Strategic Partnership, Executive Coaching & Leadership Development for Organizations
Partnering with organizations to develop leaders from the inside out – strengthening trust, elevating communication, and building cultures where people and performance thrive.
Stop developing leaders like they're job descriptions. They're human beings.
Why Partnership Matters
Most leadership development treats people like they’re interchangeable parts instead of unique humans with different strengths.
Check the boxes. Hit the KPIs. Follow the playbook.
You can’t KPI your way to intentional leadership.
I believe the most effective leaders aren’t the ones who perfectly execute someone else’s leadership model. They’re the ones who lead as themselves.
With clarity about their values.
Confidence in their instincts.
And the resilience to sustain their impact.
The challenge is that most organizations promote people for what they do, not who they’re becoming as leaders. They get more responsibility, more complexity, more pressure — but rarely the space to develop their leadership style and skills.
Being good at a job doesn’t automatically make someone good at leading people.
I don’t believe in one-size-fits-all leadership.
I believe in helping people discover their unique strengths — and building teams and cultures that support those strengths.
How We Can Partner Together
Executive Coaching (1:1) for Leaders at All Levels
Because leadership isn’t one-size-fits-all — it starts with self-awareness. And when leaders grow from the inside out, the ripple effect is exponential.
✓ Develop courage, confidence, and executive presence
✓ Lead with clarity and resilience, not perfectionism or performance
✓ Navigate high-stakes decisions with values-driven confidence
Team Coaching & Facilitation
High-performing teams aren’t built on scripts — they’re built on trust, open and skilled communication, and shared purpose. Because when people feel safe, they take smarter risks — and that’s where innovation happens.
✓ Strengthen psychological safety and collaboration
✓ Transform conflict into productive dialogue
✓ Align around values and vision so performance flows naturally
Leadership Development Programs
Custom programs that honor your organization's unique culture while developing leaders as whole people. Because people don’t learn resilience from slides — they learn it through practice, reflection, and real conversation.
✓ Interactive trainings that develop resilient, human-centered leaders
✓ Comprehensive assessments that surface blind spots and strengths
✓ The Art of Compassionate Command™ Framework — leadership that delivers results without burning out people or culture
Proven Partnership. Proven Results.
Since 2016, I’ve worked with leaders and teams across industries including law, advertising, entertainment, higher education, non-profit, marketing, and luxury brands.
Clients include Netflix, Bank of America, Zendesk, Tag Heuer, BBDO, Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University, Fisher & Paykel, and more
Here’s one thing I know for sure after years of doing this work:
Leadership that burns people out isn’t leadership that lasts.
The impact of whole-person leadership:
✓ Leaders who get promoted and actually succeed in their new roles with confidence
✓ Teams that collaborate more effectively because they trust each other
✓ Cultures that retain top talent because people feel seen and valued as humans
✓ Sustainable business growth
What Clients Say
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“We have a ridiculous amount of business right now...”
After working with Michelle, there’s a transparency in my office that never existed before. People are thriving because they actually have agency and don’t have fear.
We created a future plan for our business and we’re executing it. We have a ridiculous amount of business right now, and we’re not asking anyone’s permission to grow.
We’re changing how an antiquated industry works and paving a new path. There’s this misnomer about executive coaches… We tend to think they’re all about the bottom line and getting more clients. But so much of the work is actually internal. The systems and structure are the easy part.
Michelle helps us with that, too. But Michelle gets into the hard stuff. She gets into the mud and the mess. She doesn’t have to do it, but she does. That’s Michelle.
- Sue Wagner
Co-Founder, Wagner Johsnon Productions -
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“Our business was growing very quickly, and we were struggling…"
We had gone from a two-person partnership to a three-person partnership, and the systems weren’t working.
I struggled to identify and ask for the things I needed from my business partners – without feeling like I was being a martyr. It didn’t feel good to feel resentful. And we struggled move through conflict in an effective way.
After the work we did with Michelle, I’m comfortable asking my partners for what I need without feeling emotional about it.
There’s less triangulation and that feels really good. We can come to a consensus about things that involve money that we couldn’t before.
The communication is just better all around - and that means that our partnership is better.
- Confidential Client
Partner, Theatrical Company, NYC -
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“I took for granted that running a business would sort of take care of itself…”
Not only does running a business mean managing out into the world, but also within yourself.
Michelle’s helped us make our communication more constructive and less combative with the tools she’s given us. She helps us challenge ourselves and push our boundaries even further.
It’s always valuable to have the inner Michelle in my head because it helps balance me as an individual, as well as a boss and leader.
Together, we’ve built an office environment that’s actually supportive amidst an industry that’s based in an old school hierarchy and fear. We haven’t broken down all those walls, but we’ve started to crack them, for sure.
- John Johnson
Co-Founder, Wagner Johnson Productions
About Michelle
Before coaching, I spent over 15 years as an executive in entertainment — an industry that talks about creativity and authenticity while often rewarding the exact opposite. I watched talented people contort themselves to fit roles, seek external approval, and lose themselves in the process.
I saw how exhausting and unsustainable that performance-based leadership really is — for individuals and for organizations.
That's exactly why I approach leadership development differently. Instead of teaching people to perform a role, I help them discover who they actually are as leaders — and build from there.
Since 2016, I've worked with over 150 executives and leaders across industries to break free from performative leadership and step into something more authentic and sustainable.
I hold a PCC credential from the International Coaching Federation. I’m a Certified Professional Co-Active Coach (CPCC), a certified Executive Coach, a Playing Big Facilitator, and I’m trained in Positive Intelligence.
But here's what matters most: Leadership development should make you more yourself, not less. That's what retains talent and changes organizations from the inside out.
