This Linkage Consultant Is Passionate about Developing Tomorrow’s Leaders
An industrial/organizational psychologist, leadership consultant, and executive coach, Linkage’s Jillian Ihsanullah specializes in building strategic competency models to drive performance, and creating the systems and tools to support them. She has significant experience in mergers and acquisitions, change communication, the creation of new organizational structures, career paths, and assessment of large groups of employees for job placement.
Jill has designed and facilitated a wide range of leadership development programs, including classroom experiences, action-learning teams, executive coaching, and executive retreats. Most recently, she integrated her passion for leadership with her expertise in measurement as the architect of Linkage’s Return on Leadership Development system—a unique offering designed to measure the bottom-line impact of leadership development efforts. Her clients include Aldo Shoes, American Airlines, GE Capital, General Motors, John Deere, Lockheed Martin, Mattel, McDonald’s Corporation, Morgan Stanley, Toyota, and the United Nations, to name a few.
“I knew my present career was what I wanted to do when I was 16 years old,” said Jill. “I was on a family trip touring a cave, and the tour guide was not well matched to the job. I couldn’t stop thinking about my desire to help him find a career more suited to his strengths.
Prior to joining Linkage, Jill earned recognition for excellence in teaching undergraduate psychology courses at Purdue University. She previously worked at the Hudson Institute, an Indianapolis think tank; cofounded Thought Labs, a social media consulting company; and ran Decisions That Matter, her own executive consulting and coaching business.
The most important quality a woman leader should have is…
…perception: to understand so deeply that you can see through another’s eyes. It is critical for both self-awareness and influence.
The career advice I’d give my former self:
If you have come to the right answer, you are only halfway there.
Words I live by:
Make it memorable!
The one thing I’d do differently in my career, knowing what I know now, is…
…realize that accomplishing work with and through others will always have more impact than long hours trying to do an A+ job alone.
When I really need to focus on a project, I…
…listen, ask questions, and ABSORB
My biggest career leap (and what I learned from it) was…
…moving from academics to the business world at age 26. I learned that expertise is good to have, but your approach to work and life is much more important.
Being a woman in my profession has been…
…an opportunity to lead.
I’ve learned that failure is…
…staying in a job or relationship where your very best qualities are not brought out and celebrated.
I maintain a healthy personal life by…
…getting involved in my husband’s and children’s activities, reading travel magazines, and planning vacations more than a year in advance.
I knew my present career was what I wanted to do when…
…I was 16 years old on a family trip touring a cave. The tour guide was not well matched to the job. I couldn’t stop thinking about my desire to help him find a career more suited to his strengths.
