The Art and Practice of Leadership Coaching: 50 Top Executive Coaches Reveal Their Secrets

COACHINGLEADERS/BEHAVIORALCOACHING 83

Bobbie Little

I

am a master business coach for senior executives in a wide variety of in-

dustries. I work with highly talented men and women who want to opti-

mize their performance and stay at the leading edge of their business. Such

people are bright, committed, and curious, and set very high standards for

themselves. They want to be exemplary leaders. They may already be C suite

executives or are aspiring to be in a senior position.

I am currently in a global leadership role with PDI and can readily iden-

tify with the challenges my clients face. My international experience gives

me an instant connection with many different nationalities and some of the

cultural issues they face. I have extensive coaching and assessment experi-

ence from both private practice and from working with senior executives

dur ing a number of international mergers. It has been a privilege to work

with some outstanding corporate leaders and others who have had the

courage to try to change long-standing behaviors.

At PDI, we have designed a comprehensive development pipeline for cor-

porate use. This coaching pipeline starts where our clients currently are and

takes them to the next level. We do not mandate a slew of assessments for our

time-starved executives. We look at the most appropriate form of informa-

tion gathering, including 360-degree surveys, standardized interviews, per-

formance reviews, and other assessment tools, and use what is most relevant

to the coaching engagement. A key difference is that after analyzing the data,

we create written action plans that align the individual to the organization’s

imperatives. These plans are firmly grounded in real-life events on the

Bobbie Little is a Regional Director, Executive Coaching

at Personnel Decisions International (PDI). She is based

in Washington, DC, and specializes in coaching senior ex-

ecutives and CEOs. Before joining PDI, she was a found-

ing member of DBM Inc.’s executive coaching practice

from 1999 to 2003, responsible for global strategy and

ensuring coaching quality and consistency worldwide. A

pioneer in the corporate coaching and leadership devel-

opment field, Ms. Little, a British-born American citi-

zen, has held senior management positions in the United

Kingdom and Australia. She has also worked in Italy and France. Ms. Little has

also been Chairperson of the Board of the Research Triangle Area Chapter of

the American Society for Training and Development (ASTD) and President of

the Raleigh Professional Women’s Forum. She is a member of The Interna-

tional Coaching Federation (ICF) and a certified Leadership and Master

Coach. She can be reached via e-mail at [email protected].