The Business Fame recently featured an inspiring interview with Donna Dahl — an award-winning coach, author of six books, and advocate for self-empowerment, leadership development, and personal growth.
- What is your leadership coaching philosophy, and how do you ensure that it is reflected throughout your practice?
My leadership coaching philosophy can be summed up in three words: empowerment, challenge, and readiness.
In the words of Isaac Asimov, “It has been my philosophy of life that difficulties vanish when faced boldly.”
As the coach, I am the catalyst for change, guiding leaders to move from “stuck to start.” My approach is both compassionate and systematic, rooted in neuroscience and the belief that leaders already possess the potential to be influential in a positive way.
My consistency throughout my practice can be attributed to the teachings in my book, Lessons I Learned from the Tortoise. My core philosophy is that leadership is not an innate trait, but rather something that can be developed through coaching. I challenge individuals to take “giant steps” and “dream bigger” while also acting as a cheerleader, applauding their successes.
This quote from my book, “Challengers inspire us to take giant steps long before we might ever become giants,” encapsulates this belief, highlighting the importance of overcoming challenges to achieve significant growth.
Ultimately, my philosophy rests on the principle of readiness. Change and progress are invited to occur when a person is ready to make a shift, and my role is to provide the tailored, supportive framework—what I call a “neuroscience-based leadership empowerment system”—to facilitate that transformation.
- How do you balance the need to innovate with the need to maintain your brand and your identity?
As a thought leader, my work is constantly poised at the edge of change. Imagination and insight are at play to create pioneering yet practical what-ifs.
I balance the need to innovate with the need to maintain my identity through a core, consistent framework that is adaptable to each client’s unique needs.
My identity is firmly rooted in my role as a “catalyst for change,” no matter what hat I wear: leadership empowerment coach, speaker, manuscript coach, or author. The consistent themes of “moving from Stuck to Start” and the metaphor of the tortoise from my book, Lessons I Learned from the Tortoise, provide a strong, recognizable foundation for my brand. This framework, glued together with my specific, neuroscience-based system, is my identity—the “box” I’ve built.
Innovation comes from how I apply this framework. I explicitly state that I am not a “rinse-and-repeat” coach, but rather I tailor my approach to match individual goals and workplace environments. I am constantly innovating by:
- Customizing my system: I use my established neuroscience-based system as a guide and then apply it with “the flexibility needed for pursuing individual goals.”
- Encouraging new perspectives: I am often described as someone who can “think outside the box” and “stir the pot” to help clients find new solutions. This is the essence of innovation—applying a known framework in creative ways to solve new problems.
- Channeling the vision of the leader by working directly with the team and with the leader present as a participant. It can help make magic happen.
- Focusing on the future: My work with entrepreneurs and aspiring authors demonstrates an innovative mindset, helping them create and formalize their visions. This is a forward-looking, innovative process.
In essence, my identity is the stable, trusted system I have built, and my innovation-style coaching is the dynamic, personalized way I deliver it to inspire change. I maintain a consistent “what” while continuously innovating the “how” (its application to different people and challenges).
- Tell us about your company.
Donna Dahl Coaching International offers a rare coaching hybrid. I have developed a global reputation for expertly blending transformational leadership coaching and manuscript development, thus enabling the client to experience an expandable platform.
In doing so, my company empowers entrepreneurial leaders to not only clarify their message and refine their leadership skills but also to codify their unique wisdom into a publishable work. This holistic approach ensures that a leader’s professional identity and their intellectual property are developed in tandem, creating a powerful and cohesive brand. The result? A leader’s personal and professional growth becomes the foundation for building an influential and scalable platform, allowing them to move from being a “stuck” thought leader to a published authority.
- What are the products and services that your company specializes in?
I specialize in self-empowerment. Whether you are reading one of my books, such as Lessons I Learned from the Tortoise, or taking in one of my posts on LinkedIn, you just may find a gem that inspires your day. The reviews for my Tortoise book alone have taught me that my book can do the coaching without me. That’s huge! One reader described Tortoise as a classic. Another reader said, “I recently read Donna’s Tortoise book. I absolutely loved her take on celebrating. I am looking forward to implementing her lesson and advice within our company and at home! I highly recommend talking to Donna and reading her book!”
As a Master Leadership Empowerment Coach, I move clients “from stuck to start” in ninety minutes (or less). I sell my time. Clients may purchase it in batches of 4, 12, or 24 sessions. I have had clients tell me after months of absence that they returned for more sessions because they needed their “Donna fix.” They love my system. Our readiness to work with a coach and our readiness to spread our wings on our own are personal decisions. Many athletes have multiple coaches; some find a new coach when the current one has taken them as far as they can. I encourage leaders to look at coaching as an opportunity to get that individualized attention they deserve so they can learn at their preferred speed, tackling the things in their basket of challenges.
