Creating a Culture of Courage: Michelle Schafer On How Authenticity Benefits People and Profits in the Workplace
An Interview With Vanessa Ogle
Ask for feedback — in order to help others feel comfortable to share their ideas, you need to be open to receiving feedback which helps to create psychological safety and shows team members you are committed to learning and developing. You can ask “what would you like to see more of from me? Less of from me?” then be ready for what team members share. Actioning their feedback will be key to building trust and a safe space to share in your working relationship.
In today’s social media filled, fast-paced world, authenticity in the workplace and in our personal lives has become more difficult to come by. Business leaders must focus on the bottom line of profits and corporate success, but does that have to be at the expense of the authenticity of their employees? I believe it is quite the opposite. I know from my own experience that a culture of authenticity allows the hiring of a team that will bring their all to the workplace. That fosters innovation, creativity and a level of success that few companies dream of. Yet, fostering an environment where individuals feel secure enough to express their true selves remains a challenge. The importance of authenticity cannot be overstated — it is the foundation of trust, innovation, and strong relationships. However, creating such a culture requires intention, understanding, and actionable strategies. As part of this series, we had the pleasure of interviewing Michelle Schafer.
Michelle is an award-winning career coach, author and owner of Michelle Schafer Coaching , specializing in leadership development and career transition. Certified by the International Coaching Federation, Michelle is known for her ability to connect with people and develop individual coaching programs to help clients clarify their career goals, develop a job search strategy to find work that energizes them, empower employees, lead teams in a hybrid environment, establish positive relationships with others in the workplace and have challenging conversations. Clients describe her as warm, honest, empathetic, a good listener, able to create a safe and comfortable environment that helps people relax and talk openly, and ask thought-provoking questions to encourage curiosity.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series. Before we dive into our discussion our readers would love to “get to know you” a bit better. Can you share with us the backstory about what brought you to your specific career path?
I love learning about the career stories of my clients, and how I got into coaching is a story on its own. I’ve been restructured twice and reinvented myself twice in my career — first from financial services to not-for-profit, then not-for-profit to small business ownership (nearly 9 years ago!) as a coach and the owner of Michelle Schafer Coaching. I joke that at age 46, I finally knew what I wanted to do when I grew up. A good coaching friend planted the seed years earlier, as I had always coached as part of my job — then, when my position was eliminated a second time, I started networking with coaches to learn more and find out about their coaching specialization and what coaching school they went to. I realized after taking my first level coaching certification that this was something I wanted to do as a career (not just off the side of my desk), so I established my own practice and, because of my own transition experience, chose to focus my coaching in the career space. The book “Answering Your Call” by John Schuster provided a lot of inspiration to me as I was contemplating this huge pivot in my career.
When I work with clients, I focus on work that gives them energy. For me, I am deeply fulfilled and truly inspired by the progress of others ‒ it’s rewarding to work with someone who may be stuck when they come to me and end up developing new strategies and using new tools to help them take steps forward toward their career goal.
I am proud to hold my Professional Coaching certification with the International Coaching Federation, was honoured as one of Ottawa’s Top Coaches in 2024 and 2020, and was nominated by Faces Magazine in 2024 and 2023 for Top Ottawa Career Coach. I’m very excited to launch my book in January 2025, aimed at helping people navigate a shift in their career and finding new work.
Can you share the most interesting story that happened to you since you started your career?
This one is hard — there have been so many interesting occurrences over the nearly 9 years I’ve been coaching! Something I’ve been proud of over the past 4 years is my writing — sharing tips and strategies to help both job seekers and leaders alike, over LinkedIn, through print interviews and articles (now culminating in a book launching in January 2025!) For a long time, I had a fear of publicly sharing my own thoughts (and opted to hide behind the words of others by simply liking or sharing posts). Participating in an interview like this one was something I never thought of for myself back then — I really didn’t think I had much of value to share. Once the pandemic hit, I realized I had lot to write about and my voice developed. I gained confidence in developing and sharing my thoughts, and I started doing more writing. Something that started off as a small win has turned into a big win over time!
You are a successful individual. Which three character traits do you think were most instrumental to your success? Can you please share a story or example for each?
Every year, I set my “word of the year” — something which will guide my actions and behaviours for the year. A few years ago, I had 3 words: simplicity, authenticity and intent. I still live by those words today. Simplicity — not making things more complicated than they need to be, and letting go of things that can make our lives more complex. Authenticity — bringing my humanity and my true self to my conversations and relationships. Intent — to set my intention, and align my actions and behaviours to that intent. I still live by those words today. Not only are these words part of my core, but they also contribute to my success as a coach and a business owner.
Ok, thank you for that. Let’s now jump to the primary focus of our interview. Can you share a pivotal moment in your career or personal life when being authentic made a significant impact on your success or well-being?
