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Lola Lin on career

From NAPABA Coffee House Episode 1: Lola Lin, Chief Legal Officer of Howmet Aerospace · · HLSCLP

“I joined Howmet in June of 2021 — I moved to Pittsburgh and that's where I serve as the Chief Legal Officer, Executive Vice President and Secretary of the company.”

Lola Lin
Lola Lin
Executive Vice President, Secretary, Chief Legal & Compliance Officer, Howmet Aerospace Inc
careercorporate governancerole

On , Lola Lin, Executive Vice President, Secretary, Chief Legal & Compliance Officer at Howmet Aerospace Inc, spoke about career during NAPABA Coffee House Episode 1: Lola Lin, Chief Legal Officer of Howmet Aerospace on HLSCLP.

NAPABA Coffee House Episode 1: Lola Lin, Chief Legal Officer of Howmet Aerospace
Watch on YouTube
NAPABA Coffee House Episode 1: Lola Lin, Chief Legal Officer of Howmet Aerospace
HLSCLP
Watch on YouTube
Watch more episodes of NAPABA Coffee House at:    • NAPABA Coffee House (CLP Student Fell...   Lola Lin is the Chief Legal Officer of Howmet Aerospace, a leading global provider of advanced engineered solutions for the aerospace and transportation industries. Prior to her role at Howmet, Lola served as General Counsel at Airgas and held various in-house roles at Air Liquide and Dell. She is a graduate of University of Houston College of Law and the University of Texas at Austin. Fun Fact #1: Lola is fascinated by cultures and countries, and her dream is to travel to 100 countries. (She is currently at 47!) Fun Fact #2: Lola does not drink coffee! --- About NAPABA Coffee House Over the last three decades, Asian Americans have been the fastest-growing minority group in the legal profession. For example, Asians make up slightly over 10% of the students at Harvard Law School (ILRG Report, 2020) and at the top 30 law schools (Goodwin Liu, 2015). However, they continue to be significantly underrepresented in the profession’s top leadership positions. As of today, there are only about 25 Asian American General Counsels in the Fortune 500. NAPABA Coffee House is a series of one-on-one conversations with some of these trailblazing individuals. In Season One, we speak to: Episode 1: Lola Lin (Howmet Aerospace) Episode 2: John Chou (AmerisourceBergen) Episode 3: Marie Oh Huber (eBay) Episode 4: Alan Tse (JLL) Episode 5: Don Liu (Target) Episode 6: Sam Khichi (Becton, Dickinson and Company) Episode 7: Sandy Leung (Bristol Myers Squibb) Episode 8: Caroline Tsai (FIS) Episode 9: Amy Tu (Tyson Foods) We hope that this collection of their journeys and insights will serve as a virtual mentorship resource for the APA lawyers and law students coming up behind them. Presented by the National Asian Pacific American Bar Association (NAPABA) in collaboration with the HLS Center on the Legal Profession. Produced by Genevieve Antono (HLS '22) as her CLP Student Fellowship Project. Hosted by Lawrence Tu (HLS '81), whose former roles include serving as Chief Legal Officer/General Counsel at CBS Corporation, Dell and NBCUniversal. With sincere thanks to the NAPABA 50x25 Initiative.
Lola Lin

About Lola Lin

Executive Vice President, Secretary, Chief Legal & Compliance Officer · Howmet Aerospace Inc

Lola Lin, Executive Vice President, Secretary, and Chief Legal & Compliance Officer at Howmet Aerospace, discussed her career and leadership philosophy in a February 2022 episode of the NAPABA Coffee House podcast. Lin described herself as a "Texas girl" raised in Houston by Taiwanese immigrant parents, and noted that she joined Howmet in June 2021, relocating to Pittsburgh for the role. She recounted undergoing a multi-hour psychiatric assessment as part of the hiring process, receiving a 16-page report, and stated that traits others might view as negative could be reasons she was hired, adding that "there's no trait that doesn't have both a positive and a negative aspect." Lin said she evaluates candidates using a "heart hire" approach, seeking individuals with energy and a willingness to embrace change. She argued that lawyers are well-positioned to take informed risks, saying, "instead of hindering risk we should use that expertise to advocate for and take informed risks." Lin described herself as a "business leader" rather than a legal person when entering business meetings, and acknowledged that being general counsel "can be a lonely endeavor." She also expressed a personal goal of traveling to 100 countries, naming Saudi Arabia's Neom project and the island of Socotra off Yemen as top destinations.

Profile compiled from Lola Lin's verified public interviews and appearances. See all quotes & transcripts →

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“I'm a Texas girl first and foremost, raised in Houston by Taiwanese immigrant parents — my father is an engineer and was in the oil business for his whole career. For undergrad I w…”
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“Before joining Howmet I had to meet with a very well-known psychiatrist and go through a multi-hour interview process and assessments — the total process was probably eight to nine…”
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“Some of the things highlighted in the assessment that others might perceive as negative actually might have been reasons they hired me — there's no trait that doesn't have both a p…”
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“My husband has been a hundred percent supportive — even our son knows that mom is going to try to go for the next experience, and we've built a family dynamic where we talk a lot a…”
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“When evaluating candidates I do what's called a 'heart hire' — I look for someone who has the heart, the energy and the drive to be successful on my team, who is okay with change a…”
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“I've never liked budgeting much — especially in a company going through a phase that's extremely cost conscious; the budgeting process can be maddening even though it's important b…”
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