Therese Miclot LLC

I'm all about helping leaders up their game. I offer skills and coaching that accelerate results. I provide dynamic, top-notch facilitation and I can deliver it in-person or virtual. I collaborate with my clients to create custom learning experiences that shift behaviors and mindsets for maximum impact.

Leadership Development Consultant

Proteus International

Director, Facilitation Excellence

I worked with organizations to ensure their employees have the skills and knowledge they need to succeed, by supporting clients to build and then deliver Proteus' practical, skill-based learning solutions.

Practice Director, Building Skills and Knowledge

Rockwell Automation

Manager, Global Learning & Development

Manager, HR Strategy & Planning

Manager, Talent Acquisition

I work with companies that view learning as a core value, focusing on growing confident, credible leaders who can activate team talent to achieve outstanding business outcomes. By maximizing your learning investment through exceptional facilitation, I enable faster skill development and tangible results.

My "get it done" approach blends the precision of an architect with the insight of an advisor, creating best-fit solutions that drive sustainable change. As a facilitation expert, I foster a safe, trusting environment where people feel empowered to take risks and achieve personal growth.

With a proven track record of boosting leadership effectiveness by 30%, I'm passionate about helping organizations and individuals succeed. Let's connect and explore how we can elevate your leadership and team performance together.

“Any questions?” is corporate code for: please don’t ask me anything.

I was on a family trip last week.
At every stop, our tour guide would wrap up with:

“Any questions?”

Every stop. Every time.
And every time? Silence. 🦗

But here’s the thing. People did have questions. They just weren’t invited to ask them.

Because “Any questions?” isn’t curiosity.
It’s a conversation killer.

My family was (lovingly) annoyed because I kept whispering better options:
→ “What’s catching your eye?”
→ “What do you wish you knew more about here?"
→ “What’s the most surprising detail here?”

That’s what facilitation really means.
It's not filling space or checking a box.
It's making it easier for people to engage.

Leaders miss this every day.
They ask lazy questions.
Then wonder why no one speaks up.

👉 Next meeting, don’t ask: “Any questions?”
Ask: “What’s one thing we haven’t made clear yet?”

One better question can unlock an entire team.

🚀 Follow me for practical ways to grow from technical expert to trusted leader.

🔖 And check out The Facilitation Advantage book that Kat Koppett and I wrote. (If Kat and I were on the tour, the group would’ve gotten the bonus version: us quietly coaching the guide on how to actually invite curiosity.) 😊

Therese Miclot

Stop firefighting. Start scaling. | Executive Coaching for Tech Leaders · Leadership Development · Executive Presence | 4,000+ Leaders Coached Worldwide | Creator of The Shift — weekly playbook for technical leaders

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That’s my house in this photo.

The architect is here.
The project manager is here.
The designers are here.

Three different roles.
Three sets of skills.
Three points of view.

Every day on this build, they meet in the middle of the mess.

Anyone could fight for their way.

But here’s what happens:
✔️No “my way is best.”
✔️ No turf battles.
✔️If someone brings a better idea, everyone listens. That idea wins.

It’s not perfect. No project is.
But when ego steps aside, things move.

Inside companies, I often see the opposite:
👉 Leaders holding tight to control.
👉Good ideas shut down too fast.
👉Smart people keeping quiet.

Ego slows a house build.
In a business. ego kills growth.

💡 Imagine what your team could deliver if ego stepped aside and ideas won.

🖐️ I'm Therese and I write about moving from execution to influence; how to stop firefighting and start leading at the next level. 

Hit Follow and turn on 🔔.

The weeds are winning.
And I’m letting them.

We’re still building the house.
Tomorrow the dirt gets torn up again.
If I pull them today, they’ll be back in 24 hours.

So I leave them (twitchy, yes) because the real work is the foundation, not the flowerbeds.

Leadership has seasons like this.

Your instinct screams: fix the visible thing.
The wiser move: fortify the structure that will hold everything up later.

For technical leaders, that looks like skipping quick patches and investing in the boring-but-brilliant stuff - systems, skills, capacity.

Not instantly satisfying.

But absolutely how you grow something worth keeping.

What “weeds” are you ignoring because they’re not the real priority?

Drop yours in the comments. The more examples we share, the easier it gets to stop yanking at the wrong things.

🔔 If you want practical leadership ideas you can actually use, hit follow.

We’ll grow something worth keeping, together.

Talks about #leadershiptips, #leadershipskills, #executivepresence, #facilitationskills, and #presentationskills

They promoted you because you were the best at what you did.
Now you’re leading a team and you’re not sure it’s working.

You’re still the one solving the hardest problems. Still the one putting out fires. Still the one your team depends on.

But here’s the hard truth: If your team depends on you, they’re not growing. And neither is the business.

I’m joining Eduardo Briceño for a conversation every technical leader needs to hear:
→ Why high performers get stuck post-promotion
→ What shifts when you lead through people, not tasks
→ How to build a team that solves without you

This isn't about doing less. It's about leading in the Learning Zone to achieve more

Join us Wednesday, July 30 at 1:00 PM ET/ 10:00AM PT

Register at: https://lnkd.in/eu9k-8tT

Tag someone who's navigating this shift.

