Leadership | Management Consulting | Executive Coaching | Professional Development
Our framework
We deliver a comprehensive leadership and executive coaching model that engages and unleashes both women's and men's creative excellence. Our unique Gender Balanced Score Card™ is one element of our Gender Empirical Metrics™ (GEM) framework. We use a combined platform to ensure leadership is balanced, realized and optimized across operations to reach higher ground. The resulting change in behavior is designed to promote a respectful, powerful and integrated feminine and masculine leadership allowing for different perspectives, multiple intelligences, improved outcomes including financial returns.
Our approach capitalizes on the complimentary strength and creative breakthroughs available when enlightened leadership fully embraces and values multiple intelligences. Results include improved self awareness, interpersonal skills, congruence, engagement, retention, problem solving and customer satisfaction across industries and sectors.
Framework and Process: First, Second and Third Person Perspective
- Our four quadrant symbol represents our Integrated framework; comprehensive, conscious, respectful and expansive.
- The center point represents new perspectives and a new leadership paradigm.
- The colors symbolize the evolution of conscious thought.
For news about our Integrated Leaders 20:20 Acuity Tool™ contact us
We re-design, implement & measure
An important element of our work is to ensure there are opportunities for women to engage as leaders with men across 5 core areas that impact workplace culture; recruitment & promotion, leadership development, mentoring, sponsorship, flexible work, and salary parity for equivalent work.
- Our approach is conscious, strategic, measurable and EXPANSIVE.
- Our process includes a systemic audit, assessment, ongoing accountability and is imbedded in performance management and the culture.
- Our training and coaching is informed by neuroscience, developmental psychology, Immunity to Change, Conscious Leadership, Conscious Capitalism and acts as transformative by dissolving limiting beliefs and facilitating engagement across multiple domains.
- We act to support Athena Swan in higher education and EDGE certification.
The shift
Co-creating Feminine & Masculine leaders
Integrating the best version of masculine intelligence (orange sphere) and the best version of feminine intelligence (turquoise sphere) into a new evolved, complimentary and integrated 'whole' leadership paradigm.
Visual by Graeme Bowman, Australia
Our services
"Leadership style and corporate culture often run counter to the overall purpose of an organization, assuming purpose is to deliver great products, quality services, profit and a long-term benefit to the organization and society as a whole."
Executive Briefing & Key Note Presentations
Open The Mind
Our presentations are humorous and soulful. We use satire and comedy (Graeme) and empirical data, critical thinking and tools (Michelle) to critique and inspire senior leadership to leverage the untapped wealth available within men and women in their workforce. Benefits include improved motivation, innovation, creativity, thought leadership and problem solving, a process of "co-creating leaders".
We demonstrate how leadership styles, workforce profiles, communities and the environment are evolving. Within this context, the way we currently manage organizations, institutions and business is increasingly out of date, biased and disconnected from the real needs of people and our globe. This disconnect hurts progress, profits and deployment of capital. For too long, men and women have internalized the belief that leadership requires either / or thinking and a hyper-masculine approach that is separate, individual, adversarial, divisive and win-at-all-costs.
At the core of this evolutionary shift is the recognition that feminine influences like creativity, collaboration, connectedness, empathy, vulnerability and social harmony are equally necessary for business, communities and economies. Evidence shows that innovation, profits and shareholder value improve in organizations that include diverse teams and the voice of women. This improvement can become even greater when in concert with men and combined with other conscious business practices and a desire to optimize people's potential.
Coaching & Mentoring
Leadership for joy filled growth: Executives, Managers, Entrepreneurs
Our unique Master Mind Coaching for leaders/managers is available face to face or virtual global in two modes:
- Individual - Ask about our short term packages
- Mastery Circles
The process is highly engaging, streamlined and very supportive. We assess each individuals current state to uncover beliefs, bias, behavioral patterns, and latent talents to elevate their contribution and purpose. See also Conscious.Money
Through a process of self discovery and personal accountability, transformative new insights occur. This allows life-altering worldview shifts, meaningful change, mindful actions, and creative energy to flow, positively impacting potential, self worth and being thier best self.
