Testimonials

"After hearing Michelle interviewed on a podcast and then reading one of her books, I was interested in working with her. Over the past three years, as my executive coach, Michelle has helped me better understand and refine my leadership style, navigate challenges and stay aligned and focused on my personal and professional goals. She is generous with her time and the insights she shares, while helpfully challenging my thinking and decision-making. If you are looking for an executive coach to elevate your leadership and take your career forward, then I would highly recommend her."

Craig Geddes, General Manager, Sales & Marketing, TIG Freight Management

"Michelle is an absolute joy and a dream to work with. She is also a highly impressive master of her craft.

From our very first meeting when my team and I were exploring various presenters in which to introduce to our cohort of leaders, to deliver the training, I loved that Michelle was honest, down to earth, practical, exuded a quiet confidence, was flexible, and open to accommodating our specific training requests that we had identified for our leaders.

Michelle was proactive in ensuring she was well-prepared for the training she was going to deliver. She set participants some pre-work which took not more than 15-20 mins to get them thinking and reflecting on the areas that they are doing well and where they might like to further develop, so she prepared people well in advance of the session so that they arrived ready to learn, being intentional about their learning objectives for the session.

On the day of training, Michelle was super organised, arriving very early in the day to ensure she had ample time to navigate her way across our expansive campus and was all set and ready to go. Michelle was relaxed, polished, poised, and professional. She had every single participant hooked (pin-drop silence) and she owned the room, from the moment she commenced the training.

Our audience commented on how impressed they were, that she took the time to remember each person's name. She ensured that everyone was comfortable, that everyone had an opportunity to reflect and share their own thoughts about the learnings and she ensured robust discussion from all participants. We conducted a post-training feedback survey from all participants and Michelle received high praise for her engaging style, for sharing her career stories and experiences, and for her deep knowledge of the subject matter delivered. Our people expressed a strong desire to undertake further training with Michelle so we look forward to engaging with her again in the near future."

Samantha Solomons, Manager, Strategy and Performance, Monash University

"We have engaged Michelle to run facilitated workshops for both academic and professional leaders. All of Michelle's workshops are exceptionally well-received. She is an engaging, highly skilled and astute facilitator and educator. Her insights, informed by her impressive career experience and PhD studies, are supported by useful tools and compelling stories. This ensures that participants acquire both the cognitive framework and practical skills to effect positive change back in the workplace"

L. Ford, Monash University, HR

"Having known Michelle for many years, I was excited to have the opportunity to have Michelle facilitate a session with the VACC policy team. From the outset, she was easy to work with and spent time understanding my objectives and the current team dynamics, to design a fit-for-purpose session plan. The pre-session planning was instrumental to its success.

On the day, Michelle was exceptionally well prepared, responsive and adaptive.

Michelle has an amazing ability to very quickly, create a safe and connected environment – essential for a workshop of this nature. I was thrilled with the outcomes of the day and I know the team genuinely valued the session based on feedback.

Michelle is a consummate professional with a deep understanding of organisation and team performance. This sets her apart from others in her field.

If you are looking for an experienced facilitator, I would highly recommend Michelle."

Dr Imogen Reid, Lead, Strategy and Policy, VACC

"We invited Michelle to run a zoom workshop with our academic and professional staff as part of our UniSA (University of South Australia) Women's Development program. Michelle's session - Be the Leader of Your Career - provided an opportunity for the participants to reflect on and consider practical steps to progress and elevate their careers and included a useful workbook for them to download and use during and after the session. Feedback from the participants was highly positive. Michelle is an engaging presenter and facilitator, sharing personal stories and insights, which helped to create a safe space for attendees to share and learn. Michelle amplified my understanding of how to build my professional career and feel confident."

Justene Knight, Senior Consultant: Organisational Development, UniSA (University of South Australia) People, Talent & Culture

"We were delighted to have Michelle present to our members on the topic of "Courageous Conversations". The presentation was highly relevant to our audience, and Michelle’s engaging and energetic delivery was very well received. Her content is not only informative and insightful, but really relatable. I would highly recommend her."

