Linda Burridge is an experienced leadership coach and consultant with a diverse range of clients. She has helped executives in various industries improve their leadership skills, influence over teams, decision-making abilities, and performance. Through observation, feedback, and coaching strategies focused on communication, influence, and self-awareness, Burridge helps clients strengthen critical skills and achieve important career goals and organizational results.

1. (630) 640-7126 | lburridge@nextactsolutions.coach | nextactsolutions.coach
LINDA BURRIDGE
MBA, Certified Professional Coach
COR.E Leadership Development Specialist, Energy Leadership Index Master Practitioner
Leadership Development and Coaching Experience
A broad base of experience with clients, including:
AARP
Advance Auto
Adventist Health
Avnet
Boyd Gaming Corporation
British Telecom
Caesars Entertainment
Caterpillar
Centura Health
Cisco
CR Bard
Daimler
Doe Run
General Motors
Glaxo Welcome
HCA Healthcare
Hitachi
Hoffman-Roche
Pharmaceuticals
J.F. Shea
Kaiser Permanente
Kohler
Pfizer
Sanofi-Aventis
Sonoran Quest
T-Mobile
U.S. Air Force
U.S. Anti-Doping Agency
Wells Fargo
Client Examples
THE CLIENT: VP for global technology organization
specializing in defense, Fortune 100
THE NEED: Retain the talent and experience of a leader who
excelled in critical thinking and decision making.
RESULTS: This executive was unable to execute on his
potential because his “What I’m thinking is what you get”
style left him unable to influence and gain commitment to
his decisions. Through observation, feedback, self-reporting
and coaching, he applied strategies to modify his direct style
and to pick up on non-verbal cues in response to his
interpersonal approach. He developed several relationships
outside of the engineering function that gave him enterprise
wide exposure to leverage his influence and identified an
opportunity to partner with a business development
executive who was effective with gaining the commitment of
customers and enterprise-wide stakeholders. He improved
his influence and executive presence which allowed the
organization to benefit from his experience and decision
making.
THE CLIENT: VP of Sales of Major Pharmaceutical, Fortune
500
THE NEED: Assessment results indicated that the sales force,
including this executive and his peers, were unprepared for
a series of new product launches over the next two years.
RESULTS: Linda helped the executive to identify more
specific gaps in his sales team and the challenges of
influencing peers to engage in the bigger picture. Using his
strengths in business acumen and industry knowledge, she
worked with him to identify ways to take leadership and use
the annual sales meeting to gather the collective experience
to develop a decision-making process with a communication
and influence strategy for launching the first in a series of
products. He was not only able to close the decision-making
gap for him and his team, but he positively impacted others
through his leadership. The result was on-time delivery of
the new product and a sustainable process for engaging the
entire sales force and their direct reports.

2. THE CLIENT: Director of Clinical Technology, privately held
health care consortium, Top 100 America’s Best Employers
THE NEED: Inability to promote an executive due to lack of
team readiness. Promotion was contingent upon preparing
his leadership team to lead independently and drive
performance during the transition since they would absorb
his current accountabilities.
THE RESULT: Linda coached the client on how to accelerate
the engagement of his team by guiding him to develop a
delegation and decision-making framework and process,
including specific metrics for tracking progress and success.
He co-led a workshop with Linda and requested feedback
from his team and talent management leaders. All eight
leaders had transition plans in place. He was promoted
within six months, and his team along with their direct
reports were able to continue to perform without risk to
internal stakeholders and customers. The process also
informed two leaders who elected not to continue, creating
an opportunity for those who were a better fit for the new
role.
THE CLIENT: Regional Marketing Head, privately held
premier metals mining company and a global lead producer
THE NEED: The organization was looking to groom potential
talent to prepare executives for anticipated changes in the
market and global compliance. Based on several sources of
assessment data, interviews and self-reflection, it was
mutually agreed he needed to delve more deeply into the
root causes of the company’s challenges to mitigate financial
risk and build strategies that would yield strong business
results. To build accountability and minimize avoidance, he
engaged both his leader and his direct reports in creating a
development plan that would test his assumptions and
increase involvement in shaping proposed solutions and
strategies. To build his financial acumen, he also set up
working sessions with the various members of the executive
team to gain greater insight on how decisions were made.
RESULTS: Coaching resulted in greater engagement from his
direct reports as he used involvement in business strategy to
develop them. One proposed change was implemented
globally which improved his organizational visibility and
credibility and he was also promoted to an executive board
position.
THE CLIENT: VP, Catering and Event Operations, Gaming,
Hospitality and Entertainment, Fortune 1,000
THE NEED: The company found itself short at the GM
leadership level to support their acquisition strategy. This
client needed to be more forward thinking in exploring
opportunities and leveraging solutions across the properties
to increase revenue and reduce expenses. Her personal goal
was to gain greater confidence in dealing with ambiguity and
taking risk.
THE RESULT: With Linda’s coaching, this executive identified
a mentor within corporate development who connected her
to external contacts for benchmarking and inspiration. She
identified challenges along with actions and contingencies
that would ensure her ongoing progress. The executive
presented options for Food & Beverage outlets along with
recommendations for resources and ROI. In spite of the
economic downturn and the company’s decision to stop
expansion, she was able to lead and implement several ideas
with the support of her team and peers.
THE CLIENT: District Manager, Canada Agribusiness and
Biotechnology Company, Fortune 500
THE NEED: Benchmark data suggested the client was
challenged with gaining the commitment of his team and
stakeholders to the organization’s changing business
requirements. He also volunteered that his lack of
confidence and conflict avoidance contributed to the
resistance.
THE RESULT: Linda used the leader’s openness to change
and self- awareness to have him track the more difficult
decisions, the occasions he lost confidence and to explore
the source of his discomfort. These insights focused
subsequent coaching conversations on the assumptions that
led to his reluctance to lead and inspire change. In time he
was able to use observations to initiate feedback and
understand how his behavior impacted others. Coaching also
reinforced the use of his listening and rapport building skills
to engage resisters and position rationale for decisions. Over
time he found courage to take a stand when challenged and
was promoted to an executive sales role in Canada.