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Overview: When Jaime Donnelly stepped into the CEO role at Integrity Staffing Solutions, the company was facing one of the biggest transitions in its history.
One of Integrity’s largest clients, after more than 25 years together, decided to bring much of the work in-house. The business changed dramatically, and the organization had to respond quickly.
There wasn’t time to overanalyze.
The leadership team had to reflect on what the change meant for the company, its people, and its future, then make decisions swiftly and move forward.
Having spent more than 25 years with Integrity, Jaime had worked across recruiting, operations, sales, HR, finance, and executive leadership before becoming CEO. That experience gave her a unique perspective on leading through uncertainty.
Throughout the conversation, Jaime shared lessons on transparency, decision-making, AI, coaching, founder transitions, and building an organization where people come first.
Transparency Builds Trust
When Integrity lost one of its largest clients, Jaime knew uncertainty would create fear throughout the organization.
People naturally wondered what the change meant for them.
Rather than avoiding difficult conversations, she believes leaders should be as transparent as possible.
According to Jaime, a lack of transparency creates mistrust, especially during periods of change. Employees want to understand what’s happening, even when the news is difficult.
Transparency doesn’t eliminate uncertainty.
It helps people move through it together.
“Be as transparent as possible with your team.”
Key Takeaway: During times of change, transparency helps build the trust organizations need to move forward.
Agreement Is Optional. Commitment Is Not.
Jaime doesn’t believe leadership requires unanimous agreement.
When Integrity was navigating significant change, there were disagreements within the leadership team. Every idea was discussed. Every concern was heard.
Then a decision had to be made.
Once that happened, everyone committed to moving forward together.
As Jaime says:
“Agreement is optional, but commitment is not.”
She believes leaders should encourage honest discussion before a decision is made, but once the direction is clear, the entire team has to lock arms and execute.
Key Takeaway: Healthy disagreement improves decisions. Commitment makes those decisions successful.
AI Should Free People to Do Higher-Value Work
Integrity implemented AI voice recruiting three years before many competitors.
The technology allowed the company to engage thousands of applicants more efficiently while helping recruiters focus on work that requires human judgment and relationships.
Jaime believes AI will continue changing recruiting.
Rather than seeing it only as a threat, she sees an opportunity to rethink how people spend their time.
Her goal is simple.
Let AI handle the hands work.
Let people focus on the head and heart work.
That means spending more time building relationships, thinking strategically, and delivering greater value to clients.
Key Takeaway: Technology creates the greatest value when it allows people to spend more time doing work only people can do.
Sometimes the Hardest Decisions Create the Biggest Opportunities
In 2023, the staffing industry experienced a sharp contraction.
Integrity was affected just like everyone else.
Jaime and her leadership team decided they couldn’t simply accept the industry’s trajectory.
Instead, they rebuilt their sales organization.
They redesigned hiring.
They revamped onboarding.
They reworked sales training.
They integrated AI into their sales process.
They also turned over approximately 75% of their sales team and rebuilt it.
It wasn’t an easy decision.
It wasn’t a unanimous decision.
But Jaime believed it was necessary.
While the staffing industry contracted again in 2025, Integrity grew more than 60%.
Key Takeaway: Difficult decisions often create the foundation for future growth.
Great Leaders Build Other Leaders
One leadership practice Jaime shared says a great deal about how she develops people.
When an employee comes directly to her with a problem, she doesn’t immediately solve it.
Instead, she asks one question:
“What did your manager say?”
If they haven’t spoken with their manager, she encourages them to have that conversation first.
She’ll even help them prepare for it.
At the same time, she’ll prepare the manager to receive the feedback openly.
For Jaime, leadership isn’t about becoming the answer to every question.
It’s about helping leaders at every level become stronger.
Key Takeaway: Organizations become stronger when leaders develop other leaders instead of solving every problem themselves.
Coaching Changed More Than Her Leadership
Jaime credits executive coaching with giving her practical leadership tools that she immediately put to work throughout the organization.
But one of the most meaningful lessons she received had nothing to do with business.
During a difficult period in her personal life, her coach, Sheldon Harris, encouraged her to create a shared vision with her future ex-husband for what life should look like after their divorce.
That vision became the filter for every difficult decision.
One part of that vision was being able to dance together at their daughters’ weddings.
Today, Jaime says they continue to have a strong relationship and successfully co-parent their daughters.
She has also applied that same principle throughout the business.
When facing difficult decisions, define the desired outcome first.
Then evaluate every decision against that vision.
Key Takeaway: A clear vision makes difficult decisions easier because every choice can be measured against the outcome you’re trying to create.
Shorten the Time Between Clarity and Action
When asked what leadership lesson has defined her career, Jaime didn’t hesitate.
“Shorten the time between clarity and action.”
She believes leaders often know what needs to happen but wait too long before acting.
That delay creates uncertainty throughout the organization.
The faster leaders move from clarity to action, the faster the organization can move forward.
Jaime admits she still works on this every day.
But she believes shortening that window changes the trajectory of a business.
Key Takeaway: Once the path is clear, leadership requires action.
Final Thought
Throughout the conversation, Jaime returned to one idea again and again.
Leadership isn’t about having perfect certainty.
It’s about creating trust through transparency, listening before making decisions, committing once a decision has been made, and acting with purpose.
As Jaime said, the leaders who make the biggest difference shorten the time between clarity and action.
Because organizations don’t move forward through hesitation.
They move forward through leadership.
Listen to the podcast here.
About CEO Coaching International
CEO Coaching International works with CEOs and their leadership teams to achieve extraordinary results quarter after quarter, year after year. Known globally for its success in coaching growth-focused entrepreneurs to meaningful exits, the firm has coached more than 2,000 CEOs and entrepreneurs across 100+ industries and 90 countries. Its coaches—former CEOs, presidents, and executives—have led businesses ranging from startups to over $10 billion, driving double-digit sales and profit growth, many culminating in eight, nine, or ten-figure exits.
Companies that have worked with CEO Coaching International for two years or more have achieved an average revenue CAGR of 22.8%, nearly 2X the U.S. average, and an average EBITDA CAGR of 37.5%, nearly 3X the national benchmark.
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