Energy Leadership Coach | Leadership Trainer | R&D Expert

Can't shut off? Always on edge?

If you're highly sensitive, HSP, ADHD, or neurodiverse - your nervous system operates differently. 

You naturally pick up more. Process deeper. Feel misalignment faster.

When you override your wiring? Your body shuts you down.

I help sensitive and neurodiverse founders regulate their nervous systems so they can build businesses that work WITH their wiring, not against it.

Take the Free Founder Regulation Assessment → founder-regulation-assessment.lovable.app

My Story

Three years ago, I moved from Holland to the Portuguese mountains to escape burnout.

It didn't work.

Working 8am-10pm. Phone at dinner. Snapping at my kids - I remained stuck in survival mode.

My chest was tight. Mind racing. I'd lost the ability to feel what my body was saying.

That wake-up call changed everything.

I stopped trying to push through my dysregulation and instead started treating through somatic work and regulation.

Now I help other sensitive and neurodiverse founders do the same.

So if this is you...

- Can't shut off - mind races, body won't rest
- Always on edge - chest tight, revenue dips spiral you
- Body refuses to fake it 
- You feel everything 3x harder
- Decide from panic, not strategy
- Rest feels dangerous
- Irritable with people you love

Better boundaries alone won;t solve your problme. You need nervous system regulation.

How I Work
→ Map your nervous system patterns
→ Rebuild regulation capacity
→ Create rhythms that honour your wiring
→ Lead from presence, not performance

What makes this different is that most business coaching ignores the body. Most nervous system work doesn't understand business. 

Almost nothing addresses how sensitive and neurodiverse systems work differently.

I bridge all three.

I bring nervous system science (Polyvagal Theory) and body-based practices (Somatic Experiencing) into entrepreneurship for founders whose systems operate differently.

Your system picks up everything. Processes everything. Feels everything.
You dysregulate faster - and pay a higher price.

The popular "push through" advice? breaks you.

When you work WITH your wiring? Everything changes.

Start Here

Free 5-min assessment: Take it here → founder-regulation-assessment.lovable.app
1:1 Coaching: Book call here → https://cal.com/daniel-philips-coaching/clarity-call

The real breakthrough was learning to feel what was happening inside - and lead from there.

Daniel Philip Wilcock

I help organizations turn people data into meaningful action.

With 12+ years of experience leading People & Culture strategy, I focus on aligning employee experience with business growth. My work spans startups, agencies, and enterprise teams. I partner closely with revenue and client-facing leaders to build systems that support engagement, communication, and performance.

Through Quokka Hub, I use tools like Quarterly Pulse Checks, DISC assessments, and tailored leadership workshops to surface insights on culture, engagement, and team dynamics. 

But data alone isn’t the solution... It’s what you do with it. 

That’s why I partner with leaders to translate results into clear strategies:
⇢ Designing performance & feedback systems that drive accountability
⇢ Supporting leaders of growth and delivery teams through org design and scale
⇢ Building cultures where people stay, grow, and contribute at their best

Whether inside an organization as Head of People or through short-term consulting, my approach is consistent: combine insight, strategy, and execution to create measurable impact.

Michael Franco

AI adoption is moving fast.
What isn’t?

Manager capability

Tools are being added to teams
that were already unclear on:
-priorities
-ownership
-expectations

So automation is creating overload
Not leverage

The risk with AI isn’t just fear or resistance
Leaders are not being equipped to redesign work as it changes

Most performance issues here aren’t technical
They’re managerial

As an individual
⇢Name the issues instead of working around them

As a leader
⇢Clarify roles and expectations BEFORE adding new tools

As a company
⇢Invest as much in change leadership as you do in technology


Start here
Priorities: What matters
Expectations: What good looks like
Ownership: Who's responsible for what


❓What usually lags behind when new tools get introduced?

–
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#ChangeLeadership #AIAdoption

Head of People | Global HR & People Operations | Multi-Region Execution (US, Europe, LATAM, APAC)

Illustration of a bicycle with a large jet engine strapped to the frame, blasting forward while the bike itself is broken—loose chain, missing gears, parts scattered on the ground. Text above reads: “AI won’t fix a broken process.” The image conveys that adding powerful technology doesn’t solve underlying process or system issues.

Most organizational failures don’t start with poor performance

It starts with tolerated behavior

Ignored feedback
Delayed conversations
Signs leaders didn’t want to see yet

By the time issues show up publicly
They’ve been normalized internally for a while

Culture risk is cumulative
And it’s almost always visible early
If someone is willing to look…

As an individual
⇢Notice what keeps getting excused

As a leader
⇢Address the misalignment when it's still small

As a company
⇢Treat behavior patterns and engagement data as risk data


❓What's one early warning sign leaders often miss?

