About Jim Donovan
The real breakthrough begins when a man is willing to see himself clearly.
My path has taken me from working inside Oracle to advising leaders in high-growth startups and global companies including LinkedIn, Lyft, Cadence, Novanta, NetApp, Informatica, and other leading organizations.
For more than twenty years, I have worked with CEOs, founders, senior executives, and leadership teams when something important was on the line. A company was growing faster than its leaders. A team had stopped telling the truth. A successful executive had reached the top and begun wondering whether he still wanted the life required to stay there.
The business problem may be what brings someone to me. It is rarely the whole story.
I am especially drawn to working with accomplished men who have spent decades becoming capable, dependable, and successful. They have built companies, careers, reputations, and financial security. Other people look to them for answers. Yet beneath the performance, something may feel unresolved.
The work no longer gives them the energy it once did. The next achievement does not feel the same as it used to. Their family receives what is left after the business has taken its share. They know how to keep moving, but it has become a slog.
These men do not need another productivity system or a more polished leadership technique. They need a pathway to see what they have never been able to see in their life and leadership.
The self-criticism that keeps them pushing. The control that makes it difficult to trust. The distance that protects them from being fully known. The conflict, intensity, or constant urgency that helps them access their power but makes it nearly impossible to rest.
I help men see what may be operating outside their awareness, especially when a decision about their company, relationships, legacy, or next chapter can no longer be avoided.
- 20+ years advising and developing senior leaders in high-growth startups and Fortune 500 companies
- Executive advisor to CEOs and C-suite leaders at Oracle, LinkedIn, Lyft, Cadence, Novanta, NetApp, Informatica, and other leading organizations
- Author of Executive Shadow Work (forthcoming)
