310: Level Up Your Leadership: Michelle Myers’ Proven Strategies for Women to Stay Visible and Influential

In 2025’s rapidly shifting workplace, women leaders face a unique set of challenges: staff cutbacks, fewer advancement opportunities, and the persistent shadow of imposter syndrome. For mid-career professionals, the pressure to remain visible, relevant, and confident has never been higher.

In this episode of The Mid-Career GPS Podcast, John Neral sits down with Michelle Myers, a veteran leader at Women’s Leadership Today with over 20 years of experience developing women leaders, to explore how authenticity, adaptability, and strategic personal branding can fuel career growth at any stage.

Michelle demonstrates how continuous learning and mutual adaptation between leader and organization can lead to long-term career success.

Whether you’re navigating leadership visibility in a hybrid workplace, refining your professional brand, or battling the quiet creep of invisibility in your career, Michelle offers practical, actionable strategies to help you shine.

What You’ll Learn in This Episode:

• The new leadership reality for women in 2025 and how to adapt to fewer opportunities and shifting workplace dynamics
• Why personal branding matters and how to make it about authenticity and clarity, not ego
• How to conquer imposter syndrome so you can confidently articulate your value
• Visibility tactics that work from optimizing your LinkedIn headline to volunteering for high-profile projects
• Conducting a skills gap analysis to identify the competencies you need for your next role
• The power of feedback and vulnerability in building trust and uncovering blind spots
• How male allies can support women leaders by amplifying their visibility and listening with authenticity
• The ABCV Framework: Authenticity, Brand, Clarity, and Value, the roadmap for sustaining leadership success

Resources & Links:

• Click here to learn more about Michelle’s work at Women's Leadership Today
• Connect with Michelle Myers, MBA, on LinkedIn

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Women's Leadership Challenges
• 3:16 Michelle Myers: 22 Years of Career Evolution
• 7:10 Current Landscape for Women Leaders
• 10:19 Personal Branding and Overcoming Imposter Syndrome
• 19:14 Skills Gap Analysis for Professional Growth
• 27:04 Leadership Authenticity and Men as Allies
• 31:57 Final Advice and Key Takeaways

Transcript

John Neral: 0:00

We all face challenges, setbacks and successes in our careers. However, as we progress through 2025 and encounter staff cutbacks, fewer opportunities and rising imposter syndrome, how you show up as a leader is more important than ever. Today's guest has a powerful message for women leaders, and that is never stop learning. In a few moments, you will meet Michelle Myers. She's here to talk about how women leaders can actively increase their visibility, elevate their brand and be more authentic as they face the challenges of getting out of their comfort zone, so they can be the leaders they are called to be. Let's get started. Hello, my friends, this is the Mid-Career GPS Podcast and I'm your host, John Neral. I help mid-career professionals like you find a career they love, or love the one they have, using my proven four-step formula. I've had the privilege of knowing today's guest for a few years and I am honored to have had the opportunity to present to her Women's Leadership Today organization on several occasions.

John Neral: 1:24

Michelle Myers is a trailblazer in the field of women's professional development and leadership. With over 20 years of dedicated service at Women's Leadership Today, michelle has made it her mission to help women find their unique voice, embrace their leadership potential and share their personal and professional stories with confidence. Recognizing early in her career that women face distinct challenges in the workplace, michelle helped shape women's leadership today into a dynamic platform that continues to meet those challenges head on. Through educational initiatives, skill-building workshops, insightful articles and compelling podcast episodes, michelle has empowered thousands of women professionals to grow, connect and thrive in their careers. She holds an MBA from San Diego State University and a BA in international business.

John Neral: 2:25

Beyond her professional achievements, michelle has spent over a decade as a Girl Scout leader, nurturing the next generation of strong, community-minded young women leaders. Her unwavering passion for lifting others and creating opportunities for meaningful progress makes Michelle a powerful voice and an inspiring force in today's ever-evolving leadership landscape, and that's why I'm bringing this conversation to you today. It is a powerful conversation for women leaders and the men who are their allies. It is my pleasure to introduce you to Michelle Myers. Michelle Myers, welcome to the podcast. It's so great to have you here today.

