Deb Skarda

Deb brings over 30 years of experience in healthcare, business, and people transformation. As an experienced senior leader and coach, she knows the challenges of thriving in highly matrixed organizations, leading people across cultures and global locations, and successfully navigating ongoing change.

Before executive coaching, Deb held senior leadership positions at Abbott, Hospira, and AbbVie. She has had responsibility for nearly 100 employees worldwide and managed an expense budget of more than $350M. She has held various leadership roles in R&D Quality Assurance, Business Transformation, Regulatory Affairs, Project Management, Portfolio Management, Medical Affairs, Medical Information, and Patient Safety. She has experience with mergers, acquisitions, integrations, divestitures, joint development committee membership, product launches, organizational redesign, new system/process implementation, multi-channel communication strategies, operational efficiency, overall culture activities, DE&I, and employee engagement activities.

Deb began her career in critical care nursing, where that expertise led her to the pharmaceutical industry. She now partners with leaders, elevating their impact and enhancing their “success formula” through executive coaching and leadership development consultation. She is passionate about supporting leaders striving to create more successful and fulfilled lives, careers, and organizations.

Certification

• Benchmarks 360®
• KF 360
• Change Intelligence®/CQ®
• Dare to Lead Facilitator (based on Brené Brown’s “Dare to Lead” book)
• Executive FiRE Index 2.0 – Resilience Instrument
• Hogan Assessments
• Master the Matrix
• Working Genius (based on Patrick Lencioni’s assessment)

Education

• University Wisconsin-Madison – CPC
• Lake Forest Graduate School of Management – MBA (Organizational Behavior Specialization; International Business Specialization)
• University Wisconsin-Milwaukee – MSN
• Viterbo University – BSN

Practice Areas

• Executive & Leadership Coaching
• Employee Engagement
• Strategic Thinking
• Cross-functional Collaboration
• Leadership Development
• Change Management
• Project Management
• Cross-Cultural Awareness
• Workshops & Meeting Facilitation