Local firm picks up international awards

COURTESY PHOTO From the left are Paul Christie, Heather Christie, John Lankford and Dale Christie at the ActionCOACH global conference in Dublin, Ireland. The Fort Myers ActionCOACH franchise, which provides personalized mentoring, training and leadership development to help, announced that it took home four top international awards at the company's global conference in Dublin, Ireland. This was the most of awards granted to any ActionCOACH firm in the company's 14-year history.

"It is wonderful to be recognized for our contributions to the ActionCOACH franchise and for our success in helping businesses throughout the region succeed," said Dale Christie, co-owner of the Fort Myers franchise since 2005.

ActionCOACH honored Heather Christie, co-founder and president of the local ActionCOACH firm with the highly coveted 2007 Coaches Choice Award. The award, voted on by peers, is given annually to one coach out of more than 1,000 in 24 countries, for business coaching excellence. Christie was also chosen as one of the top three trainers from around the world and will appear in ActionCOACH's corporate professional training video. A leader in her field, Christie serves on the North American franchise advisory board for Action- COACH.

John Lankford, certified business coach and vice president of leadership development, was named ActionCOACH's 2007 Rookie Coach of the Year. The prestigious award is given to a coach who has been with the company for less than one year and best exemplifies the qualities of an ActionCOACH business coach. He was recognized out of approximately 300 new coaches from across the world. Before joining ActionCOACH, Lankford's career included executive positions with three Fortune 500 companies, Ford Motor Company, Comcast University and Ascension Health, the second largest health system in the nation.