Michelle Meyers: 3:07

Oh, thank you, John. It's such a delight to be here. Thank you.

John Neral: 3:16

Well, you and I have crossed paths in multiple ways and I shared that a little bit in the introduction. But one of the reasons why I wanted to interview you was very simply because you've been in the same career path and in the same quote-unquote job, if you will, for 20 years, and that's something on this podcast we don't always get to hear a lot about. And so when you think about that mid-career moment and essentially what you've learned at mid-career, what can you share with us today?

Michelle Meyers: 3:44

essentially what you've learned at mid-career? What can you share with us today? Yeah, thank you, john, and I mentioned this a little bit before, before we were recording that. Yeah, it is a little bit unusual because I have been with my organization for it's going on 22 years, which even just saying that out loud is just just seems wild. And I joke, I say, if my career was an organization where a person, they'd be at over-drinking age now. But yeah, so throughout.

Michelle Meyers: 4:13

But what is really exciting is how things have changed and developed over the last two decades. Things are constantly changing and evolving in my field and that's what really keeps me excited and going, making those connections, and this is why I think it's so important that women continue to learn. We don't just finish college, have a few years of experience and then stop right. We are always changing, we are always evolving and it's so important to have that curiosity and that passion for learning and growing and really I feel at the heart of it. That's what keeps me going for so long in the same position, more or less.

John Neral: 5:03

So, michelle, for anyone who's listening and they're really leaning into the fact you've been with the same organization for over two decades, what would you say to them has been why it's been such a great fit, and what does it mean for you to be organizationally loyal?

Michelle Meyers: 5:24

Those are great questions. First of all, I am very fortunate to be in an organization that has also adapted and changed, and it's so interesting when you're with not just an organization but people for such a long time, you can see them adapt and change as well. That could be your peers, your higher ups, the culture, the climate of your organization, and really it's that change and that development that I think is so important, because I know I've changed I'm sure you do have, john over the last 20 years. So it's it's so important that an organization do the same as well. Trust me, if this was the same exact position or organization as it was 20 years ago, I don't think there would be a fit. It's that adaptability that is so important and at the core of that, I feel.

John Neral: 6:28

And that's a great point, michelle, to bring up, because, as we start to bridge these two points that you've made right, so one around being in an organization for over two decades and then tying in this very strong belief that you have about how, in particular, women leaders should never stop learning, what can you tell us about right now is the current landscape around training and development for leaders?

Michelle Meyers: 7:10

And I really well to back up. You know I started our Women's Leadership Today program series over 15 years ago and when doing so sort of figured, at some point there might not even be the demand for a focus on the unique challenges that women face in the workplace, on the unique challenges that women face in the workplace. But here we are almost again, two decades later, and we're at such a unique position and the landscape has changed so much, I think, even more challenging for women more than ever before. It's such a competitive job market right now and I think it's so easy for women to feel overwhelmed or discouraged. But the good news is there are concrete actions that women can take to gain traction and feel empowered, whether they're searching for that next job or navigating a role that no longer inspired them or navigating a role that no longer inspired them. But even the smallest steps can create powerful forward momentum for women.

John Neral: 8:16

What are some of the challenges women leaders are particularly facing right now in this landscape and job market?

Michelle Meyers: 8:19

Yeah, absolutely Well. For one thing, there's certainly job insecurity, right. You hear on a daily basis companies closing their doors, moving operations overseas, so there's not. Earlier you asked me about company loyalty. Not everyone can feel that strong sense of company loyalty and things, especially with AI, are moving at such a rapid pace right now. A lot of women leaders question on a regular basis do I still have the skills that are needed for either the job I have right now or that next job, and do I have that capability within myself to make that change and that continued growth? And then also, am I getting noticed, john? All too often women, especially as we start to get older and hopefully wiser, we can very much feel like we are becoming invisible and they're so important that we take steps to make sure that we are still being seen and heard and being asked to have a seat at the table.

