Dominick Volini is an executive coach whose practice is informed by 25+ years of experience consulting to business leaders on organizational issues. His coaching is always in the service of the business strategy, business results, and the organization’s stakeholders, as well as, the individual he is coaching.
He has dealt with a variety of employee levels (mid-level managers to CEO’s), intact teams and business units. Client companies have ranged from from Fortune 500 to government agencies and not-for-profits.
A small sample of client organizations: pwc, MedStar, J&J, BMS, W.R. Grace, Yale University, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, The World Bank, Alcoa and Georgetown University Hospital and New York Life.
How Coaching is Applied
As an Element of a Larger Project
Over the course of his career, Dominick has always incorporated a coaching element as part of his diverse large system consulting projects, including mergers, strategic change, work design and new business start-ups. He believes that this coaching component gives executives insight to the impact of their own behaviors on others and the organization itself. A large change project provides the opportunity to immediately put these insights into action.
Stand-Alone Coaching of Individuals
Aside from larger consulting projects, Dominick has worked with a variety of individuals that management has specifically recommended for coaching due to:
On-boarding to a new position/ new corporate culture/ promotion/ high potential status/ leadership development.
Interpersonal issues that require resolution in order to enhance personal performance.
A need to redefine an individual’s role to be consistent with business strategy.
Help develop the ability of coachees to become more innovative and creative in dealing with complex business problems or situations.
Approach
Dominick starts by spending time understanding the individual being coached and their situation. Next, the environment in which the individual operates is explored, that is, the business results to be delivered, the strategy to be supported, the internal and external shareholders/customers to served by the coachee. Dominick then Interviews others with whom the coachee interacts, to gain a more complete picture of the situation. The coachee generally receives a written summary identifying areas to be focused on. Engagements are typically for a 6 month period with many opting for a 6 month extension in order to reinforce and sustain new learned behaviors.
A common theme in Dominick’s coaching is the message to increase awareness and communication or “Be Open.” That is, be open: to feedback; to input to one’s projects; to what is said and not said by colleagues; to new opportunities and different points of view. The simplicity of this approach replaces popular “step approaches” and is easy to remember and very effective. There is almost no one who cannot benefit by improving awareness and increasing communication.
Qualifications
Dominick has served as Executive Coaching Practice Lead with Healthy Companies International, BlessingWhite and Right Management, and was at Block Petrella Weisbord, a pioneering firm in the field of organization development, where he became a principal and Managing Partner. He was also an Associate Partner, Change Management, at Andersen Consulting (now Accenture).
Dominick holds a Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, a Master’s degree in Psychology from the New School for Social Research, NYC, and a B.S. in Psychology from the University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA). He is also Affiliated Faculty, Center for Organizational Dynamics, at the University of Pennsylvania and a member of the American Psychological Association. he has been an invited lecturer in the Fordham MBA program.
Other Considerations
Dominick understands the global nature of today’s business world. Dominick has consulted to many individuals with overseas responsibilities and has coached executives in a variety of countries in Europe and leaders in India, Australia, Singapore, Brazil, Dubai and Mexico.