Professional Background:
Don Sardella has been coaching, consulting and facilitating for clients since 1987. The majority of his recent 25+ years has been primarily working in the financial services industry, incorporating his broader, entrepreneurial development resources along with it.
His professional skills focus on effective leadership, team and business development, utilizing modern coaching skills to help advisory clients produce their desired and necessary results. Clients report their experiences as personally energizing and engaging, interactive and synergistic, dynamic and challenging, understandable and relevant, readily applicable and rewarding. Don’s primary goal is to help people apply what they have learned to make a meaningful difference towards truly living a life they love and then creating their entrepreneurial business model to support living that life.
Since 1995, Don has worked inside of every major national firm and most regional firms, as well as with many independent advisors. Don has helped thousands of Financial Advisors increase their professionalism, productivity and profitability, thereby measurably improving their business performance. Over the years, according to his clients, advisors increased their annualized production as much as 28-42% over and above what they were previously on track to achieve. 50% of his clients doubled their business revenues within 2-3 years, if that was their goal. Many focused on improving their annuitized business models, reducing their labor intensity as they served high quality, long-term, ideal client relationships.
Don is actively engaged and credentialed with several global consultant and coaching associations. Don has also facilitated hundreds of workshops on such key topics as Creative Leadership Skills, Communicating with Tact and Professionalism, Innovative Problem Solving and Strategic Thinking, and Successfully Making Business Transitions.
Philosophy:
Don’s basic operating philosophy for the industry is helping financial advisors (our clients) succeed by supporting them to deeply understand and authentically serve their clients best interests (win-win). Don seeks to both unleash an advisor’s greatest talents and to also bring additional ideas, strategies and creative ingenuity, to further foster their collaborative partnership and team work. This creates more consistent focus, systematic accountability and highly ethical workability, as they genuinely serve clients best interests with exceptional execution, leading to measurable increases in results.
Process:
After first understanding an advisor’s basic vision and goals, we work to build upon previous accomplishments and optimize operational efficiencies, going forward, to free up valuable time and resources. We then focus on strengthening their value-added services, to elevate their client’s experience. From there, we develop marketing, referral and center of influence programs, to create a robust pipeline of future opportunities that can be converted into results, while continuously improving their business management.
Based upon what advisors have accomplished so far, what they most want to achieve next and why, we establish a compelling 2-3 year next stage vision statement and clear 90 day goals - usually their 3 top business and 3 top personal goals, with 2-3 priority actions steps each. As a result of every (typically weekly) coaching call, we leave with agreed upon specific, building block action steps, that keep advisors moving forward and producing optimal results. We have a variety of templates and forms on file, for different purposes. We also help customize correspondence and marketing materials.
Utilizing his previous training as a design engineer, Don’s coaching process is very systematic and organized. His process includes 8 Key Strategies for Business Success:
1. Create a compelling and passionate three year vision
2. Make the time to plan and execute your most important priorities
3. Effectively manage all areas of your finances
4. Develop and lead a championship, win-win support team
5. Create exceptionally delighted clients and raving fans
6. Set up a consistent and systematic marketing program
7. Refine and hone your professional sales process
8. Maintain great balance between work, rest, and play
Don’s Passion:
Using the full range of his professional development background, Don helps advisors define for themselves, (in writing) what, for them, constitutes a great, extraordinary life, well lived - living their dream and being happily (and sometimes surprisingly so) fulfilled.
From there, Don helps advisors to design, shape and manage their business model to optimize their fulfilling life - continuously working with them to be fully alive, present, focused, and in the moment, inside of their vision, values and future plans. He is quick to identify and effectively address challenges, and embrace golden opportunities. Advisors get their business to be super systematic and we’re always vigilant to improve.
Don’s Promise:
To do what is necessary for you to be satisfied and well-served. Don is extremely strict about confidentiality. The only way anyone else knows if we are working together and/or what we are doing is if they hear it from you directly or if you authorize me with your written permission. If there is anything I can do to be of additional service, please call.
Don was recently asked: What is your personal philosophy or “words to live by” that you offer to those you train and/or coach, and why have you chosen those words?
“Do good, do well. Find something you love to do with people you love to do it with, in communities and markets for which there is a viable demand/need. Get really good at what you can offer and contribute it. Be the best you can be. Keep improving/growing. Perpetually pursue what’s universally true for you and others – create a life you truly love and help as many others as you can possibly reach to do the same or even better.”
Why these words?
“I believe that it creates the best opportunities for the greatest possible joy, happiness, satisfaction, peace of mind and fulfillment in life, both for yourself and many others”
Along with his compassion and empathy for others (and a sense of humor!!), Don is dedicated to the values of integrity, personal responsibility, accountability and hard work
Don’s life interests, beyond work:
Don loves to sing, dance, listen to and play music, watch theatre, see films, travel, have adventure, exercise to energize, travel, converse, read, explore, inspire and challenge himself and others, speak publicly, run workshops, volunteer, think big and have a blast.
Most importantly and most especially, Don enjoys all of these interests and adventures when accompanied by his wife of nearly 40 years and their 4 wonderful adult children, his large extended family and, in the most recent years, his lively granddaughter and grandson.