John Neral: 9:39

So let's stay with this for a moment, because this actually hits pretty close in the sense of so many of the people, michelle, whom I work with, and essentially my client load tends to be around 60% women, 40% men. That's kind of where we're at right now, but one of the things all of my clients tend to demonstrate is that they have really big hearts. Clients tend to demonstrate is that they have really big hearts. They care very deeply about the people on their team and their clients and the people whom they support, and they have a very difficult time phrasing things in the first person to talk about their accomplishments or their achievements. In your work in developing women leaders, how do you help them get through this block about talking about themselves in I statements rather than the team did this or we did that?

Michelle Meyers: 10:39

Yeah, and one of the three core steps I recommend people women especially focus on is personal branding, the power of personal branding and, like I said, making sure you are still visible. Just like companies brand their products and services to stand out, women really must learn how to confidently articulate who they are, what they do best and what they bring to the table. And it's a very popular term that we talk about a lot these days is called imposter syndrome, and a lot of women fear seeming boastful, and that can really hold us back. And personal branding isn't about our ego and that can really hold us back. And personal branding isn't about our ego. It's about authenticity, clarity and visibility. But, like you said, those I statements are very difficult for us for some reason. As women, we have just been, I think, brought up for so many decades to not put ourselves first, to seem humble, and so we feel like if we talk about our accomplishments, our successes, our wins, we are sounding boastful, like we're bragging, and that's not a bad thing, but we feel like it should be.

John Neral: 12:00

Hey there. Have you ever been hesitant to like a LinkedIn post about finding a new job because you're fearful of being seen by your employer or colleague? I get it. I see you, my friend. Since you're already listening to this podcast, I want to help you get an even bigger win in your career and to do that, I'm inviting you to join my free email community and subscribe to the Mid-Career GPS newsletter. It's delivered to your inbox twice each week with helpful tips, strategies and resources to help you find that job you love or love the job you have. It's all free and you can subscribe by visiting my website at https://johnneral. com. Check the show notes or my LinkedIn.

John Neral: 12:47

For now, let's get back to the episode. When we get those thoughts about I'm bragging about myself or I'm being boastful, we start to play small yes, and to your point about increasing one's visibility that's not going to be particularly helpful. That that's not going to be particularly helpful. So when you, when you, help people increase their visibility, especially around their personal and professional brand, what are some things you recommend to help particularly women leaders increase their visibility?

Michelle Meyers: 13:21

Um, especially when we're talking about getting that seat at the table, so thinking about what would you do to increase the visibility or awareness of, let's say, a product or service your company has out there, right? It's sort of about creating a buzz, and I would say most of us here listening to your podcast today have LinkedIn, right? That's probably the basis and that's such a real easy way for women to start is maximize your LinkedIn presence, and you can do that with a strategic headline. In summary, so a lot of times if you visit someone's LinkedIn site, they will just have a job title, but a simple thing you can do is also use this space to highlight your value position. For example, if your title is, let's say, operations leader, you might also include a statement like operations leader, driving efficiency through empathy and process innovation. These not only are your clients, your potential customers, job hunters or headhunters looking at your LinkedIn, but so are your peers and others in your company. Easy way to make that statement Even brand yourself within your organization and your personal message.

Michelle Meyers: 14:48

It's important to be consistent with your personal message and image across personal platforms. We all have an email signature. Many of us have business cards, online profiles, even a Zoom background. All tell a story and it's so important to make sure it's a unified story that you're telling. Use colors story that you're telling. Use colors language and messaging that reflect who you are. But, john, it's also important that women do make the point, to speak up and show up in meaningful ways. Again, going back to LinkedIn, join in on relevant conversations in your industry, volunteer to lead a team project, raise your hand for a panel or, like I'm here today, a podcast. This kind of visibility builds opportunity for women and for leaders and, plus, it gives you safe spaces to exercise and flex those leadership muscles.

