Looking at Your Business—and Yourself—Differently
Lindsey Corbin knew that career advancement would demand new perspective—perspective she found in the Program for Leadership Development (PLD). The program equipped Corbin with business knowledge and tools, a global network of peers—and the confidence to handle whatever the future brings.
How would you summarize the PLD experience?
The program is truly transformative. First, you are able to build friendships all over the world. Second, your perspective shifts. Through the case method, the classroom conversations and the living group experience you learn a new way of thinking. Not only do you look at things differently, but you are different because you are so much more self-aware. Over the course of your time here, you discover your own personal transformation—what part of you will transform and how it will happen. You won't know in advance. That's the exciting part.
Why was PLD the right program for you?
In addition to creating more value today, I want to prepare for broader responsibilities in the future. PLD teaches you to see an organization and recognize the critical components—the people, the culture, the organizational structure, and the processes by which you operate. If you think about your organization that way, suddenly you're no longer focusing on your own expertise. You're thinking about whether those four components are aligning and supporting one another or getting in each other's way.
How has the program changed you?
I have much greater confidence now. When you first start PLD, you wonder if you can keep up at this incredible institution, then you realize you belong. Going through so many different exercises, you start to understand your real strengths. People in your living group recognize and support those strengths, building your confidence. You have a support group telling you, "You can do it!" That's pretty powerful.
Has PLD changed the way you approach your current role?
Work has become easier because I know so much more, I have more tools, and my network now includes wonderful people who have shared the same learning experience. We discuss my challenges, I bounce ideas off them, and we solve problems together.