Leadership Assessment
Leaders whose head and heart crave courageous conversations and a new integrated leadership paradigm
We work with CEO's and Senior Executives to assess current practice through our unique assessment. We identify any impediments or unconscious behavior that limits progress with meeting business and institutional goals. From here we develop a balanced approach that aligns corporate culture, values and supports the rich engagement of talent. This improves the creative leadership potential of all people in the organization.
Leadership style and corporate culture often run counter to the overall purpose of an organization, assuming purpose is to deliver great products, quality services, profit and a long-term benefit to the organization and society as a whole.
Instead of creating a leadership team which is ultra-masculine or ultra-feminine, our aim is to develop a complimentary, respectful leadership style that harnesses the expansive power of difference. This leads to a noticeable shift in corporate culture towards innovation and inclusion of multiple intelligences improving ROI and sustainable results.
Professional Development & Training
Women & Men
Training and development that doesn't smell like training and challenges self limiting assumptions, promotes a growth mindset and develops new habits in five critical areas; strategic influence: communication, team work, executive presence, and career/family/life integration. Women gain advanced awareness, capabilities and confidence in their whole unique contribution. Men will gain awareness strengthening their leadership from a whole self perspective increasing their desire for greater understanding within interpersonal relationships.
Our whole systems approach is based upon research, EQ & SQ, neuroscience, developmental psychology, universal wisdom, and empirical evidence. Importantly, our training is designed to disrupt old thinking and foster a meaningful change in habits that is lasting.
We use actors, multi media, tools, humor and experiential learning to foster new habits. Delivery is:
1. On site, half day or whole day
2. "Lunch and Learn"
3.. Virtual learning modules single delivery or whole program
4. Interactive Webinars
Our faculty
Interchange brings together the expertise of specialists who work with leaders who feel compelled to lead with a different voice and challenge the structural leadership and organizational framework designed on a one-sided masculine model.
Michelle is a leadership, organizational and interpersonal change agent. The impact of her pioneering 'best practice' strategies to produce better workplaces influenced Workplace Standards and gender balanced expansion practices in Victoria, Australia. For 25 + years she has held consulting, coaching, Board, and "C" suite appointments. Her curiosity and passion led to relocation in the U.S. and hinges on the 'conscious' development of people, organizations, business and wise integrated leadership.
This led to creating a fast track program to up-skill leaders to lead with their whole self, purposely, consciously and courageously in the face of complexity. Her approach is holistic and founded on her courage and resilience to challenge beliefs, systems and structures in corporate, academic and entrepreneurial settings. Michelle is on the Board of Peace Through Commerce, Board Treasurer, eChange Endeavors and women's advisor to Braid Theory.
Michelle co-authored, The Orange Line: A Woman's Guide to Integrating Career, Family & Life, a qualitative study of 118 women across the USA that identified women's self-limiting career belief and the skills needed to integrate work, family and their overall purpose.
Michelle's career highlights include:
- Launching with Nilima Bhat, an advanced Shakti Leadership program for women, co-certified by the University San Diego.
- Spearheading business development globally for WorkLife Essentials to Fortune 100/500 accounts including IBM in 26 countries.
- Co-founding the Victorian Work/Life Association, Australia, a Think Tank promoting best practice workplace policy to leaders, government and policy makers.
- Qualitative research identifying structural barriers to family friendly policies published in the Asia Pacific Journal of HR
- Implementing and measuring an 'employer of choice' strategies for large organizations recognized by an ACCI business Award.
Michelle's earlier entrepreneurial talent led to creating and managing her own successful business for a decade, appearing before the Senate inquiry into work based child care and co-founding Beaconhills College with 3000+ students.
Michelle holds a M. Mgt. and B.Ed. Studies from Monash University, Australia, Certificate of Welfare Studies, Institute of Social Welfare Victoria, Australia, She is a Certified Money Behavior Coach (CMC)® and completed the Program on Negotiation for Executives, Harvard Law School. She is graduate of Shakti Leadership.