John Neral: 16:04

Absolutely. You remind me of a story. I was working in one organization and had a fairly large team and one of the young women on the team wanted to increase her visibility and, in a really bold move, she speaks up in a meeting where the president of the company was speaking and she said I'd really like to be a part of this and on the spot he invites her to a meeting later that afternoon. Oh, wow, right. So she was all happy and excited and everything, and I thought to myself I'm just going to stick around and see how the meeting goes, right. So the meeting was about 4 o'clock, 5.30. I'm sitting in my office. She comes to my door, knocks on the door and she's like where are the tissues? She was so overloaded and overwhelmed by everything that had happened and then she got assigned to do something or whatever.

John Neral: 16:49

And we had to do so much reframing around this whole experience about how, why did you ask for it? Why was this important? Now you've got what you've wanted. Seize this opportunity, take this as an opportunity for yourself to elevate your presence, increase your visibility. And so it was several months of us going back and forth and coaching around this, about reframing this whole entire experience and seeing this project through Michelle. One of the biggest things that happened out of that was that any time she walked into a meeting, especially if it was an all-hands meeting, he called her out. That's amazing, how are you and would name her? And I said to her one time I said, who gets that? Yeah, you get that because you took a bold move to be more visible Right, and sometimes that visibility is challenging.

Michelle Meyers: 17:49

And look what a brief time in her life, just a split second of her raising her hand and being brave, had such a huge impact on her future career.

Michelle Meyers: 18:03

Sometimes, it's just those quick, brief moments of being brave, standing up and really pushing ourselves. That's what so much of it is, I think, John, and being a bold leader is pushing past our comfort zone, and sometimes I feel that's almost a barometer. If something feels too comfortable, that's almost not a good thing. It's when things get uncomfortable that we know that we're really making progress forward. And it's so important to kind of shake things up and again get out of our comfort zone. And that's okay. And it's okay to be scared and nervous, but if you can turn that into excitement, wow, look what you can do, like your client that you mentioned. Yeah.

John Neral: 18:56

Michelle, a few minutes ago you talked about imposter syndrome and before that, even, you talked about how, in this job market right now as we're looking at mid 2025, there's a lot of job or career insecurity happening for people, and I think it's important for us to acknowledge that that career or job insecurity can come from a variety of places. It can come from a shift within the organization, a change within leadership, an economic projection or a revenue projection from the company. But when you're working with women leaders and they feel like they are in some type of professional jeopardy be it fear of losing their job, fear of maybe not getting a promotion or something where they're really questioning their value inside of that organization what do you recommend or what tips do you have to help them boost their professional brand? That, in turn, perhaps moves them out of that professional jeopardy and in more to a place of professional confidence?

Michelle Meyers: 20:17

Sure, and that's a great question, john, and so relevant One of the other steps, besides really making sure you have that personal brand established and that visibility, is performing what I call a skills gap analysis.

Michelle Meyers: 20:34

When you feel stuck in your current role, one of the most important empowering things you can do is to perform the skill gap analysis. And again, it's not about just feeling stuck, like you said. It might be feeling insecure, and we talked earlier about how things are changing so rapidly right now and it's important that we keep up, at least to the best that we can. But sometimes we might feel overwhelmed with not knowing well, where is that gap in my skills? What do I need to do? So I think it's so important for women to take a hard, determined look at where they currently are and where they want to go and what they can do to bridge that gap in between, because the skills that you learned yesterday are not the skills that you're going to need tomorrow, or maybe not even today, and there are a few different things I think women can do to take a look at that. But it's so important that we look and see where do we need to be focusing, where do we need to equip ourselves.

John Neral: 21:49

Who should women leaders in particular engage with regarding that skill gap analysis?

Michelle Meyers: 21:58

Yeah, there's things you can do. You can speak with peers higher ups. You can ask them what am I currently bringing to the table? Where do you see deficiencies? I mean, that's not such a popular word, no, but it's valid yeah but you can ask your peers.

