Whether you are diving into a building a startup or you are a seasoned veteran of the corporate world, the challenges and the changes rapidly taking place in a post-pandemic environment can be overwhelming. Successful entrepreneurs will tell you that a business does not grow on its own. When seeking advice, your usual collaborators may not be your best choice. Outside counsel by way of coaching for business owners and executives may mean the difference between staying stuck and moving forward.

Finding a competent personal coach or mentor might help you succeed when the odds appear stacked against you. Donna Dahl, a Woman of Inspiration Award winner, has a reputation for promoting transformation via strategic and relevant empowerment coaching.

Today, many successful athletes, politicians, performers, and business leaders have at least one coach. Donna is a profound thinker; when faced with a coaching or business difficulty, she takes the time to consider possible solutions. She is eager to work closely with clients who want to benefit from collaborative coaching and are motivated to achieve their goals. Her coaching is rational, systematic, personalized, and compassionate. It’s almost as if she can see what you’re feeling and thinking.

Journey to Become a Leadership Coach

Due to an automobile accident, Donna’s intended career, combining educational assessment, private practice and psychology, was cut short. Her master’s degree in educational psychology and her experience as an educator felt insignificant at a time when cautious, organized efforts to heal from injuries were hampered by her weakened physical and mental functioning. She recalls, “Both my social and my professional life were compromised. It felt like having been kicked to the curb, but I knew I had to keep faith in myself—faith that I could heal.” She adds, “Reworking my tool kit into a new career path came much later.”

Donna’s perseverance paid off. She began to progress when she drew on her thesis studies on learning retention. After ten years of intensive rehabilitation, a local women’s business magazine publisher asked her to write an article. That article became a book. Donna’s coaching practice and the courage to become a lifelong member of CEO Space were both sparked by that book. She is now known as a thought leader, a coach’s coach, and a coach who attentively listens between the words. She asserts, “Today I serve my audiences with gratitude — thankful I am able to make a contribution as an empowerment coach working with executives, leaders, decision makers, teams, influencers, and entrepreneurs.”

The Donna Way of Leadership Coaching 

Donna believes that when it comes to mentoring leaders, they already have the prerequisites to be influential, more highly regarded and more successful than they have ever been. This approach allows her to begin the coach-client relationship with dignity and respect, allowing trust to develop. Her mission is to bolster these leaders’ existing abilities, resources, and talents, bringing them to light and allowing their leadership assets to be moved into new areas.

Donna’s executive empowerment coaching is the next-generation form of personalized leadership development that puts the client firmly in control. There are no cookie cutters; there is no one-size-fits-all. Nonetheless, Donna has a growth framework that includes goal setting, action, responsibility, confidence, and accomplishment as natural factors when making shifts in manageable steps. The target is to build on the client’s abilities, pay close attention to areas such as communication, and cultivate appealing, fundamental leadership behaviors.

As one might expect, Donna’s logo is a magnifying glass. She believes that sometimes magnifying a problem is required to view it more clearly. At times, she finds herself playing the role of an investigator, searching for clues that lead to answers or new ways of being. The countless testimonials regarding her work speak for themselves.

She says, “I am grateful for the time clients have taken to give me recognition for my contributions to their lives.”

Donna steadfastly claims that the letters following her name are not what distinguish her. What matters are the testimonials that clients have taken the time to write. Their remarks frequently humble her.

Her empowerment coaching has broad applications. Whether she is working with a team to build unity or an entire staff to inspire engagement, change is certain. One international client alone reported two consecutive record months of sales.

When people write reviews on Amazon after reading her book, Lessons I Learned from the Tortoise, it often brings a tear to Donna’s eye.  Many describe their experience in life-changing terms. One reader said, “Congratulations on producing a classic—sincerest thanks!” Another recently posted this on social media: “I still remember your book and our short conversation, which motivated me to continue! Thank you!”

Donna mentions, “It’s one thing to write self-empowerment books. It’s quite another to walk the talk, so to speak.” It’s her clients who teach her what they have accomplished because of their work together. Frequently used words endorsing Donna’s empowerment coaching process include insightful, compassionate, intuitive, creative, confident, and supportive. One client wrote, “She imparts her wisdom in easily digestible form.” Another wrote, “I left every session feeling upbeat, inspired, and empowered.”

