About Michael Holland

Michael Holland unravels the mysteries of leadership. Michael is a professional executive coach and trusted advisor to executives who seek to become better leaders and build cohesive teams. Michael’s wisdom and insight are the product of 30 plus years of leadership experience and an uncanny, natural ability to perceive the questions that need to be asked. His newest book -- The Missing Leader: One Man's Journey to Leading Well - A Leadership Fable -- is available on Amazon.com (http://amzn.to/2nsZzhK)

Why Performance Reviews are So Damn Painful for Leaders

By Michael Holland -  During a coaching session with a leader, he spoke about how tired he was having recently spent his whole weekend to get his employees' performance reviews completed and then delivered the reviews in back-to-back sessions on the Monday and Tuesday right after the weekend. In my mind I thought [...]

By |2025-12-24T11:24:57-05:00December 24th, 2025|Managing Performance|0 Comments

How to Tell If You Are a Wimpy and Dishonest Leader

By Michael Holland I worry at times that the gap which exists between leaders leading well and those who won't is growing wider and deeper.  Recently I re-watched the TED Talk  "Why Good Leaders Make Us Feel Safe" by Simon Sinek. In the talk, Sinek inspires with stories of how true leaders provide [...]

By |2025-12-17T11:35:10-05:00December 17th, 2025|Building My Team|Comments Off on How to Tell If You Are a Wimpy and Dishonest Leader

Assuming Positive Intent: The Simple Discipline That Transforms How You Use Everything DiSC® on Catalyst™

By Michael Holland -  Leaders often ask me, “What’s the fastest way to improve the relationships on my team?” They expect a clever model. A complex formula. But the truth is far simpler: assume positive intent. That single mindset shift—choosing to believe that a colleague’s comment, email, or behavior is grounded in good intention—changes how [...]

By |2025-12-16T15:19:31-05:00December 16th, 2025|DiSC on Catalyst|Comments Off on Assuming Positive Intent: The Simple Discipline That Transforms How You Use Everything DiSC® on Catalyst™

Leadership Lessons from a Book I Shouldn’t Have Read

By Michael Holland - The book wasn’t intended for me; I was definitely not the target market for the author. My daughter was telling me how much she liked the book and it clearly had a positive impact on her which was intriguing. I’m a firm believer that for leaders to lead well, [...]

By |2025-11-19T15:58:32-05:00December 3rd, 2025|Your Development|Comments Off on Leadership Lessons from a Book I Shouldn’t Have Read

The 70% Factor: How Managers Impact Employee Engagement

by Michael Holland -    Employee engagement should be a top priority for all leaders, as it signifies the value an organization derives from its workforce. Current data shows that employee engagement is distressingly low, with only 32% of employees actively engaged. Instead of quibbling about precise figures within your organization, it's more [...]

By |2025-11-19T12:17:22-05:00November 26th, 2025|Your Development|Comments Off on The 70% Factor: How Managers Impact Employee Engagement

The Conversation That Changed How a Team Saw Each Other

by Michael Holland -  Leadership teams often get stuck. Not on strategy. Not on resources. They were stuck on each other. The VP of Sales thinks the CFO is being obstructionist. The CFO thinks the VP of Sales was reckless. They'd both worked at the company for years, genuinely respected each other's capabilities, but their [...]

By |2025-11-19T11:13:05-05:00November 19th, 2025|Everything DiSC|Comments Off on The Conversation That Changed How a Team Saw Each Other

4 Things Leaders Should Do to Finish the Year Strong

by Michael Holland -  In life, as in sports, we do well when we practice like we play. In other words, if we practice desired behaviors in ways that mimic how we’d behave in real situations, we will be prepared to fully activate those behaviors at game time.  We will have created muscle [...]

By |2025-11-13T17:12:59-05:00November 19th, 2025|Your Development|Comments Off on 4 Things Leaders Should Do to Finish the Year Strong

One of The Most Irritating Comments I Hear From Leaders

By Michael Holland -  One of the most irritating comments I hear from leaders at all levels is along the lines of ". . . my team is my family . . . " And when a leader above the rank of director talks this way, I become extremely concerned for the welfare [...]

By |2025-11-12T10:46:22-05:00November 12th, 2025|New Leader|Comments Off on One of The Most Irritating Comments I Hear From Leaders

The Power – or Impotence – of Your Leadership Habits

by Michael Holland -  Habits follow a fairly predictable pattern of a cue (or trigger, craving) which enacts a routine to achieve a reward. A habit is the brain’s efficient method of decreasing power consumption. Think about personal habits you perform all the time:  brushing your teeth, walking, reading a text message after [...]

By |2025-11-05T11:16:20-05:00November 5th, 2025|Your Development|Comments Off on The Power – or Impotence – of Your Leadership Habits
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