Steve Donahue

Steve Donahue's Biography

Sahara Desert adventurer, author, drummer, storyteller; Steve Donahue is a one person 'tour de force'. His presentations combine fast paced humour with heart-stopping tales from his desert odyssey. He's an expert at making people laugh while they learn.

Steve can move an audience with a touching story as well. He is a master at customization by crafting his message to reflect each client's uniqueness. A superb storyteller, he shares wisdom as old as humanity and never more relevant than today.
Steve's book, Shifting Sands: A Guidebook for Crossing the Deserts of Change is based on his harrowing journey across the Sahara. Shifting Sands outlines six "Rules of Desert Travel" to guide readers through deserts of life and change. Soulful yet practical, it presents the desert as a metaphorical place of change, often debunking the popular mountain-climbing metaphor that focuses on goal setting and achievement over the journey itself.
Steve has been a professional speaker since 1988. In 1994 Sharing Ideas Magazine named him a Consummate Speaker of the Year along with Margaret Thatcher and author Tom Wolfe. Steve has a good command of French and is comfortable in front of Francophone audiences.
Desert Speaking Topics:
The Sahara is the world's largest and deadliest desert. Daytime temperatures soar while darkness brings bone chilling cold. Blinding sandstorms rage relentlessly as scorpions and cobras await unsuspecting travelers. Yet, in the most dangerous, desolate place on earth you discover stunning beauty and inescapable truth. Steve Donahue draws powerful parallels between his desert adventure and the journeys of corporate and personal life. He captivates audiences with his gripping tale that inspires, entertains and imparts ancient desert wisdom.
A Journey on Shifting Sands
Much of life is like a desert; we get lost, we get stuck, we chase mirages and the journey seems endless. But we live in a mountain climbing society that is focused on the destination, getting to the summit. Steve reveals the 'Rules of Desert Travel' and shows how mountain climbing techniques don?t work in our deserts of change. This refreshing presentation debunks popular success strategies and shows how we can find purpose in our journeys, meaning in our deserts and renewal by stopping at our oases.
The Oasis Effect
The More You Stop the Farther You Go
It's impossible to cross the Sahara without stopping at the oases. Desert travelers need to refuel, reflect on where they are headed and connect with others who are on the same journey they are on. This upbeat, entertaining presentation will show you why it is crucial for individuals and organizations to stop more often at the oasis and how to find them in the desert of our over-committed lives.
Building Teams on Shifting Sands
This program deals with team morale and team effectiveness in a time of blistering change, free agent knowledge workers and competing generational values. Drawing lessons from the convoy he traveled with; their environmental challenges and interpersonal conflicts, Steve describes simple but powerful techniques that help teams travel in the same direction amidst a sandstorm of global transition.
Follow a Compass, Not a Map
Leadership in a world of shifting values
A map is useless when you are lost. It also restricts your journey and can prevent you from finding a better way to travel. This powerful presentation shows how discovering and following your inner compass can help you lead yourself, your team or your organization across the drifting sands of change. Leaders learn how to inspire and guide others even when the destination is unclear and the route is uncertain.