Jim Sims
Want to Rewrite Your Future?
Profile Snapshot
ICF Certification: PCC
Certifications: Graduate, Executive Leadership Coaching Program, Institute for Transformational Leadership, Georgetown University Professional Certified Coach, International Coaching Federation Past President, Metro DC Charter Chapter, International Coaching Federation Adjunct Faculty Member - Executive Leadership Coach, Georgetown University’s Institute for Transformational Leadership - Doha, Qatar Leadership Programs Chair, 2018 & Co-Chair, 2019 Annual Capital Coaches Conferences, Washington, DC Certificate in Federal and Workplace Mediation, Northern Virginia Mediation Service, George Mason University's School for Conflict Analysis & Resolution Certificate in Organizational Development and Conflict Resolution, Northern Virginia Mediation Service, George Mason University's School for Conflict Analysis & Resolution Certified Mentor Coach Certified in Leadership Circle Profile Certified in Hogan Assessments Certified in Collective Leadership Assessment DiSC trained Educator (non-therapist) - Relationship Communication Coaching, Imago Relationships International J.D., with honors, George Washington University Law School B.A., magna cum laude, Hope College
Languages: English
Professional Background
If I had prior lives, I suspect that I was an architect, a carpenter, and/or an engineer. In this life, however, having watched most if not every episode of Perry Mason as a kid and before officially moving into coaching, I first became an attorney (and later a “cheating vegan”). As a partner in an international firm of 2000+ attorneys, I brought occasional humor for over 30 years to a wide range of clients in multiple industries, counseling on business transactions, intellectual property issues, governance and marketing challenges, and dispute resolution. Wearing a solo lawyer hat for the last nine years, I now advise smaller clients on numerous business issues. (Read on for the coach relevant stuff - this was just the boring background!)
Though I “majored” in corporate legal issues for clients while at my prior firm, I also “minored” in HR issues, serving on the firm’s professional development and evaluation committees, and recruiting, training, and mentoring colleagues with diverse backgrounds, interests, and goals. This experience eventually drew me to coaching. Now both an International Coaching Federation Professional Certified Coach and a Certified Mentor Coach, I coach leaders in companies, law firms, and nonprofits – as well as fellow coaches looking to enhance their craft. I previously served as President of the 1600+ member ICF Metro (Washington) DC Chapter and also as an adjunct faculty member in Georgetown University's Institute for Transformational Leadership working with students in Doha, Qatar. A glutton for punishment, I also chaired the 2018 and 2019 Capital Coaches Conference®. (Hang in there - one more paragraph to go....)
I tackle each coaching engagement with a rye sense of humor, occasionally sandwiching puns into coaching conversations – a successful recipe I've followed throughout my career. I bet we'll laugh (or groan) more than once on the journey to your new future.
Coaching Philosophy
Coaching can change your life. Clients often already have the answers to their challenges within themselves - they simply need an assist to reveal them. I'll help tease out your answers to your challenges and co-create with you practical strategies, tactics, and approaches to implement them.
Depending on your goals (you're the client so you'll set them), I’ll help you discover what influences and shapes your approach to your professional life (and possibly your personal life as well). We’ll explore what impact those forces have on business relationships, team building, communication, and leadership. And we’ll dig into the shifts you can make to effect positive change.
If you choose to work with me, expect to be challenged, s-t--r---e---t--c-h, and grow. Whether you want to build better relationships, change your ability to listen and be heard in new ways, develop team members, communicate more meaningfully, or something else, in the end, the shifts you make through coaching will help you up your game. You will see – and benefit from – those results.