Reviews

“Jim is very insightful and tactful with sharing these insights for improvement which is the mark of a great coach. He inspires confidence and appropriate boldness when action needs to be taken. I know I would not have been as successful or satisfied with my performance if he had not counseled me at opportune and appropriate times. I highly recommend him to anyone who is seeking improvement in leadership while achieving massive organizational goals."

"James McKenna is a proven, world-class executive coach who is a master of facilitating conversations that have led to the enhancement of our executive team’s communication, collaboration and connectedness. As a result, our team has developed stronger relationships, better processes and better outcomes, whose positive impact extends across our organization and ultimately to our patients and their families.

Having the ability to tap into James’ experience, as a healthcare thought leader to provide a unique, unbiased and insightful perspective, has been helpful to my professional growth as the CMO of my health system, as well as for my own personal wellbeing, thus that of my family."

"Leaders need to be clear to the team members what their roles are...you know this Jim. You teach this. The value of teamwork trust is intrinsic and critical to the success of the whole."

“Professional coaching with Jim has been incredibly valuable to me. I am nearer the end of my career than the beginning…I felt I had at least one last act left in my professional life. I was satisfied with what I have achieved thus far and wanted to try expanding or using what I’ve learned to tackle something bigger. Defining that and finding that path was proving to be challenging. For these reasons, Jim’s wisdom and perspective have been so useful to me as I launch this next phase.”

“J’ai travaillé avec Jim pour sortir d’un burnout professionnel et parental. Jim m’a aidé à analyser les causes de mon burnout ce qui m’a plus tard aidé à éviter de retomber dans le même problème. Il m’a aidé à trouver les mots adequats pour exprimer mes sentiments, et pour apprendre à dire non, outil essentiel pour éviter le burnout. Grâce à lui je comprends mieux ma personnalité, ma force et mes limites, et j’arrive à mieux communiquer et à dire non de temps en temps. J’arrive à reconnaitre le moment où j’atteins mes limites et j’ai les outils qui me permettent de me ressourcer et de rester résiliante face au stress de ma vie professionnelle et familiale.”

“Ho avuto la possibilità di incontrare James durante il mio percorso professionale, e non soltanto si è rivelata un’esperienza preziosa per il mio lavoro da cardiologa, ma anche per la mia crescita personale. James mi ha aiutato a capire come meglio relazionarmi con i miei pari e con i miei superiori, cercando di esaltare le mie doti positive e fare dei miei punti deboli dei punti di forza. In Italia non è ancora molto sviluppato il concetto di leadership coaching, ma io lo raccomando a tutti i miei colleghi, e in particolare alle donne in carriera, per rendere ancora più preziosa, speciale e vincente la crescita personale e professionale.“

“Jim McKenna was a ‘chance twitter find’ but worth more than his weight in gold! Faced with multi-faceted intersectionality at work I sought Jim out and was pleasantly surprised at how quickly I warmed up to him and trusted his insights as well as his thoughtful observations and non-judgmental critiques of our sessions. Jim has helped me cultivate and refine my leadership and communication style which has been extremely helpful . While I wish I had signed up for leadership coaching sooner however I truly believe the right coach is important and if you happen to come across this testimonial you won’t be making a mistake in signing up with him.“

“Jim helped me understand my leadership style, and with that, my strengths and weaknesses. I also learned to develop strategies to confront and succeed in conflict. Jim helped me develop the different roles of my life, and in creating balance. He assisted me in developing and implementing a sustainable strategy to thrive, not just survive. The skills I learned from working with Jim will serve me well for the rest of my career. I am eternally grateful! “

“I served as the Medical Director of a large (50+) Adult Hospital Medicine group for three years. I worked with Jim as a leadership coach during this interval… the interactions with him were transformative. Jim helped me keep a broad perspective and identify growth paths that were mine and mine alone. His assessments and analysis of our group and of the leadership team gave me an unparalleled amount of clarity for our next steps. When I decided to step down from my position and take a leadership break, I sought Jim’s advice and expertise once again. The return from Medical Director to peer provider, was a soft landing, thanks to Jim’s advice and perspective. I feel fortunate that I had a chance to work with him and I am looking forward to doing so in the future.“

“Jim is an excellent executive coach. He is also skilled at assisting team members work more effectively together by understanding how others process information and make decisions. A great asset for any board or leadership team. “

“Jim speaks the language of the doctors.”