Rachael Corby, Head of Member Services, FINSIA

"Michelle was a keynote speaker at the International Confederation of Principals Conference in Shanghai in 2019. Her speech - ‘Finding your leadership edge’ – set the right tone, message and energy for the audience, and we received tremendous feedback on her presentation from the international delegates. Michelle engaged exceptionally well and her attendance at other events that were part of the conference schedule was an added bonus. The delegates really valued her spending time with them in social settings. The delegates appreciated her content and style, but also her genuine interest in them. Comments such as how amazing, friendly, clever, and down to earth she is were made. If you are looking for a speaker who engages, challenges and inspires delegates, is committed to delivering an excellent outcome and customises her work to your delegates, then I would highly recommend her."

Sheree Vertigan AM, Executive Secretary, International Confederation of Principals
Alta van Heerden, President, International Confederation of Principals

"Having read Michelle’s books, Step Up and Career Leap, and having watched her present to the CFO Forum that I attend monthly, I knew that Michelle had exactly the mindset that I was after to elevate my team. What resonated with me the most was that Michelle had the ability to take technical experts, develop their knowledge and self-awareness so that they too can become great leaders.

She worked with my leadership team and I over a 12-month period to elevate the team. She designed a bespoke leadership program that focused on the leadership capability and strategic effectiveness of the team using both group and individual activities to achieve the desired outcomes. She also checked in with our HR department to ensure that her plan supplemented theirs.

Michelle is an expert in her field, and her ability to understand the organisational context, draw on her own corporate experience as well as new ways of thinking and leading is a powerful combination.   She is an absolute delight to work with.  My team found the experience incredibly beneficial and there was such a notable improvement I was thrilled with the outcomes at all levels."

CFO Client, Leading Global Service Provider

"Having engaged Michelle a number of times, we are very impressed with her ability to facilitate groups of all sizes with natural ease. Michelle has worked with our Senior Leadership Team and also with our wider team of over 80 staff members, on both occasions Michelle provided extremely valuable sessions. Her ability to draw out key outputs and actions from these sessions that then flow through to results is second to none. Her collaborative approach to these sessions sees Michelle really get to know the team and our needs. She facilitates interactive, open and meaningful sessions that we would highly recommend to any sized team."

Chris Walsh, Chief Information Officer, John Holland

"I worked with Michelle when she was the lead facilitator at a multi-day event that I managed. I was impressed with her professionalism, ability to connect with the audience and hold the room, and to set the right tone for the days. She is a delight to work with – responsive and adaptive. I would highly recommend her."

Kym Rowles, VAN Community Manager, Macquarie Group

"When Director of Change Management and Culture at the Australian Digital Health Agency I engaged Michelle to help transition the Agency for continued success using Culture and Collaboration as the fundamental drivers. Michelle was able to support the agency over this 12 month journey. She was a key facilitator for many of our senior leadership forums and helped to shape and deliver core leadership outcomes. As part of this work, she was also asked to leverage her extensive expertise and experience to provide executive's discrete opportunities to broaden their capabilities via one on one executive coaching arrangements. Michelle is delightful to work with. She’s highly organised, practical in delivery and insightful in how she pulls key elements together, and able to build strong rapport, trust and relationships with leaders. I’d highly recommend her."

Wendy Leegel, Director of Change Management and Culture, Australian Digital Health Agency

"I first met Michelle when I was working at Coles. Michelle was engaged by Coles to provide leadership development to the HR practitioners at the annual HR conference. I found Michelle to be an incredibly engaging and inspirational speaker and to this day I recall distinctly one element of her training that she delivered at this conference that had a significant impact on me at that time.

