Top Corporate Speaker - Attitude and Leadership

Motivational Speaker | Chicago Area

As a motivational and inspirational speaker, Pat Sullivan has helped numerous businesses, associations and academic institutions improve their teamwork and employee effectiveness through his real-life experiences and observations. He is based in the Chicago area but speaks throughout the Midwest, including Wisconsin and Indiana.

According to Pat, the characteristics of a successful leader are underscored by attitude. In his book and his motivational speaking engagements, Pat provides the simple, practical concepts and attitude adjustments that lead to true leadership success and that will allow business leaders and their teams to meet their goals.

The characteristics of a successful leader are underscored by attitude. In his book and his speaking engagements, Pat Sullivan provides the simple, practical concepts and attitude adjustments that lead to true leadership success and that will allow business leaders and their teams to meet their goals.

As a public speaker, Pat has helped numerous corporations improve their teamwork and employee effectiveness through his real-life experiences and observations. He is based in the Chicago area but speaks throughout the U.S. and globally.

ATTITUDE: The Cornerstone of Leadership

The characteristics of a successful leader are all about attitude. In this fun and insightful guide, Pat Sullivan provides the simple, practical concepts and attitude adjustments that lead to true leadership success and that will allow business leaders and their teams to meet their goals.

For Sullivan, leadership success begins with attitude. Or, in this case, ATTITUDE: An acronym providing easy-to-remember keys to success and daily behavioral adjustments; essentially, personal characteristics that exemplify a good attitude that anyone can develop and improve upon. The A, of course, stands for ‘attitude,’ the overall positivity or negativity with which an individual approaches his or her daily life, and the respect he or she has for other people.

The rest of the acronym—teamwork, toughness, intelligence, thank you, you, determination, and effort, details the rest of the personal characteristics of the “whole package” of a leader. Ultimately, Sullivan argues that being a leader is not about the words you speak but the way you conduct yourself.

Leadership Blog

Al and Life

The above represent the wit and wisdom of the late Al McGuire, the outstanding Marquette University basketball coach and NBC basketball analyst.

I was very fortunate to get to know Al pretty well during the fifteen years that I co-directed his Chicago camps along with the late Bill Gleason.

I never met anyone who lived life more on his terms than Al. When he took his motor cycle to work at Marquette and came to a certain stop sign, he had to make a decision. If he turned right, he went to work. If he turned left, he rode to the countryside and enjoyed the day.

Patience and Focus

Willie Young, a defensive end on this year’s Chicago Bears, recently said in the Chicago Tribune, “To some extent, patience is the key to success….But it’s all about staying focused, staying patient.”

Dr. Martin Luther King, speaking about time healing difficult tragedies, had an interesting insight in his book, Why We Can’t Wait. Paraphrasing, he said time alone does not heal. How you USE the time is what heals.

Just as the use of time relates to healing, focus relates to patience. Patience can and often does lead to success. But patience without focus will not bring success.

The Captain

ESPN did an insightful commentary on the retirement of Derek Jeter.

Two things stood out. The first was a comment by his former manager, Joe Torre, who said Jeter was special because he never became part of the “me, me, me” generation.

Then ESPN noted that he wore number 2 because he never wanted to be considered number 1, even though he was part of the conversation.

Next Man Up

The philosophy of the 2014 NFL Arizona Cardinals is “Next Man Up.” They know football is a sport of attrition, so they have developed a culture of trust. They trust everyone on the team – starters and substitutes alike – and when a starter gets injured, they trust that a substitute will be the “Next Man Up.”

‍We had a season where we were in contention for the conference championship. In the last game of the first round of conference play, we lost our best player, a senior, to a season-ending injury.

Competing vs. Game Plans

I never thought of this before, but it makes a great deal of sense to me.

‍As a college basketball coach, I always liked to recruit multi-sport high school athletes, especially the basketball-football combination. I certainly did not limit multi-sport to basketball-football only. Any sport or sports combined with basketball were beneficial.

Small Acts of Kindness

Cardinal Joseph Bernardin, in his outstanding book, The Gift of Peace, wrote, “The things people are naturally attracted to and remember most are small acts of concern and thoughtfulness. Years later, that is what they tell you about their priests and other clergy.”

Saint Theresa, the Little Flower, wrote in Story of a Soul, “A word, an amiable smile, often suffice to make a sad soul bloom.”

Corporate Speaking

Pat has been speaking professionally on attitude and leadership for 30 years and believes the topic is as relevant as ever in today’s board rooms, corporate meetings and sales staff meetings. Through the years, his subject matter has evolved from just talking about leadership and the importance of attitude to incorporating an easy-to-remember acronym: ATTITUDE.

He has spoken at the likes of IBM and Nike, as well as Chicago-area businesses and professional associations.

In his corporate speaking engagements, Pat asks the questions: How do I become a better leader? What’s the first step in building effective teams that advance the highest goals and aspirations of our organization?

These and other questions are expertly answered by Pat. He will help take you and your team to the next level of effectiveness with his motivational commentary and observations, gleaned from a decades-long career in coaching.

He has worked with the highest echelon in the basketball coaching ranks, ranging from John Wooden and Bobby Knight to George Karl. He has been both a student and instructor with them and brings that experience plus 40 years in coaching, administration, business and teaching to his speaking engagements.

If you are interested in having Pat speak at your next corporate event or conference, please click the “Contact Pat” button on this page and he will get back to you as soon as possible.

Past Speaking Engagements

Pat’s motivational speaking and presentation on “ATTITUDE” has touched thousands of employees of Midwest companies, businesses, schools and professional associations, including:
‍

• Notre Dame

• Dozens of other Chicago-area businesses and professional associations

• Plainfield Chamber of Commerce

• Chicagoland Speedway

• Domestic: Throughout the country at USA Coaching Basketball Clinics and has spoken at the NIKE Chicago Clinic

global translation services

Certified interpreting and language translation services including sign languages in Worldwide languages. Top professional translators and interpreters.