Women on Top - Linda Brigance

By Chee Sing Chan | Mar 22, 2010

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Celebrate the techgeek

FOR LINDA BRIGANCE, technology came right out of the blue, she was a strong sciences student but she'd never considered technology as a career option until her guidance counselor in the 70's suggested that she take up computer science.

Thirty-odd years later, Brigance has mapped out a stellar career path in technology culminating in the role of CIO for FedEx Asia Pacific.

Brigance is clearly an exceptional and well-polished technology professional. She tips her hat to the need to be business-oriented, focused on transformation and to be aligned to the business goals, all the hot CIO terms that modern IT leaders are expected to eat, drink and breathe. But peel away the layers of professional management training we discover a raging enthusiasm for technology.

Girls' toys
After 32 years working in tech, Brigance is still buzzing and eager for the next big thing.

Her current gadget of attention is her Kindle - which was recently released with global support.  She likes it so much she's bought them for her closest family members, including her mother.  She also subscribes to blogs like "Cool Tools," and "TechCrunch" to stay on top of tech trends and for ideas to discuss with her team to use at FedEx.

"I just love gadgets - I find a new one and I'm all over it," Brigance said. "It's like a role-reversal in that I'm the one at home - rather than my husband - who usually initiates the purchase of new gadgets."
She finds technology constantly new and engaging and while she believes that women are now more prominent in technology, it's still generally a male arena.

"But it is a real shame that more women are not taking up technology because it's a team-based environment and it really taps into your creative side as you seek to solve business and people problems to make a difference - it's incredibly rewarding," she added.

She admits that being a woman rarely comes into her thoughts when working in IT, but going to technology conferences she does notice the majority of attendees are male. "But at FedEx it's not as noticeable - half of my direct reports are women as are many of the senior management executives," Brigance noted. "The great thing here is we really don't look at each other as male or female."

Self-driven
Brigance clearly has high expectations of herself - she admits she a huge self critic. "I've always been driven more by a need to prove things to myself, I love to be challenged and to compete with myself," she said. "It may sound odd but I cannot judge my own success or failure based on someone else's view of success and failure - it's all about what I want to achieve and how I go about doing that."

"I think it's unfair to say that I might have been unsuccessful because of someone else, succeed or fail I take full ownership and I think this company consistently pushes that mentality."

Brigance clearly loves her job. "I don't see myself having the same opportunities to learn this much anywhere else - it's never the same, never dull and always challenging," she said.

Everything that drives Brigance is from within. There's no need to please or to pander to any external expectation. And what burns within is forever the tech geek - still eager to learn the latest gadget, still tinkering with tech to find solutions to problems, still striving to excel in managing her team and in delivering on her own goals. For her, being male or female just doesn't enter the equation.

Read about other Women on Top:

AON Insurance's Kwok Suk-Wah

Cisco's Barbara Chiu

Deutsche Bank's Sunila Shivpuri

Informatica's Suganthi Shivkumar