Like you, motivation and addiction expert Dr. Michael Pantalon has heard of various motivational strategies over the years, especially ones meant to motivates teams and people with addictions. But what really works? Are bonuses and holding people accountable the best ways to go or is motivation all about clear expectations and good communication? Charisma? Ultimatums? Dramatic story-telling? Shorter work days? A killer smile? And how about when it comes to addictions? Do “Interventions” work? Do you confront unmotivated people head-on or delicately? Maybe the key to motivation is positive thinking? A “Just-Do-It” mentality? How do you motivate yourself? Is being motivational meant only for the chosen few at the top and those who can understand complex psychological theories?
Is motivation really this complicated? Absolutely NOT!
With over two decades of experience as a psychologist, motivation and addiction expert, researcher, leadership and health coach, consultant, trainer, speaker, and author of the business best-seller, "Instant Influence" (2011), Mike’s view is radically different. Motivating people is not that hard and anyone can be a master motivator. As a coach and addiction therapist, he helps his clients appreciate that the most profound way to motivate yourself and others is to realize the following 3 simple yet deep truths: 1) No one absolutely has to change – we are all free to decide for ourselves, 2) Everyone (including you) already has enough motivation, and 3) Unlocking your inner motivation is not a lengthy and mysterious process. In fact, it can be done with a 7-minute method developed by Mike and based on over 3 decades of science. It has to do with asking 6 simple questions about WHY we want to change versus HOW we plan to do so. It’s as simple as that and it will make you an effective motivator and influential leader.
Mike’s promise is “Change made easy.”
He is known for boiling-down very complex behavior change theories into simple techniques that anyone can use. This is the “translator” part of Mike, which is rooted in his childhood, during which he spent a lot of time literally translating for his immigrant parents. He has a reputation for being able to motivate some of the toughest, most resistant patients and clients, from the inner city of the Bronx, New York to the board rooms of corporate America. In fact, his first, though unwitting, foray into coaching involved convincing a hospital CFO to permit him to finish a study on his motivational method. She wanted to shut the study down because the method was working so well to keep patients out of the hospital that it was making the hospital lose money! Additionally, the doctors Mike has trained at Yale frequently say that whenever residents can’t motivate a patient, they ask if they’ve “Pantalon-ed him.”
Mike has worked with executives from Fortune 100 companies, as well as, small business owners and health professionals. This includes leaders and teams from GE, IBM, Nielsen, Bayer, Bristol-Myers, Squibb, Schering-Plough Corp., Reckitt Benckiser Pharmaceuticals and a variety of healthcare organizations. He works with CEOs & other high-level leaders to implement organizational change strategies (e.g., most recently coaching regional managers of the CT State Judicial Branch’s Department of Probation through an overhaul of probation practices). He and his clients also address stress, health-risk behaviors, and addictions, as well as, promotion & work-life balance issues. Mike’s coaching clients consistently say that he helped them find motivation where they thought there was none. Subsequently, not only did they crush their goals, but it was far easier than they anticipated and the motivation spread to other areas of their life. Because motivation works the same way for most change, it doesn’t matter to Mike whether a leader wants to work on her health and wellness or on motivating high-potentials or on strategic business goals – they’re all related to being the best leader you can be.
When he’s not working in his private coaching and addiction practices, Mike conducts studies on the effectiveness of brief motivational interventions for ER patients using alcohol, opiates, tobacco and other substances. Mike loves to speak pro bono at nonprofits and healthcare organizations, and feels especially connected to the work he’s done at homeless shelters. He keeps a watchful eye on nonprofits, as well, and is very impressed with the work of the Integrated Refugee & Immigrant Services (IRIS) in New Haven, CT, which helps immigrants and refugees transition to the US. This cause is near and dear to him because of his own immigrant parents. He also greatly appreciates the good that the Connecticut Health Foundation is doing to improve health care access for disadvantaged communities and ethnic/racial minorities. Mike’s personal passion is playing the guitar. He loves jazz music, especially jazz-funk. But be forewarned, if you start talking to him about jazz guitarists or guitarists in general, he won't stop until you make him.
Mike has been on the faculty at Yale School of Medicine since 1997. Currently, he is a Research Scientist in Department of Emergency Medicine, Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Lecturer at Yale University’s Psychology Department. He is also a contributor to the Institute of Coaching at Harvard University and faculty member at Wellcoaches, Inc. Mike earned his B.A. in psychology from Binghamton University, his M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical & school psychology from Hofstra University and his M.S. in psychopharmacology from the Massachusetts School of Professional Psychology. He received the Distinguished Faculty Award for Teaching from Yale School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry in 2007. Mike lives in Hamden, Connecticut, with his wife, Marianne, and their sons, Matthew and Nicholas.
So, what’s the bottom line? What Mike would most like for you to get from his coaching is the ability to use his straightforward process to unlock all the motivational power you will ever need to lead yourself and others because it's already inside of you. It is that simple.
Master your motivation – Get What You Want.
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