Coaching from someone who has held the role.
I've worked my way from VP to President, COO and CEO, and I've hired and developed leaders who made the same climb. Today I coach senior executives who want to lead with more presence and impact, step into a bigger role, or get off to a strong start in a new one.
Real executive experience. A disciplined coaching approach. I combine what I've learned leading and developing executives with structured assessments, confidential conversations with the people you work with, focused executive coaching and goals you can measure.
The skills that got you promoted aren't always enough.
Early in my career, I learned that working hard and being good at your job weren't enough on their own. Here's what I've learned since about what sets successful leaders apart, and the kind of guidance I wish I'd had.
What changes.
For senior executives who want more impact now, VPs preparing for the C-suite, C-suite leaders preparing to lead the company, and executives new to a bigger role.
Four steps, built around your goals.
Executive Impact, my coaching program for senior executives, follows four steps, shaped around you and your company.
Confidential conversations with people who work with you, and two leadership assessments.
A short, written coaching plan with goals you set, shared with your manager when your company is involved.
In-depth discussions geared toward helping you solve your biggest challenges and achieve your goals.
Progress checked with the same people at the end.
Engagements typically run three or six months, and can be tailored.
Visible progress. Protected trust.
Whether you're preparing a high-potential VP for the C-suite, supporting a newly promoted executive or strengthening an established leader, each engagement pairs structured assessment and clear goals with confidential coaching. What's said in coaching stays there. You and the executive's manager agree on the goals at the start and see progress at the midpoint and the end, with what's shared agreed with the executive in advance.
Executives I've hired and developed have gone on to become COOs, CMOs, CEOs, owners and principals.
Early in my career, at a franchisor with more than 350 units, I hired and managed a VP of Training. In 1993 we attended the national conference of the American Society for Training & Development (ASTD) together, where we heard Stephen Covey and Ken Blanchard speak, and I met Peter Senge, at a time when The Fifth Discipline was reshaping how companies thought about learning.
The conference helped shape my approach to leadership and management: hire the right people, treat teams with respect, and build a learning organization.
What you are getting with Jim is a proven enterprise CEO as your coach who won't ask you to do anything he hasn't done himself.
He set a compelling vision, rebuilt the leadership team, and kept the culture engaged through the transition and the pandemic. … Jim also developed me from Group Vice President to Chief Operating Officer, and I now lead AR as CEO.
He recognized that my experience and capabilities extended beyond my role at the time and provided me with an opportunity to contribute in a broader operational leadership capacity as the COO.
Jim was willing to push me when my work or leadership didn't meet his expectations, but he did it in a way that motivated me rather than discouraged me.
