"Communicating with IMPACT" - Patrick Donadio, MBA

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...