A Q&A with Jennifer McCollum

Jennifer McCollum says that in 2018, she was hesitant to accept the CEO role at Linkage, a leadership development firm committed to advancing women and accelerating inclusion in organizations. It wasn’t as if McCollum lacked the necessary skills and experience. Quite the contrary: She had spent decades in high-ranking positions in talent development and strategic organization, working for companies such as Korn Ferry and the Corporate Executive Board (CEB), which is now part of Gartner. She ran CEB’s Leadership Academies business, which developed more than 30,000 professionals in 2,100 companies throughout 50 countries and drove revenue at a 97 percent combined annual growth rate over the five-year period that ended in 2015.

Like many women, however, McCollum’s inner critic was loud. Her mind was focused on how she had never led an organization before and how it might be better if she held the No. 2 spot first, so she could be properly prepared. Plus, she wondered how she could be the kind of mother she envisioned with such a demanding job. But she eventually overcame her concerns to successfully lead Linkage, which SHRM acquired last year. 

In her new book, In Her Own Voice: A Woman’s Rise to CEO: Overcoming Hurdles to Change the Face of Leadership (Matt Holt, 2023), McCollum describes how women can conquer the obstacles that are holding them back and shares examples from her own journey as well as years of Linkage research.

What are the major hurdles that keep…