The Pandemic Effect

According to Donna, the pandemic had the most significant impact on industry and the work force in the past seven decades. Notable changes include an increase in the number of remote employees. Some have found the flexibility of remote employment to be useful, mainly when family duties include caregiving obligations during the normal workday. Others are ready to return to work and be in the company of their coworkers. Some employers prefer remote workers. Others want their personnel to be visible. There has been some pushback from employees who report they are not permitted to digitally disconnect from their cell phones after office hours, regardless of the work site. Undoubtedly, each employment situation is unique and requires thoughtful attention to boundaries.

Startups in tech and artificial intelligence appear to be on the rise. Donna says, “There is a shift in the way people are looking at the shape and future of their world socially, functionally, environmentally, and economically.” She further mentions that the emerging questions will drive new business ventures in search of solutions to solve the problems generated by this new way of looking at work along with taking responsibility for stewardship of the planet.

Success is a Journey, not a Destination

Success for Donna is joy ignited! She derives joy from seeing the people she serves succeed. She derives joy from writing books that make a difference for the reader. She experiences joy when she is invited to the conversation. She asserts, “Success, to me, is a journey, not a destination.” 

So far, Donna has received awards for her work including Top 100 Professional, Woman of Inspiration, Top 20 Empowerment Coach, and the 100th Anniversary International Women’s Day Award for outstanding service to business.

Donna is eager to finish writing her next book. She enjoys working with entrepreneurs who want to strengthen their business foundation with writing a book. She encourages leaders to engage her as their weekly booster shot when manifesting change. Ultimately, she wants to be invited to participate in conversations where far-reaching decisions are being made.

Advice to the Next Generation of Female Leaders

Donna is a born entrepreneur. She was raised in a family company. She has also worked as the owner/operator of several enterprises. Being a successful coach for over 15 years, publishing books to help small businesses, earning accolades for her work, and expanding her reach to a worldwide scale have all come as unexpected gifts. Donna’s work clearly deserves to be recognized.

Donna is optimistic that the next generation of female leaders will be able to carry on where previous generations left off. As businesses successfully owned and/or led by women grow in number, female leadership in the corporate setting may also grow.

Donna’s advice for corporate leaders, if diversity, equity, and inclusion are aspects of your core values, is to give mindful thought to female leadership and how it might influence and support your corporate agenda.

A Perspective on Long-Term Success

Donna explains that success is about creating and attaining personal goals; personal accomplishment brings personal reward. The comfort zone idea is especially important to her. Donna has discovered that if she does not sometimes move outside of her comfort zone, she loses touch with the tension that comes with making change. . .no matter how easy-going or simple that adjustment may be. She recalls being gently pushed into attending a standup comedy class a few years ago. If she finished the course, she needed to perform her five-minute act in front of a live audience. Donna shocked herself and survived by walking a mile in the shoes of a comedian. She is now officially a member of the comedy alumni who perform for charity.

• Leader’s View

What is the best way to build a great team?

Donna wrote a chapter on team building in Lessons I Learned from the Tortoise reflecting on the value of skill diversity. While team members must be collectively focused on the desired outcome, that may not be enough. For instance, giving teams input when choosing replacement team members could make or break the ongoing success of a team.

Initially, teams need a variety of strengths and experiences as members learn to “play nice,” practicing soft skills while working toward an agreed-upon goal. Identifying strengths and weaving them into a core competency framework can be crucial in developing a competitive corporate asset. Creating a policy for how the company recognizes collaborative efforts to avoid imbalances and potential conflict is also essential.

What does “performance culture” mean to you?

It is essential to foster a culture of appreciation through sharing recognition. Performance culture needs to dovetail with the corporation’s values and the values it acknowledges in its employees. When a healthy performance culture is present, employees get to park their egos at the door. Parking can more readily occur when the company has built a respected approach to recognizing team players for their contributions without sacrificing or overlooking the recognition of individual accomplishment and responsibility. Wins are celebrated. Team members and teams are appreciated. Achievements are recognized. Performance reviews maintain the record.

Who is your target audience? How do you create services that align with what they’re looking for?

My target audience includes leaders, decision-makers, teams, and entrepreneurs. Many are members of the C-suite, and some are leaders, influencers, solopreneurs or managers. My coaching process is unique to each client based on their expressed goals.

Website: www.donnapdahl.com