping stone to learning and innovation. When empowerment is paired with clear Vision and Purpose, it creates a culture that drives adaptability and innovation, the retention of top talent, and the development of sustained top and bottom line growth. This approach is essential in today’s fast moving, digitally disrupted world.
Innovation at the Intersection of Humanity and Technology
While Lin champions human centered leadership, she also embraces technology. GCA’s operations benefit from the use of AI tools that, for example, assist with her weekly coaching sessions’ strategic note taking and recaps. This blend of high-touch and high-tech creates unparalleled efficiency and sharpens the focus on shared client priorities.
Moreover, Coughlin’s blogs and thought leadership articles (found at www.greatcircleassociates.com) demonstrate how she stays ahead of the curve, offering insights on transformational leadership, strategy creation and execution, culture development and innovation management.
A Competitive Edge That Can’t Be Replicated
What makes GCA different? It’s not just Lin’s extensive operating and leadership experience in high stakes situations. It’s how she integrates that experience into her coaching. Her work is grounded in the achievement of real business outcomes alongside the development of a short list of the most strategic and relevant leadership competencies. Every Development Plan is tied to a client’s strategic priorities. It’s not theoretical—it’s action and outcome focussed, measurable, and transformational.
“Masterfully planning for and-executing Change at Core™,” Lin explains, “is challenging. It impacts mature, sometimes entrenched operations, structures and cultures of organizations, and deeply embedded dysfunctional mindsets of individuals. It requires leaders to reflect, plan for and change how they ‘show up’ in rapidly moving and changing organizational settings to get things done, to develop and to advance.
Moreover, Change at Core™ is always accompanied by strain on individuals and infrastructure, and the consequent risk of destabilization and loss of business momentum. It’s difficult. It’s risky. It’s exactly where GCA excels.
Another edge? Lin’s emphasis on the creation of purpose driven development plans. Clients don’t just complete their journey with Lin with finely tuned leadership skills. The experience culminates with crystal clear clarity around the “Why?” of what gets them up in the morning. They learn to navigate complexity, lead with courage, and pursue bold visions grounded in authenticity.
Guiding Forces, Global Footprint
Lin has coached hundreds of leaders across five continents, including, for example, executives from Accenture, McKesson, EY, Wells Fargo, Avis-Budget, Fidelity, etc. and several successful and aspiring entrepreneurs. Her influence has shaped transformations in Fortune 1000 companies, founder-led startups, and private equity-backed firms.
She has spoken at global summits, facilitated executive retreats, and co-authored the acclaimed book Enlightened Power: How Women Are Transforming the Power of Leadership. She was named “One of Ten Corporate Board Members to Watch,” “One of the Ten Most Empowering Women Business Leaders,” and “One of the Top Ten C-Level Coaches to Watch,” Lin’s recognition reflects both the depth and reach of her impact.
Leading with Values
Though GCA is a sole proprietorship, its culture is rich with purpose. For more than 30 years, Lin has grounded her leadership in seven core Values: Empowerment. Transparency, Generosity of Spirit, Humility, Reciprocity, Courage and Passion to Challenge the Status Quo.
“These are not buzzwords—they are bedrock principles that I work hard to role model and teach clients to practice,”
she says.
These Values shape every engagement and are the reason clients feel not only supported, but inspired. Their development explains the reason that GCA’s impact endures long after a coaching engagement ends.
Transforming Organizations One Leader at a Time
GCA’s journey is defined by Moments: When a leader moves from self-doubt to self-belief; when a team regains trust in one another, the possibility and its achievability; when an organization aligns with its Purpose, and when the leadership commits to inclusively codifying and operationalizing its Values and Cultural Norms in support of-bold new strategies. Lin Coughlin’s work is as much about meaning as it is measurable outcomes.
Her Vision for the future is expansive. She aims to: Eliminate imposter syndrome Develop more women leaders, toward the achievement of the full partnership of men and women leaders, thereby filling the void of qualified leader change makers organizations require on an annual basis as, research shows, 80% of them pursue significant strategic departures from the status quo. Promote intergenerational dialogue and mutual support. Challenge outdated leadership paradigms.
She envisions a world where leadership is not about power, but about impact—where it is reclaimed as a calling, not a crown.
Words of Wisdom for Aspiring Leaders
For those leading transformational change, Lin offers this advice:
“Leadership today requires adaptability and the ability to embrace change.. No more than 30% of corporate change efforts succeed, often because leaders skip critical phases or fail to empower their teams. If you want to transform your business, start by transforming yourself. Master active listening. Take responsibility for tough challenges. Be a meaning maker. And most importantly, lead from the inside out.”
The Legacy of Great Circle Associates
Today, GCA is synonymous with excellence in executive coaching and organizational transformation. It stands not just as a business, but as a beacon of what’s possible when leadership is reimagined with authenticity, empathy, and courage.
Lin’s legacy is still unfolding—but one thing is certain. With each breakthrough, she emboldens individual leaders, leadership teams and enterprises to advance one step closer to business environments that are not only optimized for efficiency, effectiveness, productivity and innovation, but which are human-centered.
In Closing: A Steady Hand, A Wise Heart
At a time when organizations often prioritize speed over substance, Lin Coughlin stands as a beacon of depth, discipline, and purpose. Great Circle Associates is more than a consulting practice. It’s a movement dedicated to rewriting the rules of leadership from the inside out and going slow to go fast.
With each leader she coaches, each team she transforms, and each organization she facilitates the empowerment of, Coughlin edges organizations to what they can—and should be: Bold, human, transparent and fiercely authentic.
For more on Lin Coughlin and Great Circle Associates, visit
www.greatcircleassociates.com
