"Communicating with IMPACT" - Patrick Donadio, MBA

“Selah” - Celebrate little victories. I noticed a trend among the executives I have been coaching over the past 10 year. They are all driven to succeed. Now this is a good thing. Except sometimes they neglect to stop to celebrate their successes before moving on… I was having lunch with two board member of a CEO I am coaching. We talked about how well the organization was doing and their tremendous success. Then the topic of celebrating that success came up. Both board members felt the CEO was doing a great job and needed to celebrate small successes more often. One of the board members told me about the word “Selah”. It is an ancient Hebrew word found in the bible between verses. She said it means “stop and ponder”… For years now I have been encouraging my executives to have “Selah” moments, to “stop and ponder’ on their successes for themselves, their executive team and the entire organization. I encourage them to stop, ponder and celebrate before moving on… Here are a few ...

Getting people to do what they say they will do… Throughout my years of coaching, I find that sometimes leaders blame employees for not following through. Yet it is the leader who is sometimes at fault for not being clear, concise and specific. Here's a process to increase the chances that your people will do what they say they will do: 1. Make sure you both are clear about what you want them to do. The more specific the request the better the result will be. Be specific about when he would like this particular activity done. Whenever possible, mutually set the deadline. (visit my past blog on goal setting ) 2. Check for understanding. Make sure you both have the same message. Just because someone says yes, doesn't mean that you both are agreeing to the same thing. Check to make sure the message you sent is the same one they received. (see communication article ) 3. Follow-up in writing, whenever appropriate. Some goals may be more complex and a brief written follow up (by eit...

Dealing with Difficult People... It seems the past few weeks I have had a few coaching clients want to talk about dealing with difficult people. Whether it is a customer or employee, difficult people are hard to handle. Here are a few tips that may help the conversation go a little smoother the next time you encounter a difficult person: 1. Stay focused on the situation, issue or the behavior, not the person . It is easy to get pulled into focusing on the person. So examine your intention. Your intention will drive where you focus. If your intention is to get even for the way you were treated or to make sure you win, you will be focused on the person. Your goal is to stay focused on the issue or behavior not the person. 2. Pick the right place and time . I have a belief that it is better to praise in public and criticizes in private. I also believe the timing is very important. If it is a big issue or going to have an impact on others, address it as soon as possible. Otherwise it mig...

I am in the midst of helping a client bring in his staff from all over the world for their annual retreat. Last time I wrote about the fist mistakes executives make when planning a retreat. Now I want to share with you the 5 guiding principles to follow when planning an executive retreat. Executive Retreat Guiding Principles: The Retreat is planned/tied to specific outcomes See the Retreat as a process (the beginning of something) and not as a single event (the end) Presenters present information in an exciting, vivid, memorable and useful way, geared toward sharing practical concepts/ideas to shift thought, emotion and/or behavior The end of the meeting is uplifting. Leaving people feeling hopeful, connected, and commitment to action There are demonstrable actions that occur after the meeting (this is a process). Build in follow up communication, actions, and activities over the next 4-6 months to move the group closer to the future vision It is amazing how these principle can really ...

One of my executive coaching clients recently hired me to help his team plan their fall department wide retreat. In our conversation today one of his team memberse asked me, "What do you see as the top five mistakes teams make when planning and executing a retreat?" Here was my answer: Top Five Mistakes Executives Make When Planning/Executing a Retreat: Presenters present information in a lecture/talking head format (boring…) (Presentation Tips) Retreat is not planned/tied to some specific outcomes See the retreat as an event (the end) not a process (the beginning) The ending of the retreat is a let down Little or no action happens after the retreat (or slow to act on ideas) (Organize/Plan) Next time you begin planning a retreat consider avoiding these. Do you have any examples of other retreat mistakes you have seen? Let me know. E-mail me at Patrick@PatrickDonadio.com

I was talking with one of my executive coaching clients today in a coaching session and the topic of employee morale come up. In a recent survey his employees were asked to evaluate “morale” at work. Morale is such a broad subject to evaluate. It can mean different things to different people. One thing I know for sure, whenever studies are conducted on "what motivates your people", being appreciated is on the top of the list . Motivating Employees One recent survey was developed by Accountemps , the world’s first and largest specialized staffing service for temporary accounting, finance and bookkeeping professionals. The survey was conducted by an independent research firm and includes responses from more than 1,400 CFOs from a stratified random sample of U.S. companies with more than 20 employees and 536 full- or part-time office workers. Here is what they found to be the top three: Frequent recognition of accomplishments CFO’s-30% Employees-35% Regular communication with ...

Jim Canterucci, an executive advisor, author and professional speaker has written an great book called " Personal Brilliance : Mastering the Everyday Habits That Create a Lifetime of Success" Jim has an enlightening blog http://blog.mypersonalbrilliance.com that focused on helping you maximize your Awareness, Curiosity, Focus, and Initiative. These four traits are the catalysts for achieving your best. Personal Brilliance is a book that shows how anyone can create and enjoy spectacular success! Go to Jim's website to find out more about his book and/or to take the " Personal Brilliance Quotient ".

