Executive coaching · Organizational advisory · Executive search · AI coaching & consulting
Lead through change.Build what comes next.
I help leaders and organizations develop their people, work through difficult decisions, and change how they work. I bring the perspective of a former COO and Chief People Officer, the depth of an executive coach, and hands-on experience putting AI to work.
Wertheim Leadership Services
A boutique advisory practice built on 25 years of operating experience.
I work with mid-career executives, founders, and mission-driven organizations navigating growth, change, and transition. I bring real operational depth to the areas where people decisions matter most: developing leaders, building healthy organizations, and making great hires.
Across operating and advisory roles, I’ve built leadership teams, launched businesses, led senior searches, and established the management practices that help organizations grow. That experience shapes how I connect a leader’s development with the needs of the business and the people doing the work.
Today, that operating perspective informs my work as an executive coach and people advisor, alongside hands-on experience helping leaders put AI to work.
A moment of change
When the next stage asks something different of you.
An executive’s responsibilities have grown, but their way of leading has not caught up. A team has talented people, yet decisions and accountability remain difficult. You need to make an important hire or rethink how responsibilities fit together. Or your organization has AI tools, but leaders aren’t using them and the value isn’t showing up.
I work with you to understand what is happening, decide what needs to change, and take practical steps forward.
Experience that connects
Ways we can work together.
Executive coaching
Develop the judgment, confidence, and leadership practices your role requires. Work through challenges in how you lead, delegate, communicate, and build relationships. Where an organization sponsors the engagement, we set clear goals and confidentiality boundaries together.
Explore executive coaching ↗Advisory and fractional Chief People Officer
An experienced partner for questions about your team, structure, roles, and ways of working. I help clarify responsibilities, strengthen management practices, and guide people decisions, through focused projects or as a fractional Chief People Officer.
Explore advisory ↗Executive search and recruiting
Make important hires with a clearer understanding of what the organization needs and what success will require. I bring the perspective of someone who has hired, managed, developed, and coached leaders.
Explore talent services ↗AI coaching and consulting
I help leaders use AI as a capable partner in their own work and help smaller organizations integrate it into how they operate. We connect business priorities, working agents and workflows, and the skills and habits people need to use them well.
See how I work with leaders on AI ↗One partner across connected needs.
Engagements often cross service lines. A fractional CPO engagement can surface a key hire. A coaching engagement can grow into work with the whole leadership team. We define the engagement around the change you want to make.
Who I work with
People I often work with.
- Founders and CEOs from seed through Series D
- Mission-driven leadership teams
- Nonprofits navigating change
- Media and content companies
- LGBTQ+ executives and entrepreneurs
- Venture capital funds and startup studios, and their portfolio companies
What clients say
“Working with Michael has been game-changing for me as a leader. He has a rare ability to see both the emotional and structural dynamics at play inside an organization — and to help me navigate them with clarity, focus, and integrity.”Joshua Seftel
CEO, Smartypants
“Michael stepped into a complicated moment with warmth, clarity, and a calm presence that instantly made everything feel more manageable. He built systems, strengthened culture, and put the right people and processes in place — work that will have a long-lasting impact.”Lily Jones
Director of Partner Success, Marvelous
AI in practice
A practice that uses AI every day.
I use AI throughout my own work, from research and preparation to the systems that run my practice. That experience shapes how I help clients adopt it. I review the work, question the outputs, and stay responsible for the advice I give.
See how I put AI to work ↗Let’s talk
What are you working through?
Tell me what is changing, what feels difficult, and what you’d like to be different. We can explore whether working together would help.
Start a conversation ↗