Hello. I’m Dr Michelle Pizer (pronounced Pie-zer).
I’m an executive coach and organisational psychologist. I work with senior leaders dealing with difficult decisions, strained relationships and organisational transitions.
My approach draws on organisational psychology, leadership research and more than 25 years working inside complex organisations. I help leaders make sense of what is happening, including their own part in it, the relationships involved, what has happened so far and how the organisation works.
My dad was in the rag trade, and I used to earn a little pocket money in the summer holidays working in his factory. Mainly, I’d pack and fold t-shirts, first into plastic bags (I know) and then into boxes.
Sometimes, when seams were sewn together by mistake, I’d be sent to help Lyn in unpicking.
Back then, I had big dreams of being a fashion designer, and I loved to sew. I begged my dad for the chance. I was fourteen when he arranged for me to join the sewers.
My job was overlocking the seam that goes from the wrist to the waist of a huge pile of trackie tops. Seam after seam after seam. By mid-morning, I was completely over it. I turned to the sewer next to me and said, “This is so boring. I don’t know how you can stand it”.
Word travelled fast. Dad was appalled. I’d offended his hard-working, loyal employees. I felt ashamed, had to apologise and was fired after only half a day.
Being young and the boss’s daughter doesn’t give you a free pass for disrespecting people or denying them their dignity.
I was sent back to packing and folding, tail between my legs.
That afternoon, I wished there was unpicking to be done. You’d think it would be the most boring job of all. But Lyn was kind, warm and friendly. We’d sit side by side and talk while we worked. Unpicking with Lyn never felt like work.
Instead, I stood alone at my packing and folding station, holding back tears.
That day taught me something I didn’t yet have language for.
Relationships shape how work feels. Different relationships evoke different emotions. They meet different needs. Sometimes those needs are well met, but not always.
I needed everyone’s forgiveness to belong again.
I wanted Lyn to comfort me and help me manage feelings I didn’t yet understand.
I was scared my dad might love me less. Thankfully, he never mentioned it again.
Before starting my business in 2000, I worked my way up the corporate ladder in organisations including National Mutual, Ernst & Young, Roy Morgan Research and Museums Victoria. I ran departments and led teams, and experienced first-hand the pressures, compromises and relational dynamics of organisational life.
At the same time, I became increasingly interested in how relationships and emotions shape what is possible at work. That interest led me into doctoral research on relationships and emotions at work, alongside my practical work with leaders.
Over time, I became most interested in situations where a leader is responsible for the outcome but cannot simply decide what happens. Other people have their own interests, established relationships matter, and there may be limits to what the leader can change.
This interest has also informed published research on leadership stability among Victorian public hospital CEOs.
I also contribute to postgraduate education and professional practice in coaching and organisational psychology. I serve on the National Institute of Organisational Dynamics Australia’s (NIODA’s) Academic Governance Board and its New Course Review Committee, which is reviewing proposed Graduate Diploma and Master’s program in coaching. As a Board-approved supervisor, I also provide professional supervision to experienced psychologists.
That combination of experience continues to shape how I work.
A full record of my academic publications, qualifications, awards and professional memberships is available on the Credentials page.
These days, most of my work falls into three areas:
If you’d like to talk through whether working together would be useful:
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