If you’re living with a bad boss right now, you already know it’s not just draining, it’s soul-crushing. 
The bigger question is: what can you do about it? 

And if it’s not you… send this to someone who is. They need this week’s edition of The Shift.

The one who made you dread Mondays. The one who crushed your confidence with a single careless comment. The one who kept you running in circles, alway

Open article: You Remember Your Worst Boss, Right? by Therese Miclot • 2 min read

A leader doesn’t leave the day they resign.
They leave the moment they stop growing, and no one notices.

This issue of The Shift is about catching that moment before it costs you your best people.

If you're not receiving the newsletter weekly, let's fix that! https://lnkd.in/gZAwV49i

Not all disengagement is loud. Sometimes it looks like: 1:1s turning into status meetings Teams getting more dependent, not less High performers hitti

Open article: When Good Leaders Quietly Stall by Therese Miclot • 2 min read

Here’s how you’ll feel when you work with me.

I ride the Monon Trail in Indianapolis.

Some stretches leave you scorched.
Black asphalt swallowing the sun,
heat pressing against your lungs,
every push of the pedal asking for more than you have left.

And then...
you turn a corner.

A canopy of trees arches overhead.
The air drops ten degrees.
You inhale, and for the first time in miles,
you can actually breathe.

You don’t stop moving.
But it feels like rest anyway.

That’s what my clients experience.
Before->Firefighting. Overheated. Worn thin.
After-> Shade. Breathing room. The strength to keep going.

I’m the canopy on your leadership trail.
The place you gather energy to lead again.

And if you’re ready for a taste of that canopy
start with my 30-Day Delegation Habit Lab kicking off Sept 8. (link in comments).

Think of it as your first shaded stretch of trail:
small, practical shifts that make the ride lighter, and prepare you for everything still ahead.

Behind closed doors, promotions aren’t about performance, they’re about perception.

This edition is for you if…
- You’ve been praised for being dependable, but never called strategic.
- You’re the one people turn to in a crisis, but not the one they picture in the bigger role.
- You’re tired of working harder without being seen differently.

And if you know someone stuck here, forward this to them. Sometimes the most valuable thing you can give a colleague is a new way to see themselves.

Not you exactly, but leaders just like you. Back when I worked in talent management, I sat in succession planning conversations. And the pattern was a

I was in the room when they talked about you.

Leadership growth doesn’t happen in day-long off-sites.
It happens in 60 seconds with your morning coffee. ☕

One of my clients started with this habit:
“When I drink my coffee in the morning, instead of diving into my to-dos, I’ll spend 60 seconds thinking about how to hold a boundary today.”

Simple? Yes.
But here’s what happened:
✅ 20 micro-actions logged
✅ A shift from “1” to “10” in confidence holding a boundary
✅ Faster alignment, clearer communication, less friction and others noticed it too.

She didn’t just feel different.
She led differently.

That’s the power of using my research-backed Habit Builder tool - turning tiny, consistent shifts into visible leadership impact.

(P.S. If you’re curious about the Habit Builder I use with clients, send me a note. I'm happy to share how it works.)

Ever watched someone charge ahead… and completely miss the bigger picture?

That’s what happens when you say “think bigger” but don’t define it.

In this quick video, I’ll show you how to turn vague inspiration into action that’s both fast and smart.

▶️ Hit play.

🔔 Follow me for more.

If you hate the ‘How are you?’, the weekend recap, and the weather report before every meeting... you’ll want to hear how leaders I coach start meetings instead.

Buy Back Your Brain (in 30 days)

If you feel like you’re always behind, here’s why:

Every time you jump into solve the problem yourself, you get relief in the moment... but you also train your team to bring everything back to you.

That’s how smart, capable leaders end up firefighting all day.

And it’s why growth stalls - because you’re the bottleneck.

I built a 30-day virtual practice to help leaders shift this because once you stop firefighting, everything else gets easier.

It starts September 8. 

https://lnkd.in/gDNyfb5f

Daily, practical shifts to help you:
✔️ Let go of control without things falling apart
✔️ Build trust and accountability in your team
✔️ Free yourself from firefighting and lead at the right altitude

👉 What’s harder for you: letting go of control or making a clean handoff?

What I’d tell you if I wasn’t worried about hurting your feelings.

You’re not delegating because it’s easier to stay comfortable.

Fixing problems feels good.
It makes you useful.
And the payoff is instant.

The work your boss actually wants from you?
It’s in the gray.
It’s messy.
Results come over months or quarters, not days or weeks.

That’s why it feels easier to keep firefighting.

But here’s the problem: 

What looks like competence to you looks like "not ready" to your senior leaders.

Delegation isn’t just about giving tasks away.
It’s about creating space for the slower, more strategic work of leadership.

That’s exactly why I built the 30-Day Delegation Lab.

Because delegation isn’t a single choice, it’s a habit.

One you practice daily until it sticks.