“Jim was incredibly effective in helping me become more aware and less reactive. I find Jim to be a trusted advisor and friend.”

“James was excellent at listening to my comments and was able to react very quickly to them in an effective and meaningful way. James really listened and was able to internalize my thoughts and feelings. James was always present and was able to quickly shift gears during a conversation and recall discussion points from past sessions. This was very helpful in thinking about past points and continuing to progress meaningfully. He pushed me to set assignments and held me accountable for the follow-up. These exercises were helpful and almost always led to valuable insights. James’s communication skills were of the highest order and demonstrated an excellent sense of professionalism while embodying a warm tone.”

“The coaching process helped me look at the bigger picture and see the interplay between personal and professional life. It also helped me be more mindful about work/life balance and operationalize that in my life. I’m in a better place than I was a year ago.”

“Our cardiovascular service line had Jim McKenna work with physician and administrative leaders to help develop and align our leadership team. We got the results we wanted, and it was a very enjoyable process. Jim’s professionalism and expertise yielded some great initial results, and we are now able to work from that foundation to continue our progress as a more well aligned and synchronized team. His coaching included “big picture” thinking as well as practical tips that helped build our leaders confidence, collaborative abilities and ability to productively work through conflict. Gaining physician trust is not an easy task- but Jim makes it appear effortless. I highly recommend Jim McKenna for both his group and 1:1 coaching/leadership development.“

“Jim was my executive coach. He was a great partner. He was very skilled at helping me see how to navigate complex professional relationships, develop skills to better advocate and achieve goals, as well as be aware of my own blind spots. Jim was a pleasure to work with and a true confidant. He has a great understanding of the skills needed by physician leaders and executives. The things I learned have been invaluable in my ongoing development and success. “

“I cannot say enough great things about working with Jim. I never thought I needed a #leadership/#careercoach until #TheBestMentorEver @JJHeart_doc (Dr. James Januzzi) paid for me to work with @JLMcKenna13 to improve my career path. Thank you!!”

“Jim is immensely talented with groups and leadership teams searching for greater clarity, knowledge and improvement in function and best practice. He is also superb in helping individual leaders with better understanding of their strengths, weaknesses and communication styles and the impact they have on others. He can help you build an excellent roadmap for advancement, personal satisfaction, growth and wellness. “

“Huge thanks to everyone who continues to support and encourage me on this incredible journey, especially my leadership coach @JLMcKenna13!”

“Jim has helped me define my goals and move in a direction that has fostered my ongoing satisfaction with my career and with my wellness.”

“Jim provided executive training to our senior faculty. He hit the mark which had an immediate, positive impact for our team at MGH.”

“Jim McKenna has been a tremendous asset to our heart and vascular institute. His ability to coach and mentor our physician leaders has been transformative to our organization. The way in which he enables our physicians to realize their potential, and then achieve that potential, is nothing short of amazing. As a physician leader in a busy health care system, I cannot devote the necessary time, nor do I have the requisite expertise, to facilitate leadership development at this level. His services have been a huge help, and I would consider them indispensable…thank you Jim!”

“Jim provided coaching for the American College of Cardiology (ACC) Board of Trustees (BOT) and for trustees individually. He strengthened our team dynamics, identified strategies for enhancing interpersonal interactions, and lead our pursuit of healthy conflict. His insights into my personal leadership strengths and opportunities for growth were immensely helpful in my role as ACC BOT member and tangentially in my role at HFHS (Henry Ford HealthSystem). Highly recommended him for individuals/team that understand the value of coaching and acknowledge latitude for development.”

“Everyone thought it went well. Kudos to you; great job with a tough group!”