Michelle Meyers: 22:23

You know. You know I'm strong in this. Where could you see an improvement? What skills do you need from me to help you better? I think it's so difficult sometimes to ask those around us to take a close look, because maybe we don't want to hear what they want to say, right? But who better to give you that feedback? And it's so important that we build strong relationships with those around us so we can have those handed discussions. But you can also look online. There are a lot of professional development platforms that have self-assessments. So if you're not comfortable self-assessment, so if you're not comfortable asking your peers or your higher-ups those questions, there are tools you can use online. There's a lot of different leadership development programs that can test your skills and you can see, you know where you score high, where you score low, and look at those skills that perhaps you need to equip yourself with and strengthen.

John Neral: 23:38

And what you just hit on is that this is absolutely an exercise in being vulnerable as a leader. Oh, 100% Right. It's that opportunity to ask somebody whom you trust where can I improve, what do I need to be doing differently, what am I lacking in? And being able to hold that space and sit with whatever comes back. And so we know one of the most empowering and important traits for leaders is that gift of vulnerability, both for themselves and for other people, because that's how we get to grow, that's how we get to learn.

John Neral: 24:19

I remember there was a point in my career I went to someone whom I trusted and talk about a vulnerable moment.

John Neral: 24:25

I said to them what is it that I do that ticks the people off above me on the org chart, the people off above me on the org chart. And there was this pause and my colleague looks at me and she goes do you really want to know? And I said, oh, it's got to be good now. Like, absolutely I want to hear. And what she told me was she said there was somebody in an organization where I was working that they felt like I was too slow and too methodical and I wasn't making decisions quickly enough. And I was like, oh, that's good to hear because in my mind I'm trying to be thorough and so it definitely helped, like from a branding perspective. It definitely helped me kind of understand when I went to that next meeting and I was sitting in a room with that person, to go, oh, they want a decision, they don't want me to necessarily think too long about it. It was actually very helpful in that regard. But again, it's that lesson in vulnerability that we have to take and hold close.

Michelle Meyers: 25:27

And John. That actually reminds me of feedback I received early on in my career. And one thing I think is so positive about sort of the work culture nowadays is we talk about authenticity, emotional intelligence, being honest, being ourselves, but when I was growing up through business school, my early days, especially being a young woman, I really thought it was important to just get down to brass tacks no room for the niceties, the personal chit chat, right, and I'm a very social, talkable person. I really enjoy hearing people's stories. That's one of the things I love best about what I do is hearing about people's past, their journeys and, again, their personal stories. But back then, especially working in a very mostly male-dominant industry where I started, I thought you just have to just get down to business. No one wants to hear about your day, your weekend, and so when my early reviews, the comments were very positive.

Michelle Meyers: 26:38

Professionally, michelle gets her job done quickly. She exceeds expectations. You know all the boxes, but the one thing that really stuck with me, and to this day, decades later, is, however, she needs to take time to be more I forget the exact wording, but be more warm and engaging. Ask people how they're doing, how their weekend was, and that really blew me away, john, because I was really taking steps to avoid those things to really jump in.

Michelle Meyers: 27:12

And here it was where everything else professionally was great. It was going to review, but just this little side comment and and it was sort of like a 360 peer review. So no one signed their name to it, but I kind of had an idea of who made that comment and that was fine and I really appreciate it. While it really it's hard to hear those things, right, it really did a world of good for me because then I realized, oh, I can be a little bit more of my authentic self, I can make those personal connections. I can take a minute or two before a meeting or when engaging with someone to have that personal connection, to get to know them, to ask how they're doing, and that really made such an impact moving forward Nice.

John Neral: 28:03

It's those little moments, absolutely. Thank you for sharing that, michelle. Before we wrap up, I would be remiss if I didn't ask you this question, and especially for the men who are listening to this episode. You and I both know how important allyship is, now more so than ever. When we think about allyship, how can men be better allies for women leaders in this job market and culture right now?

