Eugene "Mitch" Michell

When I started out in public relations, a senior VP at the public affairs firm I was working for introduced me to Mitch Mitchell (then with the San Diego Chamber of Commerce) and said, “This is one man you HAVE to know in San Diego.  He’s absolutely the best.”

1. Find Your Mantra
A quote from Margaret Mead leads many of Mitch’s presentations and serves as his daily mantra — “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

3. Read one Ken Blanchard Book a Year and Pay Attention to Role Models
Mitch’s role models in developing new ideas, efficient systems and management styles:
“My current boss, Debbie Reed is a close role model.  I’m fascinated by the process of managing such a big company with a large team who handles a variety of things that are happening at all times.”

4. Know When it’s Time to Get an Assistant
“Once you’ve mastered the art of multi-tasking and you have a certain level of responsibility, you cannot complete everything without someone there to close the loop and get things pushed across the finish line.” Mitch keeps things moving and noted that the extra effort from an assistant ensures things get done.  Especially when people are pulling at you from various levels, an assistant serves as a gatekeeper to keep you organized and makes sure your multi-tasking leads to progress.

“When you are struggling to remember common details consistently, you need an assistant,” says Mitch.   For example, let’s say you have eight clients and one of your clients calls up and wants to know something about a launch that they have planned. Those particulars, including the status of the event, phase of the plan and what generally needs to be done should be top of mind.  It’s not good when you need two hours to get back to a client.

Some people define success by the number of the clients they have, and if that’s what you’re going to do, then you’d better have a personal assistant.  Mitch reminds us that quality of clients rather than the number of clients should be our focus.  It’s more worthwhile to refer a new connection for a client or non-profit project to someone who can support the effort than to take it on simply expand your business’ footprint.

5. Hold Group Meetings to Inspire Creativity
Mitch gets inspired that the general status quo can always be improved.  The challenge is in finding a new way to enhance it, or do it better in general – and to do that, creativity is key.

When you sit people around a table and people throw out ideas – bits of pieces of ideas come together to create a wonderful platform.  If you want to be successful, get input from a group setting and you’ll find that ah-ha moment.

6. Use a Blackberry.

7. Collaborate with Non-Profits, Media and Corporations
When you accept a commitment, it’s important that you look to the future and can visualize the measurable impact that can be achieved.  For example, when the San Diego Food Bank was in distress, Mitch took on the role as Chairman of the Board to help secure the organization’s future and its critical role for the region. He knew at that time that the economy was in a downturn and that his role as Chairman would complement resources that his employer, Sempra, would be able to provide through its programs that are designed for low-income families.

Through his role at the San Diego Food Bank, Mitch created a Community Cares Program, which created a new structure for people to gain access to available information and resources they need across the region.  Mitch stated, “The best situations are those where you can find a link from what you do every day during your eight to 10 hours at work and something that you believe in that’s outside of work.”  Mitch also advises that you should be realistic about how many commitments you can take on. “Non-profits don’t just want your name. They are in a tough place so they need your muscle and your effort.”

8. Get to Know Your Colleagues Better
“I firmly believe that it’s important to get to know people not as business associates, but get to know the person,” Mitch noted.  He listens to people and remembers key points about them that allow him to create a more realistic and valuable relationship. For example, when one gets to know their team members – their family make-up, if they’re planning a trip, or what’s important to them – it allows us to all have more successful interactions. Mitch says: “We have to make time for personal understanding of what drives people.”

10. Manage Your Multi-tasking & Find Out if You’re an Early Bird

You have to practice and insist on taking time out for your family and your personal life. Multi-tasking is addictive, and if you’re good at it, it creates multiple successes. For Mitch, he takes time aside for family soccer games on the weekends. On workdays, he takes pride that he gets up at 4:45 a.m., responds to emails, heads to the gym at 5:30 a.m. and then heads off for the day. He’s gotten ahead of the game when everyone else is just starting their day.

List of Board Affiliations Mitch currently supports:

• Chairman of the Board of the San Diego Food Bank
• Board Member of the Children’s Museum (See photos of the organization’s recent New Children’s Museum Superheroes Ball and you’ll quickly know why I chose to call Mitch a true superhero for this article.)
• Member of the Advisory Board for the Burn Institute
• Governor’s appointee and Vice Chairman to the Little Hoover Commission

Lauren Walsh is lead publicist of Citrus Public Relations in San Diego.  She is also a founding editor of SoCalPR Blog.

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