You will hear an interview with Paula Shannon, the top female executive at Lionbridge Technologies, a global firm that provides

Man: You became interested in language at an early age. How did that happen?
Woman: I lived with my grandmother when I was young and she had the strong belief that you could go anywhere if you spoke properly. But it really started when I won a scholarship to be an exchange student in Belgium after high school. I lived with a family and was immersed in the day-to-day life of a student in the Dutch-speaking part of the country. When I came back to the U.S., I focused my college major on languages — Spanish, German and Russian.
Man: What about language excited you?
Woman: I realised that I really had an ear for it. I also loved the experience of being dropped into the culture of Belgium without understanding a word and transforming over the course of the year. Also, being able to understand the beliefs, the culture and the jokes was so wonderful that I came back and knew that this was what I wanted. My personality almost changes with different languages because of the cultural comprehension that goes with each one.
Man: How did your career at Berlitz evolve?
Woman: I started as a management trainee and management trainee becoming sales director for North America and manager for global accounts. I researched the company when I was looking to enter the language translation industry after college and at first could not get an interview for the management trainee programme locally. So I reached out to a senior vice president in New York and asserted that my profile was perfect for their programme. I guessed he agreed.
Man: How has your career developed since then?
Woman: The trainee programme enabled me to gain exposure to different functions like operations, finance, sales, inventory control, and personnel. After 10 years with Berlitz, I moved to a language technology company called Altenet where I stayed for four years — as a vice president of sales, then as chief sales and marketing officer. Coming from Berlitz, which was the leader in the industry, to a situation where we really had to bootstrap it to get the company out of a decline, was a good counter experience.
Man: After that, you joined Lionbridge. What, exactly, do you do there?
Woman: I am responsible for revenue, profit&loss and 2,600 employees in 26 countries for the Global Localization and Translation division. I’m essentially the general manager of a business unit and I also coach and support our major account teams and sales leaders.
Man: Is it difficult to coordinate projects with so many locations?
Woman: We use tools like video conferencing to have global meetings. We may be producing work for a client like Microsoft or Nokia and conferencing people from China or India. I also travel a lot — each of the past five years, I’ve travelled close to 150,000 miles.
Man: What are the strategies you use to maintain success?
Woman: In the simplest terms, I’ve always tried to organise my sales teams in a way that makes the most sense for our clients. If we listen to what our clients are saying and watch where they are going, we can come up with smart solutions and grow along with them. I’ve also worked hard to set a high bar for the skills and professionalism that takes to succeed. I’ve found that if there is a sense of mediocrity in a very demanding environment, our super performers won’t be happy.
Man: Has your leadership style changed over the years?
Woman: Yes, it’s changed quite a bit as I’ve matured. It’s something that I work on every day. Over the past year, though, I’ve worked to demonstrate a more creative style: still with a stronger sense of motivation for example, but relying more on feedback from my team and collaborating with the extended teams so we can work together more effectively.
Man: How does this position satisfy your own personal goals?
Woman: At the core it allows me to use my passion for language and have a global voice. And I am part of a team that is responsible for ensuring the success of the company. I’m very driven and want to be able to take ownership of the challenges that I handle every day. This position lets me do that.