Work with me
I coach the technical leaders everyone else leans on. I work privately, with a small number of them — confidential by default, one offering, no tiers or upsells.
What it isn't: a five-step method. I don't have one. I never will.
What it is: a slower kind of conversation — slow enough to see what's actually happening when it gets hard, so you can respond on purpose instead of defaulting to pressure or self-attack.
What changes
The job doesn't change. The team doesn't. The pressure doesn't. What changes is you.
The decision you've circled for weeks gets simpler the moment you're not deciding it alone.
You make the call without spiraling first.
You stop grading yourself on every move.
You trust your own judgment again — and it shows up where it counts: the decision made, the 1:1 finally had, a direction your team can feel.
What clients say, a few months in:
After 20 years at one company, I changed jobs and suddenly felt lost. Impostor syndrome set in, and without a clear direction I doubted myself. Working with Michael, I recovered my confidence and learned to lead by outcomes instead of staying stuck in indecision and fear. He helped me get clear on what mattered and handle the situations I used to avoid. I'm more grounded, more focused, and more sure of the value I bring.
Michael possesses a rare and exceptional talent for professional coaching, deep listening, and empathetic leadership. Working with him is a truly transformative experience. He has an innate ability to create a safe, supportive space where you feel completely heard and understood, making it possible to unpack complex professional challenges and navigate periods of burnout or shaken confidence.
Michael's greatest strength as a coach is his capacity to help others cultivate genuine emotional resilience. Rather than offering superficial advice, he listens intently and asks the right questions, guiding you to establish healthy boundaries, detach your self-worth from external validation, and reclaim your professional agency. Through his insightful guidance, I learned how to protect my energy, stay calm under pressure, and approach my work with a grounded sense of self-assurance. Michael doesn't just help you navigate a job; he empowers you to reclaim your confidence and balance. He is an extraordinary mentor and coach, and I cannot recommend him highly enough to anyone looking to grow, heal, and thrive professionally.
What working together looks like
A recurring conversation with someone outside it all — no org chart, no performance review, no agenda but yours. A three-month container: six conversations, every other week.
We slow the situation down and separate the real decision from the pressure around it — what's yours to carry, what isn't, and which call you're closest to making. No method, no homework — just the thinking you can't do alone, with someone who's sat where you sit.
Not a framework. Not five steps. Not advice from someone who's never led.
Who I work with
Engineering managers, directors, staff and principal engineers, technical founders, and CTOs. Accomplished people carrying leadership decisions they can't fully talk through with anyone — not their team, not their manager, not their peers.
Most have been carrying it alone a long time, half-hoping the next title or milestone will make it feel worth it. It won't — and that's usually when they reach out.
If you got here searching for engineering leadership coaching — frameworks, executive presence, a leadership curriculum — I've written honestly about how what I do relates to that, and how it differs.
Why me
Seven years as a software engineer. Nine years as an engineering manager. I've carried the team, the pager, and the pressure no one assigned me. I'm not an executive coach who read about your world — I've lived in it.
What a first conversation looks like
A first conversation is one hour, free, and unscripted. I don't believe in scripts.
The point is to get to know each other and begin a relationship.
That's it.
No pitch. No script. No follow-up sequence.
Not ready for a conversation? The weekly reflection is the quiet way in: Monday mornings, a short reflection to sit with.
Send me the weekly reflection