“When you have executives, moved to the extent of directly, immediately reaching out to you personally to share what they are committed to doing differently, based on a roundtable session led by Jim, you know you are working with a professional. Don’t let Jim’s understated way fool you; he is dealing impactful straight talk, straight from his heart to yours. You will be absorbed into listening to what he says, and excited to follow the suggestions he invokes.”

“Many thanks to Jim McKenna for his wonderful presentation to our hospital medicine group on recognizing and addressing burnout! His depth of experience, warmth, good humor and empathy were on full display. The process helped us notice where we were doing a good job organization-wise, and where we have opportunities to support staff better/differently. We learned so much that is valuable to our group and our leadership, plus had a bit of fun and enjoyed ourselves. During the interactive workshop, the participants’ collegiality came out often, which we recognize as a vital part of our future wellness success.“

“Great having you Jim, coaching up our early career leaders.”

“Jim McKenna provided outstanding leadership coaching for members of the American College of Cardiology Board of Trustees. I was a fortunate recipient of such coaching, which was done in a personalized, effective, and enjoyable manner. His coaching helped me develop new personal and professional insights and I would recommend him every time for anyone interested in this important exercise.”

“James McKenna has an incredible ability to recognize personal strengths and foster their growth. More specifically, Jim has an ability to identify valued characteristics that can improve professional and personal interactions… To summarize, Jim has been a huge asset for our organization.”

“As a healthcare provider and advisor of public healthcare policy, I feel that having a leadership coach like Jim is paramount to success. Jim’s collaborative coaching style is founded on self-honesty. He utilizes direct methods to achieve the ‘best practice of medicine’ that facilitates undaunted courage to redirect outcomes for the common good. There is a lot to be said for a team (coach-client) approach”.

“I believe in Jim’s Patient Centeredness program, and I have never seen such a reward/recognition/thanking environment that has been created due to these concepts. We, nurses, techs, physician providers, case managers, social workers, etc., have really gotten to know each other on a more personal level, thanked each other with Shining Star recognition cards, and the collaborative relationships are fantastic. Thank you goes a long way, and I feel that we, as a team are more comfortable reaching out to each other to let each other know that a great job was done.”

“When I was part of the Hospitalist team at Medstar Montgomery Medical Center, we had a very good team of physicians, but our overall doctor communication patient satisfaction scores were low. Jim supported the entire team of hospitalists by working with us collectively and individually. As a result, the team score improved, and it stayed high after he left. I think Jim helped us see things differently from the patient’s point of view. We were very happy with the improvement.”

“It was a pleasure to have Jim in our midst; he worked with our hospitalist group to improve customer satisfaction. He sensitized our group to the value of patient satisfaction (beyond the obvious financial incentives) and his coaching has helped us come up with new ideas to meet patient expectations. To sum up, we were able to progress from delivering ‘good service’ (something that we already did) to doing a ‘great job’.”

“I had the great opportunity to work with Jim through the Irish Cardiology Society. He provided excellent career and leadership coaching to several Specialist Registrars through webinars and workshops. He taught me how to reflect on my own stressors and develop resilience strategies to prevent burn out. He has a great way of making you feel relaxed, is a great listener and communicator. Jim taught us to look after ourselves and inspired us to strive for healthy, happy and successful careers.”

“We all have skills that are under-appreciated, and others can learn from. An important lesson learnt in the BCS Emerging Leaders Program. Special thanks to @JLMcKenna13 for his coaching.”

“Our cardiovascular service line had Jim McKenna work with physician and administrative leaders to help develop and align our leadership team. We got the results we wanted, and it was a very enjoyable process. Jim’s professionalism and expertise yielded some great initial results, and we are now able to work from that foundation to continue our progress as a more well aligned and synchronized team. His coaching included “big picture” thinking as well as practical tips that helped build our leaders confidence, collaborative abilities and ability to productively work through conflict. Gaining physician trust is not an easy task- but Jim makes it appear effortless. I highly recommend Jim McKenna for both his group and 1:1 coaching/leadership development.“

“The Hospitalist Leadership team engaged Jim as a professional coach to take their group to the next level of performance around improving their HCAHPS scores and overall professional presence across a 330 bed facility. Building esprit de corp, accountability and getting results became palpable attributes of his work with this team. Jim possesses the rare gift of drawing out what is best in the professional provider along with providing the coaching around how to hardwire this behavior to sustain meaningful change… Jim was highly respected not only by the physicians he worked with but by every member of the executive team. In Jim the core skills of knowledge and the ability to connect with professional providers intersect gracefully.”

