Your Family & Small Business Growth & Innovation Partner

Our Purpose

To be a catalytic force towards individual and community well-being.

Our Values

  • We value evidence-backed research. The processes and tools we use are backed by years of research. 
  • We maintain a creative learning mindset. We experiment to learn. 
  • We believe in a “rainbow prism worldview”. What does this mean? We don’t make assumptions about ourselves or each other. We don’t impose our own beliefs on others. We ask questions and appreciate other perspectives.
  • We practice inclusivity. We are intentional and thoughtful here with people. Our work is all about people. Our work is all about taking care to develop “culture in action”. 
  • We work to create progressive business models for companies who believe in people. Conservative decision-making based on micro-management and old ideas have no place in our solutions.
  • We don’t take ourselves too seriously (but we are serious about our work)! We approach everything with the idea that playfulness is valuable in overcoming hurdles. Let’s solve problems and have fun doing it! 

Meet Dr. J

Shannon (Sheehan) Jennings, PsyD, LMHC

Business Psychologist, Skilled Facilitator, Forum Leader, Family Business Consultant

I am Dr. Shannon S. Jennings, the President and co-founder of Syncovate LLC—Business Psychology Consultants. My journey has taken me many places including co-creating a board game and a workshop for divorcing parents, practicing as a mental health counselor, general management, and eventually to my passion for entrepreneurship and peer groups and then back again to my first love psychology. 

I have been involved in the creation and facilitation of hundreds of leadership workshops and retreats, including training facilitators from around the globe in roundtable methodology and peer learning. Always a passionate advocate for peer learning, I currently have the privilege of leading a peer group of wicked smart and truly curious executive members of Renaissance Executive Forums. 

As a business psychologist my goal is to apply psychological expertise and experience to help individuals, families, teams, and workplaces operate more effectively. My experience has been particularly relevant for family business leaders looking to improve communications and decision making or to just generally have meetings that are more pleasant (or less painful!) while accomplishing objectives and reaching desired outcomes. 

One of my other great privileges is to keep learning and growing with the most amazing students as Assistant Professor in the Business Psychology department at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology where every semester I learn new perspectives from my students as they develop their skills as organizational leaders.

Dr. Michael Sheehan with his family in 1983, playing the first edition of The Self-Esteem Game©. Dr. Shannon Jennings is the young lady rocking the quintessential 80's kid's haircut!
The Self-Esteem Game©.

About our Founding Partner

Michael R. Sheehan, PHD

Clinical Psychologist

Dr. Sheehan received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Marquette University before receiving his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from St. Louis University in 1971.  

Shortly after graduating he went on to become the director of training for the NIMH sponsored Drug Education and Training Center at Eastern Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, the highest rated of the NIMH regional training centers.  

In 1975 Dr. Sheehan accepted a position as a visiting professor at the University of Michigan School of public health. He held the position of Special Investigator for the Michigan Senate investigating the nursing home industry under the direction of psychologist and State Sen. Dr. John Otterbacher.  Dr. Sheehan is responsible for penning the first draft of the omnibus nursing home Reform Act. 

The arrival of his first child in 1975 and the initiation of his private practice in South Bend, Indiana as a clinical psychologist motivated him to invent and develop The Self-Esteem Game©.  He used the next eight years of his private practice to formulate the content of the cards for the game.  In 1983 he obtained a copyright and released The Self-Esteem Game©.  Since then over 38,000 games have been sold to therapists, teachers and parents. 

During his 40+ years private practice in clinical psychology Dr. Sheehan conducted over 75,000 therapy sessions.  In addition, he developed employee assistance programs for local businesses; led organizational development engagements for local not-for-profits, including a successful team building process for the Notre Dame registrar’s office; developed the protocol and ran the first Notre Dame drug screening program for athletes; started the not for profit American Combat Veterans With War Trauma, which still has ongoing groups for combat veterans; and founded CAID (Child Advocate In Divorce) which provides the parenting classes for the St. Joseph County courts for parents going through divorce. 

Dr. Sheehan has been a regular contributor to local media. He has had his own television and radio show (War Brains) to teach the community about PTSD.  He has appeared over four hundred times on local news programs, addressing current psychological issues.  

Dr. Sheehan also coached football at Holy Cross/Christ the King for a team that lost one game in four years and ultimately went on to win the state football championship for St. Joe high school.  He also coached basketball, Little League baseball, and indoor soccer.