EMPOWERED

CHAPTER 25Leader Profile: Lisa Kavanaugh

Path to Leadership

I first met Lisa in 2010 when she was the VP Engineering at Ask.com.

Lisa studied computer science at UC Santa Barbara, and began a long career in technology, initially as an engineer at HP, but soon she joined a young ask.com (do you remember “Ask Jeeves”?).

Over the next 12 years, Lisa earned her way through the engineering ranks to eventually becoming the CTO of what by then was a very large, global engineering organization.

What has always defined Lisa, however, was her passion for coaching, and for continuously improving both herself and those who worked for her.

For the past several years, she has dedicated her career to coaching others, helping technology leaders to become the leaders their companies need them to be.

Leadership in Action

I asked Lisa how she generally goes about helping technology leaders to become skilled leaders of empowered teams and organizations.

Here's Lisa in her own words:

Different leaders have different motivations for seeking coaching. Some desire a major promotion, some are facing an obstacle standing in the way of their goals, and others want to establish a better working relationship with their team or peers. They all desire an outcome that feels out of reach.

Whatever the case, transforming to a strong, confident, inspiring leader can take effort and personal courage.

These ...