As part of my specialization, I added speaking to my writing and coaching. One member of my audience said, “I first saw Donna speak on Lessons I Learned from the Tortoise and so enjoyed her authentic style that I bought the book. It is a delightful essay on life and how to be your true self, wrapped in a familiar child’s story. I couldn’t help but smile as I read it. I will never look at tortoises or hares the same way again!”
- Does technology play a role in the work you do?
Technology has been a significant enabler for me as a coach. During COVID, services like Zoom showed us we could hold meetings online with our teams; we could even make presentations or have one-on-ones with anyone, anywhere in the world. Most of my coaching now takes place online. While I very much enjoy face-to-face meetings, online sessions offer the possibility of time-saving technological support in ways that in-person meetings cannot.
This technological backbone is central to the tailored and systematic nature of my coaching. It allows me to deliver a consistent, neuroscience-based leadership empowerment system by providing clients with a dynamic, online workspace for shared resources, collaborative document development for their manuscripts, and a centralized hub for our work together. This creates a continuous, immersive coaching environment that extends far beyond the scheduled meeting. Technology, therefore, is not merely a tool for communication; it’s an integral partner in the transformational process of helping leaders move from a place of being stuck to building an expandable platform and sharing their wisdom with the world.
- How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?
The first answer that comes to mind when asked how I decide to advance my company is another question. That question is, “What’s the need, and am I the coach to address it with this person?” If I am the person needed to help solve or resolve this matter, I will find a way to add it to my calendar. If the need expands to being a growing issue, my approach may become a part of my future program offerings.
As one example, I was asked to train an author to read her manuscript so her narrated book could be added to an online platform. Teaching others how to read for entertainment was always a skill set I had. People have told me for years they get wrapped up in what I am reading to them and want me to just keep reading. It is now a service I provide. I have even taken on work where I adjudicate readers and their readings.
So, how do I decide what’s next? My decisions are almost exclusively based on what my audience tells me they need.
What’s on the horizon? I just recorded my first-ever keynote address: The Challenger’s Gift.
Coaching needs to continue to evolve as changes in technology develop and as the workplace continues to be reshaped. I see three primary challenges ahead.
- Navigating the Integration of AI: The rapid advancement of AI is creating a dual challenge. The challenge is not if AI will be used, but how human coaches can use it to augment their practice, allowing them to focus on the higher-level, nuanced, and empathetic aspects of leadership that AI cannot replicate.
- Addressing Mental Health and Burnout: In the wake of significant workplace shifts, leaders are facing unprecedented levels of stress and burnout, which can “cascade through the organizational levels.” As a result, clients are increasingly seeking coaching to address their mental well-being, not just their professional skills. The challenge? Coaches will need to carefully define their boundary between coaching and therapy,
- Fostering Inclusive and Empathetic Leadership: As remote and hybrid work environments become the norm, a new set of leadership skills is required to build a cohesive and engaged workforce. Leaders may need coaching to develop the emotional intelligence and communication skills necessary to manage diverse, dispersed teams effectively. This includes navigating complex conversations around diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), combating unconscious biases, and fostering a culture of psychological safety. The challenge for coaching is to move beyond traditional skill development and equip leaders with the self-awareness and empathy needed to create a positive and inclusive environment that attracts and retains top talent.
- What inspired you to create your coaching company, and what has been your biggest challenge in leading it to where it is today?
I was inspired to launch Donna Dahl Coaching International because people kept calling me a coach. Coach was not my first choice. I originally called myself a consultant, and what I sold decision-makers was a “Consult for Clarity.” After listening to my clients, my business card soon read Coach. One referred to me as a coach’s coach. Within five years of launching my business, I had written two business books, and I had my own weekly online marketing show in support of small business owners.
My biggest challenge? Living up to the expectations that my clients have of me. They always seem to order the shoes they want me to fill several sizes larger than my feet.
Would I have it any different? Of course, not. After all, it was I who wrote, “Challengers inspire us to take giant steps long before we might ever become giants.” It’s a quote from my book, Lessons I Learned from the Tortoise.
And I am always in search of opportunities to be the challenger coach.
About Donna Dahl
Donna P. Dahl, M.Ed., MNLP, is a leading executive strategist and catalyst for change. She specializes in being an empowerment architect. Through her neuroscience-based coaching and her master’s degree, she is well-positioned to disseminate skill development, empowerment, and engagement. She is the recipient of a Global Women Leaders Award for Lifetime Achievement, and she has been repeatedly named to the Top 20 List of Empowerment Coaches in the world. Her work as a coach is highlighted both in online publications and in print.
Donna says, “When my clients grow and experience success with their desired outcomes, I applaud them. I am bursting with pride together with them for what they have accomplished.”
As your Corporate Empowerment Coach and Chief Inspiration Officer, she supports your leaders and your teams with a tailored approach carved from her proven system. Donna has an exemplary track record, and she is the author of the popular Lessons I Learned from the Tortoise, a five-star rated book designed to challenge the reader to consider mindful change. What if you invited Donna to be your challenger? She welcomes discovery calls to explore your leadership and team-building needs.
