Michelle Merritt

Greater than your desire to win should be your desire to prepare to win.

Bio

Michelle Merritt is a senior people executive, keynote speaker, board director, and entrepreneur who has built talent strategies and developed leaders at every level, from emerging managers to the C-suite.

Often called “the corporate cheerleader,” Michelle proudly embraces this title as she revolutionizes the business community with her unique brand of pragmatic positivity and direct communication. She fosters professional confidence in individual clients and helps organizations build cultures centered on active listening and a strengths-centered approach to professionalism.

Michelle co-founded Circle City Consulting in 2012 with the motto “Fix what’s right with you,” a dedication to helping others embrace their unique talents and confidently invest in their development to build professional and personal success. She believes no one reinvents themself alone, and that the right network can carry you through career pivots, hard seasons, and the boldest chapters of midlife.

She is co-author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Empathy Impact and the forthcoming book, Emergent Power. Michelle has served on more than 30 boards, currently as President of the Westfield, Indiana Police Merit Commission.

A Guinness World Record holder, Michelle lives in Westfield with her husband, Jason, and two senior cats, and is happiest hosting a backyard full of loved ones.

Connect with Michelle

Fractional Executive

Michelle Merritt works with organizations on a fractional and project basis, bringing senior people leadership to companies that need C-suite level talent strategy without a full-time commitment. This is advisory work built for boards, executive teams, and HR leaders who want a partner who has done the job, not just studied it

Fractional CHRO / CPO Advisory

For companies navigating a leadership gap, a period of rapid growth, or a talent function that needs a senior hand at the wheel. Michelle steps in to lead compensation strategy, organizational design, and people operations on a part-time or project basis, giving you executive-level talent leadership exactly when you need it.

Best for: Companies between HR leaders, scaling fast, or testing whether the role needs to be full-time.

Talent Development & Succession Strategy

Every organization has people it can’t afford to lose and roles it isn’t ready to backfill. Michelle works with leadership teams to build succession plans, leadership pipelines, and talent review processes that hold up under pressure, so the next departure is a transition, not a crisis.

Best for: Companies preparing for growth, ownership transition, or key-person risk.

Leadership Training

Drawing on her Amazon #1 bestseller *Empathy Impact*, Michelle delivers workshops and leadership team engagements built around a simple premise: empathetic leadership drives retention, performance, and revenue. This isn’t a soft-skills add-on. It’s a framework for leaders who want teams that stay, perform, and trust their direction.

Best for: HR and L&D teams building leadership development programs, or executive teams navigating change.

Board Readiness & Governance Advisory

With service on more than 30 boards and current leadership as President of the Westfield Indiana Police Merit Commission, Michelle advises boards directly on governance practices, board composition strategy, and onboarding. This is work done in partnership with the board itself, strengthening how it operates and prepares for what’s next.

Best for: Boards refreshing their composition, onboarding new directors, or reviewing governance practices.

HR-Tech & HRIS Advisory

For HR technology companies who need a former practitioner’s perspective. Michelle advises on positioning to CHRO and CPO buyers, product feedback from the people-leader seat, and go-to-market strategy grounded in what talent leaders actually need.

Best for: HR AI and HRIS companies sharpening their pitch to enterprise people leaders.

Let’s talk about what your organization needs

Every engagement starts with a conversation about where you are and what’s actually needed, not a fixed package. If you’re weighing whether a fractional leader, a targeted project, or a single workshop is the right fit, that’s exactly the conversation to have first.

Board Advisory

Board Director

Michelle Merritt brings a rare combination to the boardroom: deep human capital expertise paired with enterprise strategy fluency. Across more than 30 board and committee roles, she has overseen approximately $1 billion in fiduciary responsibility, bringing a practitioner’s lens on talent as a competitive advantage and a strategist’s command of the systems, culture, and leadership infrastructure organizations need to win.

Michelle’s governance work centers on translating complex organizational challenges into strategies that drive measurable outcomes, with particular strength in succession planning, executive compensation, and building the leadership pipelines that carry organizations through growth and transition.

Current Board Leadership

Westfield Police Department President, Merit Commission

Episcopal Diocese of Indianapolis Advisory Board, Personnel Policy and Compensation

Prior Board Leadership

3Rivers Federal Credit Union Board Director, HR and Policy Committee

Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure Founding Board Member, Northern Indiana

Private Directors Association Membership Engagement Committee

Governance Highlights

  • Led talent and succession efforts as a 3Rivers Federal Credit Union board member, including compensation management, executive reviews, and succession planning.
  • Designed and governed enterprise-wide talent development initiatives as director of training and development at ACPL, providing one-on-one executive coaching to senior leaders while building programming that developed 19 department heads and more than 400 staff members.
  • Awarded the Air National Guard Blacksnakes Recognition for outstanding support, underscoring a track record of commitment and engagement.