One of my CEO coaching clients recently had to let go one of his executive team members. This can be a difficult task. Sometimes it is so difficult that we wait too long to do it. I coached a CEO a few years ago who waited too long to make that decision. When he finally did let the person go, he commented to me that he should have let her go months ago. I too had the same challenge years ago when, as an Executive Director, I had to fire my secretary. We all can learn from other's mistakes. You know the old saying…. Hire slow, fire fast . Well, as the result of my new CEO client letting go of his team member, he realized that each member of his executive team had a "job description" but there were no operating procedures to help people make decisions. In his book “The E-Myth”, Michael Gerber proposes that we organize our business like a franchise (McDonald’s®, Wendy’s ®…). He suggests we act as if we were going to franchise our business in the future. Gerber recommends we...

This week in a coaching session with one of my CEO clients we talked about how to take more control over our time. In our meeting, my client said that he wished he could say "NO" more often. I think many people struggle with telling others “No”. The reason they struggle is because they think they only have two choices. They can either say “yes” or “no”. I try to avoid "all or nothing" thinking. I believe that there are many alternative between the extremes. So here are several different ways I shared with my CEO client that he could say no: 7 Ways to Say No: 1) Say NO… with a straightforward explanation - "No, I'm uncomfortable doing that!" 2) Say NO… and give an alternative - "No. I can’t do that today, how about first thing in the morning?" 3) Say NO… and clarify your reason - Help them understand your position. Explain the why. “No. I can’t help you because I made commitment to my family to not work on weekends this month.” 4) Give Pref...

Excerpt from Donadio’s most requested keynote, “ Belief-Driven Success” So far we have talked about (see previous postings): 1. Start at the END! 2. Write down your goals. 3. Set realistic yet challenging goals. 4. Anticipate obstacles and plan how to overcome them. 5. Get Mentally Prepared "You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step." - Martin Luther King, Jr Action is the key! The last three steps are all about action... 6. Implement the plan forwards. Now take action! Break action steps into weekly or daily activities. Keep a "TO DO" list! Prioritize it and refer to it often. Help others do the same. Remember - focus on results not activities. Periodically evaluate and adjust your plan. Keep your obstacles in mind (Step 4) and be prepared to either go through them or around them. Stay the course but adjust your sails. *7. Build in Rewards. Throughout the process, build in rewards for yourself and/or the staff. Break down an annual g...

Excerpt from Donadio’s most requested keynote, “ Belief-Driven Success” So far we have talked about (see previous postings): 1. Start at the END! 2. Write down your goals. 3. Set realistic yet challenging goals. The next two steps are steps most likely skipped when people set goals: *4. Anticipate obstacles and plan how to overcome them . Be proactive, anticipate obstacles. Ask yourself "What is going to stop me from achieving this goal?" Then ask, "How can I overcome these obstacles?" One of the biggest obstacles to success is YOU! *5. Get Mentally Prepared . Mental preparation is an important part of overcoming obstacles and taking action. Use techniques like visualization, quiet time and self-talk. Prepare for the worst and expect the best! Remember... “If you’re not mentally prepared, you’re not prepared.” --Patrick Donadio, MBA Come back... next time I am going to talk about the key step...Taking Action!

Excerpt from Donadio’s most requested keynote, “ Belief-Driven Success” So far we have talked about (see previous postings): 1. Start at the END! 2. Write down your goals. Here is the next step: 3. Set realistic yet challenging goals . Set yourself up to succeed. This builds your confidence. To say you want to triple your income in the first quarter might be an unrealistic goal. Unrealistic goals can cause you to lose motivation. Be challenging yet kind to yourself. Come back... next time I am going to talk about a step most people forget!

Excerpt from Donadio’s most requested keynote and new educational DVD, “ Belief-Driven Success ” Step one was to 1. Start at the END! (see previous postings) Here is the next step in the process.... 2. Write down your goals . Writing down your goals makes them real. Be specific. "I am going to increase revenues this year." This is too general. "I am going to increase revenues 5 percent by June 31st”. Now you can measure your progress and see results. Set deadlines and develop action steps for each goal. This will be your "success plan". Refer to it often and it will keep you focused. Come back to learn step three … make your goals challenging.

Excerpt from Donadio’s most requested keynote and new educational DVD, “ Belief-Driven Success ” Whether setting personal, professional or organizational goals, now is a good time to compare where you are with where you would like to be in the future. I usually set/revisit my goals quarterly but since many people set goals in January I thought would share my eight step process. It is a simple process, yet still do many people do not spend the time to do it... Here is step one: 1. Start at the END! Work backwards from the goal. Ask yourself, "Where would I (my company) like to be a year from now?” The sky is the limit! Visualize in your mind that it is December 31st and you just achieved your goal. Ask yourself, "How did I do it?" Now speculate all the steps you would have had to take to achieve this goal. Then write down all these activities. Come back to read the other seven steps…