Hello! I’m Kimberly McNally, MN, RN, BCC
I bring 25+ years of experience in executive coaching, board/governance development, team facilitation, culture change, and leadership skills training to health care leaders, teams, and boards. As founder and President of McNally & Associates, I partner with leaders to build capacity, strengthen presence, increase alignment and collaboration, and accelerate effectiveness.
My experience working as a leader, along with service as a board member, in a variety of organizations brings a grounded, practical, results-oriented approach to my work with you. This lens combined with my education and background in leadership development, change, adult learning, organizational development, neuroscience, and governance brings a unique perspective about how to navigate systems with greater influence and impact.
I have coached all levels of leadership including Board Chair, CEO, COO, CNO, CMO, CQO, VP, Department Directors, and academic leaders. Starting my career as a registered nurse and eventually serving as a Board Chair for an academic medical center, I am uniquely qualified to coach current and emerging health care leaders.
I co-authored The Nurse Executive’s Coaching Manual, published by Sigma Theta Tau. The book was recognized with an American Journal of Nursing 2010 Book of the Year Award (leadership/management category).
Prior to forming McNally & Associates, I held roles in organizational development for a community hospital and service delivery/account management for a health care start-up company. In addition, I held leadership and clinical positions in two academic medical centers, a community hospital, and a for-profit psychiatric facility.
I have served on non-profit boards for 35+ years. I’ve been active in health care governance at local, state, and national levels and involved in efforts to prepare more nurses to serve on boards. I served as a consultant on governance to the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). As a trustee, I was actively involved in creating policies, structures, and systems to improve quality and safety, advance diversity and inclusion, and reduce health disparities.
Education, Certifications, Affiliations
- Board Certified Executive Career & Leadership Coach (BCC)
- New Ventures West coaching certification
- MN, Nursing/Business, University of Washington
- BSN, Saint Anselm College
- Certified in The Leadership Circle Profile, WE-I Profile, Trust at Work, Conflict Dynamics Profile, Enneagram at Work, and other leadership assessments.
- Institute of Coaching (IOC) at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School Affiliate.
- American College of Healthcare Executives
- American Organization of Nurse Leaders
Professional Experience
- Founder and Principal, McNally & Associates
- Former Board Member, American Hospital Association
- Former Board Member, Health Research & Education Trust
- Former Board Member, UW Medicine Health System
- Former Board Member, Seattle Cancer Care Alliance
- Former Board Member, Empty Space Theater
- Former Board Member, Seattle Mental Health
- Variety of leadership & clinical positions
On the personal side, I am very curious about other cultures and am an avid traveler (more than 60 countries to date!). I love to cook and make art. To keep my creative juices flowing and to challenge my assumptions, I read widely, seek out diverse art experiences, and attend dance and theater performances regularly. I love to walk, play pickleball and take Pilates classes.
The purpose of art is washing the dust of daily life off of our souls. – Pablo Picasso
Art as a Leadership Practice
I use art-based approaches in my coaching and facilitation work. In the article “What Art Offers Leadership: Looking Beneath the Surface”, Burns (2011) introduced the possible outcomes if leaders thought like artists. Within the article, principles of art that inform leader development were identified:
(1) Seeing new possibilities
(2) Feeling comfortable letting-go
(3) Developing a sense of common purpose and shared meaning
(4) Developing unity without eroding diversity
(5) Instilling a sense of order in the global community instead of disorder
(6) Appreciating the value of resistance.
My Practice
Guided by my passion for continuous learning, I have been building my identity and skills as an artist. I take workshops, seek coaching and mentoring about my work, and practice making art as often as I can. I paint because I enjoy the process of discovery. I love the luminous qualities and depth of layers that emerge with encaustic and cold wax and oil painting. My work informs my art, and my art informs my work. My art focuses on expressing aspects of the human experience, memory, and connectivity. I’m inspired by great leadership, human kindness, travel, observation of the ordinary, written words, and the odd mark. The dynamic tensions and polarities in life are a recurring theme in my work…perspective taking is central.
Thanks to art, instead of seeing one world, our own, we see it multiplied and as many original artists as there are, so many worlds are at our disposal. – Marcel Proust