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#PeopleAndCulture #leadership

Hand-drawn pencil sketch of a long boardroom table with a line of dominoes stretching across it. One domino at the front has begun to tip while the rest remain standing, suggesting a chain reaction. The room is empty, and the caption “It starts small.” appears beneath the illustration, symbolizing how small, overlooked issues can escalate into larger organizational problems.

I’m not a tech expert
But I’ve worked in tech long enough to notice something…

AI is incredible at things I don’t know

But
When it touches my area of expertise
it becomes… average

It finds the midpoint
The safest answer
The common solution

I’ve heard the same thing from engineers
AI is great at rebuilding what already exists
But struggles when it’s a new idea

I am not saying it isn’t useful
It’s just not where differentiation comes from

Our originality
Our extensive experience
In the fields we have worked to become experts in
Is where the value is

AI is an opportunity to become an architect

To design entire systems
Procedures, programs 
Whatever it is you do
But with your unique thinking
And your unique solutions
At its core

AI will not lead you
But it can support you

The advantage is still human thinking
Especially when it’s uncomfortable, opinionated, or new


❓Do you find your expertise doesn't usually give the safe answer?

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#FutureOfWork #Strategy

Split illustration titled “AI is an opportunity to become an architect.” On the left, a human professional sits at a desk using a computer, thinking “What should I do…”. On the right, a futuristic, armored AI figure interacts with complex digital systems, thinking “I have a solution. Give me data on…”. The image contrasts human judgment and expertise with AI’s data-driven problem solving.

Most work problems don’t have one-size-fits-all fixes
But companies keep applying them anyway

Work feels harder
Delivery gets messy

So leaders reach for something universal
Mandates
Policies
Tools
RTO

But issues are usually uneven
-Some teams lack decision ownership
-Others lose work in the handoffs
-Some get stuck in approvals
-Others are overloaded

The mistake is not remote work
It’s treating every team like they have the same problem

Complex systems don’t break uniformly
So why would they be fixed uniformly?

As an individual
⇢Ask how success is defined before adjusting how you work

As a leader
⇢Fix the bottlenecks before adding new policies

As a company
⇢Design for variability instead of enforcing uniformity


❓What kinds of problems get oversimplified most often?

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#OrganizationalDesign #Leadership

Illustration showing a single policy causing four different issues: no clear owner (people pointing at each other), stuck in approvals (overflowing paperwork and a clock), overloaded (person carrying too many boxes), and lost in handoffs (papers falling between hands). Caption reads: “One policy. Four different problems.” and “Complex systems don’t break evenly.”

Does your company want innovation?
Are you looking for your team to innovate?
Then stop hiring people who think exactly like everyone else

There is a difference between culture fit
And culture add

Culture does not improve through sameness

Create some productive tension
Find someone who notices what others stopped questioning

Companies & Leaders: 
⇢Hire for shared standards, not shared personalities
⇢Look for people who challenge how the work gets done
⇢Diverse experience, diverse background, and diverse thinking

If your culture cannot handle respectful disagreement
It sits on a fragile foundation


❓When has not fitting in helped your team?

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#PeopleAndCulture #HiringStrategy

Minimal illustration showing a row of identical outlined squares in black, followed by one green hexagon connected to a glowing green lightbulb. Text reads: “Sameness may feel safe but… It doesn’t innovate.” The image emphasizes how difference and new thinking drive innovation.

Companies collect a lot of employee data
But what is done with it?

Employee experience platforms are a multi-billion-dollar market now
Yet engagement scores remain flat across many industries

If you do nothing with the data
Surveys are useless
Why?

Because data does not improve experience
Leadership behavior does
Taking action does

If the data points to an opportunity to improve
It is so important to take it

Otherwise…
The data quality will diminish

Because why be honest
If nothing ever changes

As an individual
⇢Don’t wait for a survey to suggest improvements

As a leader
⇢Act on the data, acknowledge feedback, plan the action

As a company
⇢Get regular data and act on it to ensure the data quality remains


❓What decision has your people data changed recently?

–
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#PeopleAndCulture #EmployeeExperience

Illustrated graphic showing a large pipe pouring icons representing surveys, charts, messages, and metrics into a trash can labeled “Employee Data,” under the headline “Why collect it if you won’t use it?”, symbolizing employee feedback and data being collected but discarded without action.