Michelle Meyers: 28:35

Wow, john, that's a great question. I don't want to say a tough one, it shouldn't be a tough one. I would just say just listening, being there, being patient, supportive, listening, authentic. Be authentic yourself. I just shared how I thought I needed to not be authentic and then learned very quickly, early on it's okay to be authentic. You can sneak to this more than myself, being a man, john, but I feel like for men, it is even more challenging for them to be authentic and vulnerable themselves, and I would say let yourself be vulnerable, have that emotional intelligence, listen, be authentic, it's okay.

John Neral: 29:27

Yeah, absolutely. And as somebody who never got along with the good old boys club or never played in that circle, I always felt like I was on the outside of that. Your point about being authentic and listening and advocating for each other and supporting and lifting people up each other when you can I think those are all really really good things. Right now, especially to your point throughout this whole conversation is, if we're looking to increase our visibility, surround yourself with people who are willing to lift you up rather than tear you down surround yourself with people who are willing to lift you up rather than tear you down.

Michelle Meyers: 30:09

Oh, absolutely.

John Neral: 30:09

In life and career, john, oh, absolutely, we could spend a whole hour on that other part, michelle, I've so enjoyed this conversation as we start wrapping up for our listeners today. What advice would you help them to build their mid-career GPS to get them as they figure out whatever's next for them in their career?

Michelle Meyers: 30:31

Yeah, absolutely, john, and we talked about the importance of personal branding, building your visibility, conducting that skill gap analysis, but also, I want women to understand it's also important to identify the strengths you already have and learn how to recognize them, not just where you're deficient, but what you already do bring to the table. It's important to recognize what we already do well. Knowing our strengths is critical, not just for building confidence. It helps us make better career decisions, show up with clarity and communicate our value with impact.

John Neral: 31:08

Well said. Thank you so very much, Michelle. If people want to connect with you, find you, learn more about you, I'm going to turn the mic over to you. My friend, Please share all the great places where people can connect.

Michelle Meyers: 31:20

Oh yes, Thank you so much, John. First of all, I would like everyone to visit us on HRMorningcom Women's Leadership Today. We have a whole series of programs designed specifically for those women who are already in a leadership position become more impactful leaders, but also for women who are emerging leaders to take that next bold and brave step. You can also connect with me directly on LinkedIn at Michelle Myers MBA. So thank you, John. It's been such a pleasure chatting with you again. I feel like we could sit and visit all day, so I appreciate the time and the opportunity to connect with your audience as well.

John Neral: 32:07

Well, thank you so much. I've been wanting to have you on the show for a while. I have to have you back at some point, but this conversation was so helpful. Thank you so very much.

Michelle Meyers: 32:15

Thank you, John.

John Neral: 32:17

All right, my friends, before I let you go, I want you to think about these four letters A, b, c and V when I think about my conversation with Michelle today. She talked about being an authentic leader. You know how do you show up. How do you show up on a regular basis as your true self. The B is about your brand. How are you increasing and demonstrating your professional brand on a consistent basis inside and outside of your organization? The C is about clarity. You and I both know so much that the clearer we are about things, the easier it is to make a decision. And the last letter is V, and that stands for value.

John Neral: 33:00

Never forget the value you bring day in and day out to your organization, the people whom you lead, the people whom you work with, the people whom you serve and always think about. How can you continue to increase your value? Never stop learning. So until next time, my friends, remember this you will build your mid-career GPS one mile or one step at a time, and how you show up matters. Make it a great rest of your day. Thank you for listening to the Mid-Career GPS Podcast. Make sure to follow on your favorite listening platform and, if you have a moment. I'd love to hear your comments on Apple Podcasts. Visit johnnarrellcom for more information about how I can help you build your mid-career GPS or how I can help you and your organization with your next workshop or public speaking event. Don't forget to connect with me on LinkedIn and follow me on social at John Nerrell Coaching. I look forward to being back with you next week. Until then, take care and remember how we show up matters. Thank you.