Michelle Masters has a simple yet profound belief: Everyone can be a leader. “Leadership to me is more of a mindset,” says Michelle. “Most of the time, people have the capacity, but they don’t necessarily have the tools.”
During her 35 years in the Information Security and Information Technology space as a leader and project manager, Michelle noticed a gap between talented employees and their ability to lead effectively. “People were being promoted for their technical and interpersonal skills, but they often lacked the comprehensive skills needed to lead a team effectively,” she explains. “Kind of like how children on a playground will follow the popular kid, who may have charisma, but doesn’t necessarily organize or lead people very well.”
Michelle saw a unique opportunity to bridge this gap by sharing her expertise and passion for helping people maximize their potential. “I love to help people succeed,” she says. Through her company, Servant Leader Training, she focuses on fostering a mindset of servant leadership to build more leaders within teams. “What I love to do is take a normal, average team and make them into a high-performance, self-directed, well-oiled machine.”
Through her work, Michelle is not only building leaders but also creating a ripple effect of leadership growth within organizations. Her dedication to empowering others is transforming the way individuals approach leadership, making a lasting impact on teams and organizations alike.
The real trick, according to Michelle, is helping team members understand the team’s future goals and find their own motivation. By aligning personal and organizational visions, she helps develop a team mentality that leads to noticeable results. “When you recognize and develop independent contributors as part of a larger team, you’re actually building more leaders.”
Michelle’s dedication to leadership development is further fueled by her certification with the John Maxwell Leadership Program. “I’ve been a team member with them for a while,” she says. “It’s wonderful to be able to share these principles with clients on an official level.”
With the goal of being a catalyst for leadership development within small and medium-sized businesses, Michelle offers a variety of ways to connect and collaborate. Her work extends beyond individual coaching to include group sessions and interactive learning opportunities. “I love to work with teams because I have that maximizer characteristic,” says Michelle. “Taking a dysfunctional team to a good team or a good team to a great team, that’s a special moment.”
To work with Michelle individually or as a team, visit her site at ServantLeaderTraining.com.