In 30 days, you’ll:
✔️ Stop being the bottleneck
✔️ Free yourself from firefighting
✔️ Buy back hours each week for strategic thinking
✔️ Start being seen as ready for what’s next

🗓️ We start September 8. A few spots available. DM me for details.

👉 What’s harder for you: letting go of control, or leaning into the gray zone of strategy?

If your team needs a decoder ring to follow you...
you’re not leading. 🫣

I see this all the time with technical leaders:

Brilliant in their field.
But vague when they speak.

“Circle back later.”
“Keep me posted.”
“Make it more strategic.”

Sounds smart.
But means nothing.

Vague = weak.
Clear = powerful.

Here’s how clarity sounds instead 👇

📌 “Send me the revised draft by 3pm Friday.”
📌 “I’d like you to lead this project. First milestone is X by Y date.”
📌 “Give me a 3-line update: progress, risks, next step.”

One line of clarity can unlock an entire team.

Complexity doesn’t scale.
Clarity does. 

🚀 Follow me for practical ways to grow from technical expert to trusted leader.

Most leaders miss this.

The biggest roles don’t go to the best problem-solver.

They go to the person the team trusts to lead at the next level.

One of my clients was a classic case.

He nailed every project.
His team hit every target.
But the bigger jobs kept going to someone else.

He was just trapped as "the guy who gets it done." 

So we worked on three simple shifts:

💡 Translate complexity → Execs want headlines, not deep dives
💡 Create space → Don’t fix everything. Ask: “What would you do?”
💡 Get visible → Talk about outcome and risks, not just tasks.

A few months later, people started noticing. 

Here's what usually gets missed: Those next steps for your career are already being decided, probably in conversations you're not even part of yet. 

👉If you’re ready to make that shift, follow me here. I share practical ways technical experts can move from “doer” to recognized leader.

Thirty days from now, you could feel light.

The 30-day Delegation Lab starts Sept 8. 
https://lnkd.in/gDNyfb5f

The only question is, what will you do with the extra time?

Your Future Self Will Thank You

Want to stay stuck as a “super-doer”?

❌ Say yes to every fire drill.
❌ Drown people in details.
❌ Wait for the perfect moment to lead.

Here’s the better way forward:

Lead in small, visible ways.

✅ Ask one clarifying question in the exec meeting.
✅ Coach instead of fixing one team issue yourself.
✅ Cut one slide from your next presentation.

That’s how technical experts become leaders—
not by knowing more, but by showing up differently, 1% at a time.

And momentum > mastery. 

🚀 Follow me for practical ways to grow from technical expert to trusted leader.

Leadership budgets are often the first to go when money gets tight.

Because without proof, they’re impossible to defend.

That’s the pushback I hear again and again:
“We know leadership matters. But when the CFO asks for evidence, what do we show?”

Here’s the thing:
It is possible to prove leadership growth is driving impact.

Clearly. Simply. In ways executives understand.

⬇️ Swipe through to see how it worked with one client.

Proof In Pudding

“Oh, that’s just Joe.”

I worked with a technical leader like that once.

Patents to his name.
Brilliant. Respected. Untouchable.

And every answer came with the same invisible ending:
“...stupid.”

Nobody said it out loud.
But everybody heard it.

We tiptoed our questions.
We avoided his meetings.
And when it got too hard, we shrugged and said,
“Oh, that’s just Joe.”

Here’s the problem:
He didn’t get sidelined.
He was too smart. Too valuable.
So everyone just put up with him.

And the cost?
His team stopped bringing him ideas.
Peers stopped wanting to work with him.
The company got less than it could have from someone that brilliant.

That’s the quiet trap of technical brilliance.
Not that you get passed over, but that you never become the kind of leader people want to follow.

So before you answer, ask:
“Am I proving what I know, or am I building theirs?”

If this feels a little too familiar, here’s the good news:

You don’t have to be “just Joe.”
I help brilliant leaders shift from intimidating to inspiring, without losing what makes them smart.

DM me if you’re ready to make that shift.

You know what nobody says out loud?

The more you hold onto everything, the less promotable you look.

I’ve seen it over and over.

Technically brilliant leaders who can fix anything.

Every problem routes through them.
Every fire gets put out by them.

And here’s how it sounds behind closed doors:
“Reliable.”
“Works hard.”
“...but buried.”
“…too tactical.”
“…not ready for more.”

Here’s the punchline:

It’s not your talent that stalls you.
It’s the perception that you can’t let go.

That’s why delegation isn’t optional.
It’s the lever that changes how people see you.

And if you think “delegation” means handing it off and redoing it later, you’re missing the point.

Real delegation = building capacity in others so you can finally lead at the right altitude.

That’s exactly why I created the 30-Day Delegation Lab.
🗓️ We start September 8.

In 30 days, you’ll:
✔️ Stop being the bottleneck
✔️ Free yourself from firefighting
✔️ Buy back hours for strategic thinking
✔️ Start being seen as ready for what’s next

If you’ve ever wondered why your name isn’t moving up the succession list. this is the place to start.

👉 DM me with LAB and I’ll share the details.

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