Dr. James “Jim” Sartain, Jr. has a passion for transforming individuals, teams, and organizations. Leveraging lessons learned from his own 30 year leadership career and his training as a scholar/practitioner,  Jim’s focus is on the design and delivery of leader development programs that create meaningful and sustained changes in leader behavior. In addition to his work with CODA, Jim is  a Full Professor of Leadership and Strategy for the Jack Welch Management Institute. He is also an executive coach for senior leaders working in a variety of settings.

Jim has served at the executive leadership level for a range of organizations.  Previous roles include serving as President and CEO of a research, evaluation, and development company, Senior Vice President of a national child-caring organization, Program Director at a large community mental health center, Executive Director of a 24-hour crisis intervention and referral service, and most recently, Chief Strategy Officer of a private, liberal arts college in Central Florida.  

In 2003, Jim and Kathy founded CODA Partners, Inc. to pursue their shared interests in individual, team, and organizational development projects.”

Jim holds a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Bowling Green State University, an MBA from NOVA Southeastern University, and a PhD in Industrial/Organizational Psychology from the Harold Abel School of Psychology at Capella University.  His research focuses on cognitive psychology and the link between self-identity and leadership performance. Other research interests have explored leadership development best practices, defining ROI for training and development initiatives, the power of reflective practices, virtual teams, leading transformational change, forecasting trends for the 21st century workforce, and examining the relationship of style preferences with specific leadership meta-competencies and behaviors.

Jim is a member of the Society of Industrial-Organizational Psychologists, and the Association of Psychological Type (APT). Jim is also a certified MBTI administrator.

Jim lives in Dade City with his wife Lynda.