Your strongest people are covering for your weakest systems
It is an invisible load

High performers:
-Fill decision gaps
-Patch broken handoffs
-Anticipate missing context
-Absorb ambiguity without escalating

Often times
They keep this moving
Until one day they don’t

If a system only works when the right person is present
It should not be considered a working system

The key is to find those system failures
By speaking to the people in the workflows

As an individual
⇢Notice where you’re compensating instead of escalating

As a leader
⇢Ask your strongest people what should be redesigned

As a company 
⇢Gather quarterly feedback to find optimization opportunities 


❓What’s one system or process that makes everyone’s job easier?


–
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#PeopleOps  #Leadership

Sketch-style illustration of a high performer seen from behind, holding up a cracked bridge to prevent collapse. The person wears a green cape and shield labeled “High Performer,” symbolizing how strong employees carry failing systems. Debris falls from the bridge while the structure remains standing only because of the individual’s effort.

Two years fly by when the work is fun

I wrapped up a chapter with
Don't Be A Little Pitch 

Still one of the best names I’ve ever worked with

When I started, they were a PR agency
When I finished, they were something more

People systems built
Processes clarified
New platforms implemented

They evolved into a PR agency
With proprietary tech
And an in-house dev team

That doesn’t happen by accident
It happens because of talent

Contractors becoming FTEs
Teams adapting in real time
Leaders willing to rethink workflows

I’m proud of the systems I helped build
Even more proud of the friendships that came with it

As an individual
⇢Invest in relationships, not just deliverables

As a leader
⇢Build for where you’re going, not where you are

As a company
⇢People systems scale culture before headcount does



Shout out to Bryce North & team for the trust, the collaboration, and the kind of work that makes two years fly by.



❓What’s a team that changed how you work today?

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#PeopleAndCulture  #Leadership

photo of Michael Franco, Bryce North and Matt Jensen. 

Work changes
Roles change with it

Sometimes redefining roles does create clarity
Clear progression can motivate people
Architecture can drive growth

Title changes are not an issue, But…

If you add new titles
You’ll also need a new structure
And then have to redesign success

If not
-Ownership is unclear
-Expectations become lost
-People are unsure of what good looks like

And this can cause frustration
And a drop in productivity

Effective role redesign requires 3 things:
⇢Clear success metrics for the role as it exists today
⇢Explicit ownership of decisions and outcomes
⇢Aligned expectations on what should be done

Title changes can support growth 
But only when they are paired with clarity

A new title can be exciting

But they need to understand
“What am I accountable for?”
“What does success look like here?”
“What comes next if I do this well?”


❓What kind of clarity has helped you grow in a role?


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#PeopleAndCulture #OrganizationalDesign

Hand-drawn sketch-style diagram showing role redesign. Job titles (Specialist, Lead, Manager) connect to Ownership, which flows into green-highlighted elements: Success, Accountability, Decision Authority, Responsibilities, and Support. These link to Success Metrics, Expectations, and Outcomes. A hand is sketching the system, reinforcing that clarity and structure, not titles alone, define success.

Founders ask me how to get employees to post
The answer is almost never motivation

It’s time
And structure

Most Saturdays look the same for me
Reading articles I saved all week
Revisiting half-written LinkedIn ideas
Notes. Opinions. Screenshots.

Messy, but intentional
That habit made something clear

Creating thoughtful content takes work
And without a system, it’s the first thing to fall off the list

That’s why I tested Taplio

It wasn’t automation
It was structure

Taplio helped me turn a messy idea pile
Into a repeatable LinkedIn routine
Clear planning
Organized thought
Clear narratives around my ideas

When companies want employees to post
They also need guardrails
Not restrictions
But clarity

What’s okay to share
What’s off-limits
How to talk about work without sharing confidential details

As an individual
⇢Share your expertise, not internal information

As a leader
⇢Treat posting like any other workflow: guidance, examples, & support

As a company
⇢Provide tools and guidelines to showcase the talent on your team

Taplio has a 7-day free trial
And $1 for the first month
If you want to test it


❓What would posting look like if it felt easier?

–

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Illustrated scene showing a messy pile of saved articles and half-written ideas on the left, with a phone on top and a sticky note reading “1/2 written ideas,” flowing via an arrow into a structured notebook on the right labeled “Plan, Draft, Review, Post,” representing turning scattered thoughts into a clear, repeatable content workflow.

taplio

The Battle

Daniel Philip Wilcock

Michael Franco

Followers

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Performance ScoreMichael Franco's LinkedIn Performance

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taplio

The Battle

Daniel Philip Wilcock

Michael Franco

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Michael Franco's LinkedIn Performance

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Performance ScoreMichael Franco's LinkedIn Performance