Client comments about Michelle
Graeme Bowman
Graeme Bowman has spent years researching the root causes of complex global problems and their relationship to patriarchy. This lead him to create the simple model, Pozzy to Cozzy, which explores the current transformation of our human operating system, from one based on the pyramid (Pozzy) to one based on the circle (Cozzy).
Graeme’s presentation style builds upon three decades of experience as a writer, speaker, performer and Master of Ceremonies in the field of corporate communications and comedy, across all industries. His satirical approach has often seen him lampooning the absurdities of society, corporate life and government bureaucracies.
Graeme has appeared at hundreds of conferences, awards dinners, product launches, special events and leadership retreats. Past clients include IBM, Canon, Pfizer, Glaxo, Coca Cola, Shell and many professional associations and government bodies.
Client comments about Graeme’s ‘Pozzy to Cozzy’ presentation:
“Light bulb presentation. Fantastic.”
“Last speaker on patriarchy was amazing.”
“This needs to be heard by so many more.”
“Brilliant performer, very clever poetry.”
“Very important messages delivered superbly and with great artistic flair and intellect.”
“OMG how inspired I am!”
“What a wonderfully humorous, relevant way to finish the conference...definitely the highlight.”
View Male Hubris (American character) https://youtu.be/ZwQCvB_n4M0
Our advisors & associates
We've got a top notch team!
Johanna E. Hollowich
Johanna is an adjunct faculty member at UCLA Department of Engineering, Information Systems and Technical Management. Johanna has 25 + years consulting and training experience, and specializes in global leadership, performance management, mentoring and personal development for optimizing individual and organizational performance.
Nilima Bhat
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Nilima is a Conscious Leadership and Integral Health expert with 24+ years of global corporate experience and consciousness-based health and growth training. Nilima facilitates personal transformation, gender reconciliation and diversity and inclusion in the workplace.
Annalise Jennings
Annalise is a highly experienced business and community strategist who uses risk culture and governance principles to deliver sustainable outcomes across various industry sectors and community organizations, locally and globally. Annalise introduced the concept that of whole community change and that lasting social reform can only be achieved by community growth and economic development, not intervention.
Bryan Donohue
Bryan is an analyst, researcher, administrator and project manager for the Interchange. He has led food projects in Kenya and assists Interchange with marketing, business development and managing consulting projects. He holds a M. PH, University of Minnesota and B. Psych from Colorado College.
Publications
Our Strength, Experience & Wisdom
Jodi Ecker Detjen: Michelle A. Waters: Kelly Watson
Why do women find work-life balance so hard? Why is having it all such an elusive quest? Why haven't women yet reached parity in the leadership ranks?
The Orange Line probes these questions and is based on a study of 118 interviews across America. It inspires women to look inward, challenge self limiting beliefs, find - and claim - their power and purpose. Importantly, the book outlines the skills and change process to actualize a whole life.
The Feminine Filter
Michelle A. Waters
Transcript from an interview with show host Lisa Caprelli and Brian Gaps from The Business Experience Show where Michelle outlines assumptions and one of six bad habits that spring from a woman's Feminine Filter ™ which limits or even sabotages a women's leadership potential, career, finances, and experiencing a prosperous, full life. See also https://youtu.be/_pXBw91gu7o
Michelle A. Waters & E. Anne Bardoel: Asia Pacific Journal of HR
This study uses qualitative data from focus group interviews of 76 participants to investigate factors that influence employees' decisions to use or not use work–family policies. The data identified 5 barriers that limit the use of flexible work policies including lack of communication about the policies, high workloads, management attitudes, career repercussions, influence of peers, and administrative processes. This study reinforces the notion that organizational commitment to an environment that supports work and family integration is not merely about providing policies for their symbolic value, but is also about creating a workplace culture that supports and encourages the use of the policies.