“It has been a pleasure to work with James over the past twelve months developing a wellbeing and resilience program for cardiology trainees in Ireland. James’s knowledge and insights on these topics coupled with his inclusive approach, facilitated the trainee group as they explored, developed and implemented a program driven by needs identified by themselves. His ability to guide both group and one to one session is very impressive and the Irish cardiology trainee group have benefited greatly from working with James and having exposure to his expertise.”

“Jim, as I have always appreciated, I am inspired by the way you walk in a room full of physicians who are known for their big egos and spark a discussion which helps us improve, whether we consciously admit it or not.”

“Jim knows who he is in the most understated way. His audiences identify with him almost immediately because he deals directly from his heart. He engages his clients with ease. He has a knack for teaching his clients how to build a solid foundation and why collaboration brings teams together. He certainly accomplished that for us. Jim is driven by his concern for human values. I have witnessed how he gets his audience to strive for success. The results are easy to measure. He diagnoses problems like a physician. Then he helps you build sustainable solutions. The result? A healthy company.”

“He tenido el honor de formar parte del Board of Trustees del American College of Cardiology en los últimos 3 años. Formar parte de este Board es un gran desafío particularmente para un miembro del ACC no basado en USA. Jim McKenna me ayudó a identificar las fortalezas a aprovechar y las debilidades a corregir. Jim tiene una clara visión de la dinámica del liderazgo en el campo de la medicina y del fortalecimiento de estructuras colegiadas como el Board of Trustees. Mi relación profesional y personal con Jim McKenna ha sido muy enriquecedora y gratificante.”

“Jim is a national leader in patient experience and leadership development in healthcare. He has a deep understanding of clinical operations in Emergency Medicine and Hospital Medicine. This knowledge gives him credibility with the physicians and healthcare teams he serves. Our group of physicians has had the pleasure to work with Jim and we’ve seen significant improvements each time we work with him.”

“When I was the Medical Director for Inpatient Specialists at MMMC, I had a great opportunity to work with Jim on physician coaching to improve patient satisfaction. Jim took the time to meet individually with each physician in the group to assess and then suggest ways to improve patient interaction, empathy, and communication. For our hospitalist group to understand patients’ vulnerabilities, Jim had all of us put on the very fashionable hospital gowns and little yellow booties… Even though we were all laughing, we immediately felt the depersonalization that our patients experienced. At other times, he showed us that a subtle change in understanding and wording or tone can make a big difference in the eyes of the patient. Jim also coached me to manage physicians with different issues ranging from behavioral to cultural differences and was a force in ensuring the continuity of quality patient satisfaction during difficult times.”

“The patient experience training and coaching that James provides continues to help me in my current role. It should have been part of my PA (physician assistant) school training.”

“Working with Jim to effectively maximize the patient care experience has truly been invaluable, both as a group and on a one-on-one interaction level. His calm, trust-inspiring personality and insight into my strengths and weaknesses and knack to guide me, made my daily interactions with my patients go from ‘pleasant and good’ to ‘fantastic and memorable’. Pleasure working with you, Jim!“

“James provides an incredible service to help us improve the customer experience which helps to provide high-quality, clinical care.”

“Jim’s enthusiasm for our patient experience dialogues was infectious. He helped our team of physicians see things from a different perspective – that of the patient.”

“Jim is a national leader in patient experience and leadership development in healthcare. He has a deep understanding of clinical operations in Emergency Medicine and Hospital Medicine. This knowledge gives him credibility with the physicians and healthcare teams he serves. Our group of physicians has had the pleasure to work with Jim and we’ve seen significant improvements each time we work with him.”