With the strategic pillar of building and supporting high performing teams I thought Michelle would be perfect to work with the Spotlight Retail Group executive team on leadership and self-management. However before she got the opportunity to do this, a greater need arose and that was to provide a two day workshop to our 130 plus store managers and some of our more senior leaders from our Support Group.

The two days was a resounding success and I personally received a lot of feedback from the store managers about how much they enjoyed Michelle’s facilitation and content. One store manager wrote to me and said “I thought Michelle was fantastic! She made the conference more productive”.

Personally I find Michelle to be authentic, engaging, inspirational, incredibly intelligent and well read, with an innate ability to use her knowledge to tell a story, make a point and link it to the learning outcome.

I know this is only the start of our flightpath at SRG and I’m confident that Michelle will continue to pilot our plane to support and enable our strategic pillar of building and supporting high performing teams. I can’t recommend her highly enough to anyone who is looking to achieve leadership excellence personally or within their leadership teams."

Christine Connor, Head of Human Resources, Spotlight Retail Group

"I engaged Michelle to run a series of sessions with our frontline and head office staff as part of our capability development programs. The sessions were designed to provide employees with insights and practical skills to help them create their winning edge and thrive in a changing world. Michelle was delightful to work with – flexible, responsive and very attuned to our needs. The sessions were exceptionally well received, with comments such as:

• Best facilitator of the series. Very engaging style
• Sharp and easy to digest

I am looking forward to working with Michelle again."

Wendy Lightfoot, Capability Consultant, ANZ Institutional

"A fun and interactive day that had lots of information but in a digestible and easy to follow format. Michelle makes facilitation look and feel effortless."

Diana Zweig, National Manager, Human Resources, The Smith Family

“We engaged Michelle to provide a series of sessions around the country for our Financial Advisors as part of their ongoing professional development.  These sessions focused on equipping advisors with the skills and techniques to best manage their teams and themselves in a complex, ever changing environment.   Michelle’s session was engaging, thought-provoking and highly practical.  We received fantastic feedback from the participants who walked away feeling inspired and energised to thrive through change!  I’d highly recommend Michelle as a speaker and facilitator.”

Learning Design Manager, Major Financial Services Organisation

"Michelle’s session for us on self-managing through change could not have been more timely, given the highly dynamic state of the financial services industry and the legal and compliance professions right now. Michelle’s authoritative, compelling and engaging approach to helping our team understand not only their inherent responses to change; but also how to shape those responses by making considered choices and applying simple tools, was highly valued and much talked about after the event."

Head of Knowledge & Development, Major Australian Financial Institution

"We had recently reorganised - bringing together technology and consulting teams that had previously worked fairly autonomously.

Michelle Gibbings was engaged to facilitate an offsite with the new team and help us begin aligning around our new strategy/culture and charting the path forward. She was delightful to work with – flexible, focused and generous with her time.

Running sessions for a diverse audience of 100 people requires expert planning and execution. In addition to the formal objectives we also wanted each individual to be able leave with some new tools to help develop their careers.  Michelle bought great energy and insight to the day as our speaker, and the event was a huge success.  I highly recommend Michelle as a speaker and facilitator."

Steven Willson, Chief Technology Officer, AMP

"I engaged Michelle to custom design a leadership program for managers in the function who were new to their leadership role.  Michelle was delightful to work with: pragmatic, flexible, focused on delivering excellent outcomes and clearly an expert in her field.  The feedback from the program participants was overwhelmingly positive.  They appreciated Michelle’s depth of experience and her ability to keep them engaged in the learning process.   I would highly recommend her as a facilitator and trainer."

General Manager, Digital, Major Australian Financial Institution.

"Michelle has presented for The Australian Institute of Management on a number of occasions. She is always engaging and insightful, and uses real life examples to ensure the content is relevant and meaningful for the audience."

Margot Smith, General Manager, Engagement & Marketing at the Australian Institute of Management

"I would have no hesitation in recommending Michelle as an industry leader in change management."

