We had the pleasure of welcoming Michelle McDaid of The Leading Place to IHQ where our local NetApp Women in Technology operations team had organised an "Own your own voice and thrive" day session. The main objective of this workshop was to support women in advocating for themselves, providing strategies to help unlock their personal power and potential. Working as a woman in the tech industry can sometimes be challenging so this session was very well received by all in attendance. There just wasn't enough time in one day to learn everything Michelle has to offer from her many years as a Senior Leader in Tech

Veronica, NetApp 

Our Trusted Voices

We had the pleasure to invite Michelle McDaid from The Leading Place to host a training webinar on energy and resilience for CDB Aviation. Michelle's expertise and engaging presentation style made the content very accessible and highly relevant to our work. The session was informative and inspiring – we are happy to recommend Michelle for her exceptional skills and dedication to professional development.

CDB Aviation  

I’ve been so Impressed by how you create a space where everyone feels heard and valued, even when tackling complex issues. So many individuals and organizations struggle with building genuine collaboration and breaking down silos, and the skills you’re teaching in your workshops are exactly what’s needed to overcome these challenges.

I love that you make it look so effortless to bring people together. Your confidence is a superpower! For anyone reading this who feels like this is an area they would like to improve, I highly recommend Michelle’s workshops. It’s a great opportunity to learn from the best.

Sharon Lynch, Engineering Manager,

Take Back your Power – Advocating for Yourself

Sustainable HRM Skillnet has worked with Michelle from The Leading Place twice in recent months, and each time she truly took the time to connect with the group, ensuring everyone felt included. Michelle skilfully brought people out of their shell, delivering insightful, high-quality content. She used a great blend of learning tools and exercises that kept the sessions engaging. The programmes were well-paced, featuring group discussions and thought-provoking activities and discussions, making for a valuable learning experience. Looking forward to working with Michelle again in the future

Sara Mullally, Network Manager 

I met Michelle at the very start of my career. Michelle actively strove to enhance the culture of our workplace, which had a profound impact on me. Michelle was a coach, mentor and sponsor to me as I grew to be a leader. As our careers diverged, Michelle’s insight into inclusive leadership led us to reconnect. Michelle has shared evidence-based research, IT industry experience, networking opportunities, real life examples and personal mentorship for me. I would highly recommend Michelle as an expert in inclusive leadership with a wealth of knowledge and experience

Ciara O’Hanlon, Technical Services Lead, 

Take Back your Power and thrive

I met Michelle when we partnered together as Co-Leads of the Women & Allies ERG at Workhuman, myself volunteering within the US, and Michelle raising her hand to be the lead of the Irish geo. I was immediately blown away by Michelle's approach, her fortitude and her deep passion for driving equity for Women, not just at Workhuman, but as far reaching as possible with big, audacious goals to drive action and change. She pushed our thinking, brought incredible expertise and knowledge to all of our endeavors and was a champion of all the women (and allies too) who stepped up to be part of the mission. She truly walks the walk. It was an honor to work with her and learn so much along the way. Michelle is an effective, determined and extremely competent leader, mentor and now founder - serving as an unbelievable example of how to focus your efforts on bringing positive change to the world

Alison Campbell, Founder & CEO, unBurnt

Preparatory to writing this message, I read a bunch of recommendations that others have given Michelle. One would be forgiven for thinking they are hyperbole. They are not. In about 30 years in the industry I have met very few people I would put alongside Michelle.  

It demands one set of skills and talents to manage the engineering functions of a company working on a complex code base while supporting a large, growing and diverse set of clients. Not many can claim those skills. I have seen Michelle do it, and do it well. She works hard to listen, and apply support and guidance where it is most valuable, while also staying out of micromanaging in the weeds. This gives her colleagues space to function and to thrive. She ensures that they do. She is a catalyst for success. 
It calls for a different set entirely to nurture a culture in which people across multiple disciplines feel invested in the success of their colleagues. Talk in this area is cheap. Michelle leads by example, day in and day out exhibiting the best of behaviour. Doing so, she has earned the respect of people far outside her engineering area. Her contributions to the engineering function were enormous. They were not at all the full extent of her contributions at Workhuman. 
Everyone should get a chance to work with someone like Michelle. If you get the chance, seize it.

Philip Hourihane, Systems Architect, Workhuman 

Michelle’s insights and advice have been utterly invaluable in helping me to think through complex and daunting decisions in my career. Michelle’s approach is both empathetic and insightful, and the result is a clear and confident path forward that would have been far more challenging without her help

Simon Brown, Ecosystem Advisor, Consensys 

I highly recommend this program to any incredible woman seeking to expand her knowledge and skills in leadership. The workshop not only equips participants with practical insights but also fosters a sense of community and empowerment among likeminded individuals

Angela Falcas, Software & Delivery Engineer Manager 

Take back your power and thrive

I met Michelle through a recommendation earlier in the year when we were looking for a female speaker to come in for a 1-hour talk on International Women's Day. She was amazing, such a bite-sized talk, but Michelle was able to get in so much key information about some major topics I wouldn't have considered before. From that day on, I was pretty determined to learn more about the topics covered.

I was very lucky to attend the "Own Your Voice and Thrive" 1-day workshop back in May. Here, I learned about the topics mentioned back in March in much greater detail and some things were a real eye opener. 

I walked away understanding my own work situation for what it was... 

I was waiting on a promotion that was taking months to come through. It was verbally confirmed during my review at the start of the year and I was trusting that it was working itself out but I hadn't heard about it since.  I didn't want to make trouble or add to the plate so I was just waiting until I was approached about it, trusting it would happen. When I asked about it in passing in our weekly meetings, I was getting general answers but nothing concrete.

I would have lacked confidence in my own ability, so a part of me was happy to let things drag on. The workshop helped me to realise that I was placed in the role for a reason, that I am the most qualified for the role, that progress needs to be made.  I learned to recognize the poor management style and lack of guidance I was getting and I needed to develop a team to push towards the overall company goals.

After the workshop, I found myself pretty motivated to get things moving because there didn't seem to be any real reason for the holdup. I had to relook at my mindset around the situation, realign with my value as an employee and ultimately, go around my direct boss to get to the bottom of the issue to secure my new job title and position.

A week after attending this workshop, I was promoted to Manager! 

Workshop Attendee

Own Your Own Voice and Thrive