Top 5 Strengths Strategic, Arranger, Responsibility, Ideation, Achiever.
Molly Rutledge Koscina
Specialties Executive Coaching, Cross‑Cultural Leadership, Crisis & High‑Stakes Communication, DEIA Leadership, Stakeholder Management, Leadership Transitions, International & Public‑Sector Leadership
Credentials
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Associate Certified Coach (ACC), International Coaching Federation (ICF)
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Leadership Coaching Certificate, Georgetown University Institute for Transformational Leadership
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Master’s in National Security & Resource Strategy, Eisenhower School, National Defense University
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BA in Communications, University of California, Davis
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Cornell University Credential in Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
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20+ years as a senior U.S. diplomat across East Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Washington
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Fluent in English and Spanish
Summary Profile
Molly is an executive coach and former senior U.S. diplomat with more than two decades of experience leading in some of the world’s most complex, politically charged, and culturally diverse environments. As her bio states, “Molly Rutledge Koscina is an ICF‑credentialed executive coach (ACC) and former senior U.S. diplomat with more than two decades of experience leading and advising in complex, cross‑cultural environments.” Her diplomatic career took her across East Asia, Latin America, the Caribbean, and Washington, where she led multicultural teams, advised senior government officials, and navigated high‑stakes decisions with significant political and organizational consequence.
Through her coaching practice, MRK Leadership, Molly works with senior executives and global leaders operating under pressure. Her work is grounded in a powerful premise from her bio: “the gap between capable and effective is alignment, not effort.” She helps clients surface the patterns shaping how they lead, reframe how they show up under pressure, and translate insight into durable shifts in presence, judgment, and decision‑making. Clients describe her coaching as rigorous, clarifying, and sustainable.
Her coaching is especially impactful for leaders navigating complexity, identity, and influence in environments where the stakes are high and the path is ambiguous. She brings a rare combination of strategic acuity, emotional intelligence, and lived experience moving initiatives through institutional resistance.
Representative coaching experience includes:
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Designing and leading a six‑month DEIA leadership pilot for Deputy Chiefs of Mission across six countries, including embassy‑wide 360 surveys, in‑person and virtual facilitation, and measurable organizational change
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Coaching a senior attorney in a District Attorney’s Office to integrate personal identity work with professional leadership, resulting in increased confidence and alignment
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Supporting a senior CDC/HHS leader stepping into a new role, helping her navigate people‑pleasing tendencies, strengthen boundaries, and lead with greater clarity
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Leading strategic communications during a terrorist attack in Manila and navigating reputational risk under extreme pressure — experience she now translates into coaching leaders through crisis and complexity
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Guiding executives through entrenched stakeholder resistance, helping them identify leverage points, build coalitions, and move initiatives that “everyone says can’t move”
Molly brings a steady, incisive, and deeply strategic presence to her coaching, helping leaders navigate complexity with clarity, courage, and grounded confidence.