Christine Bartlett, Non executive Director at Mirvac

"Michelle's passion for, and knowledge of, change management and transformation is exceptional and I highly recommend her expertise."

Donna McAuliffe, Head of Change and Digital Adoption at National Australia Bank

"We worked with Michelle on our team dynamics and stakeholder engagement.  She brings a unique skillset in balancing individual focus and development, while progressing the team as a whole.  I would not hesitate in recommending to use Michelle."

Carlo Cataldo - Chief Risk Officer, ME Bank

"Our Coles HR community came together for a day to sharpen our lens in managing and leading change. We were delighted that Michelle could be a big part of that day. Michelle helped us to integrate the day into the Coles change management framework, and enhance it with her enormous experience in driving large transformations and addressing big communications and change challenges from the field."

Jacqui Bourne, Head of Business Improvement, Coles

"Her consensus approach to facilitating group decision making was essential to identifying and reaching agreement on group objectives. Her outgoing personality brings energy to her workshops which helped provide momentum to the project. Michelle is effective at engaging with stakeholders in a professional business environment."

Adam Zaborszczyk, Senior Sustainability Officer, City of Melbourne

"Michelle's thought leadership in change and leadership is evident. With an impressive knowledge base, extensive practical experience and an exceptionally engaging style she knows how to connect with and inspire an audience. I would highly recommend Michelle as a speaker and facilitator."

Steven Oesterreich, Managing Director, ARK Conferences

"If you are looking for someone who knows how to captivate the audience's attention, impart new ideas skills and is a delight to work with then Michelle is your go-to person."

David Simpson, Chair - EDGE Business Group

"Michelle always delivers an engaging, thought provoking and highly informed speech. She adds tremendous value to the conference program and is a delight to work with."

Martin Tolar, Managing Director, Governance Risk and Compliance Institute

"Michelle worked with The Smith Family to undertake a review of our change management practices and make recommendations for improvement. She was extremely diligent and completed a significant amount of work over a 4-month period. She has a warm, authentic and highly engaging style, both in one on one meetings and large group settings. She expressed deep insights throughout the project as she quickly connected ideas and feedback and also demonstrated her significant change management knowledge and expertise. At all times Michelle was very responsive and flexible to our needs, astute and intuitive about how to ensure the work she completed had significant impact at The Smith Family."

Annette Young, Head of People and Culture, The Smith Family

"Michelle was a key member of my leadership team, and a trusted adviser. I valued her dedication, enthusiasm, and proactive nature. She thinks strategically, builds strong relationships, is exceptionally well organised and is committed to delivering excellent outcomes."

Bruce Munro, Group Chief Risk Officer, NAB

"I engaged Michelle to run a series of sessions with my leadership team and broader team to help build the team’s engagement and capability. The sessions were well designed, expertly executed and achieved the desired objectives. I received fantastic feedback from the team, who found the sessions stimulating, thought provoking and practical. The team walked away with new ideas and learnings, and focused to deliver on our strategic outcomes. Michelle was very easy to work with – accommodating, organised and intent on delivering value. I’d highly recommend her as a facilitator and trainer."

Michael Clark, Executive Director, Technology & Innovation, Fair Work Ombudsman

"Michelle’s strengths are in analysis and critical review, and she is able to get to the core of an issue and provide suitable and realistic suggestions. She is honest in her assessments of issues, honours her commitments and takes her responsibility to others seriously. She has the highest level of integrity, but also a great sense of humour and perspective."

Dr Kate Ames, Senior Lecturer and Industry Placement Coordinator, Professional Communication, CQUniversity

"Michelle is an exceptional program and change professional. She is passionate about ensuring the change experience results in optimal outcomes for the business and is a valuable experience for all involved. Her determination, focus and positive outlook make Michelle not only a fantastic professional but a joy to work with."

Louise Ledbrook, Project Knowledge Strategist, Project Delivery Expert, Change Leadership Coach, Speaker and Author