Training

Every topic below comes from something Michelle has actually done, not just studied. From coaching executives through comp negotiations to sitting on boards herself, these sessions are built on real experience navigating the moments that define a career or a leadership team. Whether you’re bringing her in for a single keynote, a workshop series, or an ongoing training engagement, each topic can be scaled to fit your audience, from an intimate leadership team to a full conference room.

Board Advisory & Development

Boards need advisors who understand governance, and professionals need a path onto their first or next board. Michelle trains on both sides of the table: helping current boards strengthen composition, onboarding, and governance practice, and helping individuals build the readiness, positioning, and network to land a board seat.

Best for: Boards preparing for a refresh, and professionals building a board candidacy from the ground up.

This is training and workshop format. If you’re looking for a board partner in an ongoing advisory capacity, see Board & Governance Advisory under Fractional Executive

How to Accompany Your People

Built from her keynote “The Power of Accompaniment,” this session reframes leadership as walking alongside your team rather than directing from ahead. It covers what accompaniment looks like in practice, how it builds trust faster than authority does, and why the leaders people stay for are the ones who show up beside them.

Best for: Leaders and managers who want their team’s loyalty, not just their compliance.

Beyond the Ask: Networking That Actually Works

Most networking advice stops at “build your network before you need it.” This session goes further, into what to actually say, how to follow up without feeling transactional, and how to turn a network into a resource you and the people in it both benefit from.

Best for: Anyone whose growth depends on relationships, which is everyone.

How Not to Use a Recruiter

Most companies believe recruiters are the only way to find top talent, costing thousands in search fees. This session breaks down the strategy behind building recruitment, retention, and succession plans that ensure access to top talent without the use of a recruiter.

Best for: Small to mid-size companies looking to improve their recruiting strategy during or before transitions.

Leadership Training

Leadership development that starts with what’s already working. Sessions cover strengths-based team leadership, coaching skills for managers, and the shift from managing tasks to developing people.

Best for: New and mid-level leaders, or organizations building a coaching culture from the manager level up.

Empathy-Centered Leadership

Built from Empathy Impact, a session on why empathetic leadership drives retention and performance, not just morale.

Best for: Leadership teams and HR groups building culture and retention strategy.

Compensation Negotiation

Drawing on the “$2.8 Million Lesson,” a session on negotiating comp with confidence, including equity, severance, and total package thinking, not just base salary.

Best for: Executives heading into an offer, a renewal, or a promotion conversation.

Strategic Career Navigation

How to run your career like a strategy rather than a reaction. Covers positioning, timing a move, and building the kind of professional reputation that creates opportunities before you need them.

Best for: Professionals at any level who want to stop waiting for the next opportunity to find them.

Let’s talk about what your group needs

Every session starts with a conversation about your audience and what you’re actually trying to shift: culture, skills, confidence, results. If you’re not sure which topic fits, or want something built to spec, that’s exactly the conversation to have first.

Author

Michelle is co-author of the Amazon #1 bestseller Empathy Impact: The Wild Effects of Kindness in Action. 

Her second book, Emergent Power:  Midlife Women Redefining Love, Health, & Work, is due out Fall of 2026

Her newsletter, The Talent Advantage: Driving Revenue Through Strategic People Leadership, is published every Wednesday.

Speaker

Michelle Merritt is a recognized authority on transformational career moves, revolutionizing executive careers. She’s a rare strategic force advising Fortune 500 C-suite leaders and board candidates across industries.

A sought-after speaker, Michelle addresses executive leadership development, strategic career navigation, compensation negotiation, and breaking into corporate boardrooms. She hosts exclusive roundtables and coaching sessions designed to empower senior professionals to command their careers as intentionally as they lead their organizations.

When your audience needs strategies that deliver real results, not theoretical frameworks, Michelle delivers the tactical expertise that turns career ambitions into realities. Her sessions don’t just inspire; they equip leaders with the exact playbook that has elevated hundreds of executives to their next transformational role.

Michelle’s most requested talks

  • The Power of Accompaniment: A Guide to Leadership
  • The Future-Ready Director: Navigating AI, Your Network, and the New Rules of Board Service
  • The Adaptive Executive: Building Your Future-Ready Career Through Strategic Networking & AI Fluency
  • The $2.8M Lesson – The Art of Negotiating Compensation
  • Designing Your Winning Career Strategy
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