My approach to psychotherapy is to listen to and understand your story until I know enough to ask questions about where it hurts, what you'd like to change, and how you stop yourself from doing so. I keep it simple and no frills, as it should be
Executive Coaching Bio for Jim Dolan
My best coaching work is done with the new executive or a new partner in a service firm who must now understand and develop his/her leadership capacity. I believe that leading others has more to do with who a person is rather than what they know. My job as an executive coach is to assist in developing the understanding of one’s being. Approach to Coaching and Leadership Development
My job for clients is to form a solid relationship where they will find the courage to understand their personal self, and their leadership strengths and challenges. We build a framework within this relationship with clear and achievable milestones and goals. Success Story – C-Level Succession
An industry-leading commercial travel agency wanted their CFO to succeed the CEO in the next few years, but was uncertain as to whether he had the right leadership skills to become CEO. We began a six month engagement that helped him understand the company’s concerns, and he corrected a communication style that made him appear indifferent, when he was actually being analytical. The result is that the CFO has been confirmed by the Board of Directors as next CEO. Success Story – Behavioral Change
The CMO of one of the world’s largest law firms was in jeopardy of termination if he did not change his autocratic style. I helped him understand that while he was almost always right about his job, he had to learn to let others ‘be right’ as well. He learned that his need to always ‘be right’ was the worst and most serious thing he did ‘wrong’. He kept his job, and he was able to rebuild relationships key to his and his team’s success. Success Story- Behavioral Change
A large medical specialty group was having trouble with one of the partners, a gifted physician with poor interpersonal skills. They considered stripping him of his partnership. Some of the challenges had to do with the physician, and some of it had to do with the partnership. An individual assessment and frank presentation of the partnership’s complaints with the doctor led to a series of group meetings with all concerned. The meetings defused a potentially serious breach, saving the group the expense of buying the doctor out and the even larger expense of having to defend itself from a lawsuit. Background
I have been a psychotherapist since 1978. I received my graduate degree in psychology from Duquesne University, and began working in various United Way agencies in the greater Dallas area. I went into private practice in 1983, where I have been ever since. My executive coaching work is a natural outgrowth of my therapy practice, in which I learned how to form strong, direct bonds with clients. Since 2007, I have contributed a quarterly column at Texas Lawyer Magazine called ‘The Coach's Corner.’
