Michelle Tillis Lederman is known as “The Connection Creator,” an expert on workplace communications and relationships. Michelle’s mission is to help people work better together and advance their individual impact. Named by Forbes as one of the Top 25 Networking Experts, Michelle is a speaker, trainer, coach, and author of four books including The Connectors Advantage and the internationally recognized, The 11 Laws of Likability.

An executive coach and people expert, Michelle inspires organizations and individuals to build real relationships and get real results. Having worked with fortune 500, non-profit, university and government clients she’s identified the common struggle… it’s people challenges. When asked by her young son what she does, she simply replied, “I help people work better together.” This purpose has driven her work with clients large and small including JPMorgan, J&J, Deutsche Bank, Michigan State University, MetLife, Sony, Ernst & Young, the Department of Environmental Protection, and Madison Square Garden.

Michelle began her journey to training and speaking when she became disheartened by the lack of leadership and communication she experienced in corporate America. She is a recovering CPA who spent over a decade in finance with positions in audit, M&A, financial consulting, VC, and hedge fund investing.

Michelle’s shift began when she wanted to teach hedge fund advisers how to convince her to invest. Michelle realized she was a teacher at heart. It was this change that led her to found Executive Essentials a training company that provides customized communications and leadership programs for fortune 500, non-profit, university and government clients all over the world.

Highly sought after for her energetic, engaging, and authentic presentations, Michelle has appeared on stages around the globe. She holds a Certified Speaking Professional (CSP) designation from the National Speaker’s Association, placing her within the top 3% of speakers. Her deep expertise has led her to be a regular media contributor, appearing on CBS, NBC, Fox, NPR, CNBC, the NY Times, the Wall Street Journal, Working Mother, US News & World Report, MSNBC, Forbes and USA Today.

Passionate about education, Michelle served as a Communications Professor at NYU’s Stern School of Business, on the faculty of the American Management Association, Lehigh Executive Education, and Rutgers Executive Education. She received her BS from Lehigh University, her MBA from Columbia Business School, holds the PCC designation from the International Coaching Federation, and is certified in Marshall Goldsmith’s Stakeholder Centered Coaching method.

Michelle lives in New Jersey with her husband, two sons, and two rescued dogs.