Being authentic is something I bring to my work and my relationships every single day. As a coach, authenticity is critical in order to be a conversation partner who can help the client achieve their goals, develop new skills or shift their approach. With every client interaction, I bring my ability to be fully present (which some days is hard to do in a society filled with distractions) as well as the intention to celebrate a client’s progress and highlight where they struggle in a clear and kind way. Clients regularly share how much they value my compassion, honesty, empathy, integrity, and clarity of communication and feedback — all of which are key to building trust with a client. In fact, it’s these qualities that cause clients to want to work with me. They value the way I create a safe space for them to explore and share, and highlight things they may be missing or may have a hard time accessing. Clients have told me they see my authentic self in my LinkedIn writings and my website, which is confirmed when they meet me for the first time and start working with me. With me, there is no mirage or dark curtain to peel back. I even post my pricing online, as it’s important to me to be transparent, and not keep this information secret until after I speak with a prospective client. What you see (and hear) is what you get. Clients experience this through my website and my writing, and they experience it during our coaching sessions.
What strategies have you found most effective in fostering an environment where employees or team members feel safe to express their true selves, including their ideas, concerns, and aspirations?
Leaders need to bring a human element to their leadership today — it’s more than meeting strategic objectives or communicating a vision, it’s about being vulnerable and sharing their own experiences. And in the career transition work I do, I see that people leave leaders — not jobs. Leaders today need be emotionally intelligent — to be able to understand the experience of the other person, and all the emotions that go with it. In “coach-speak”, I like to say this is “seeing as” (borrowed from my Integral coach training) — being able to see the world from the perspective of the other person, as best as you can. When leaders authentically share of themselves with team members, then team members will respond in kind.
Leaders also need to demonstrate curiosity — to ask questions, and listen intently — and both of these show a leader’s ability to be fully present and ready to support team members. Building trust and psychological safety have become even more important now — it’s the foundation for a positive working relationship, and safe expression can’t happen without it. Leaders can demonstrate their vulnerability — and when leaders share that they make mistakes and learn from them, it makes it easier for others to do so.
How do you navigate the challenges that come with encouraging authenticity in a diverse workplace, where different backgrounds and perspectives may sometimes lead to conflict?
If we don’t feel safe to be our true selves at work, then we go through our days hiding behind a mask. Over time, this approach will lead to feeling unfulfilled in your career. Authenticity can be encouraged in any environment — it’s a sign that psychological safety exists in the workplace, and this is a good thing! When conflict arises (which happens in all workplaces), the key is to navigate the conflict in a healthy way. Encouraging the sharing of viewpoints and employing an approach founded on curiosity versus blaming is a good place to start.
Based on your experience and research, can you please share “5 Ways to Create a Culture Where People Feel Safe to be Authentic?”
1 . Create psychological safety — in order to create a culture where people can feel safe to be themselves, leaders need to create an environment where team members feel comfortable to raise challenges or make mistakes. And the foundation of this environment is trust — engaging in activities and behaviours that enhance trust, and avoid behaviours that erode trust. Simply asking “what am I missing?”, “let’s hear some dissent”, “this is new so we will make mistakes” or “I need help” can go a long way in creating that safety. To add to the leader toolbox, I highly recommend “The Psychological Safety Playbook: Lead More Powerfully By Being More Human” by Karolin Helbig and Minette Norman — the 25 “plays” outlined in the book are easy to implement ways to enhance safety in teams.
2 .Be flexible and pivot your communication style — as humans, we naturally communicate with others in the way we want others to communicate with us, and we lead in the way we want to be lead. The challenge — this approach will not work for everyone, and may make it hard for people to bring forward their thoughts or ask tough questions. Be aware of your approach, and be mindful of what others need from you. When you “speedread” their communication needs (or better yet, have a conversation to explore these), you can adapt your own style to find a “way in” with them, especially if there is often friction or frustration in your interactions.
3 . Show support and empathy — Especially in tough times (and also during non-crisis times), team members need to feel like their own needs matter, and that their leader truly cares about them. Ask team members what they need — then listen, and act. Team members need to feel that leaders are genuine and authentic, and not just paying them lip service. If a leader leads from an authentic place, then others will follow. One of my leadership clients shared how her own leader checks her phone and emails when in their 1:1 conversations. Demonstrating an inability to listen can have disastrous results, especially during uncertain times when team members need to feel like leaders are really there for them.
4 . Demonstrate resiliency — Leaders who can communicate the message “this is tough, but we will be okay” can help team members navigate the ups and downs of a challenging situation, which can make it easier for people to vulnerably share when they are struggling. This is not ignoring the problem; rather, it’s an acknowledgement of the challenges and showing confidence in the team’s ability to navigate these challenges. During a large-scale restructure, I worked with a leader whose own job was on the line, in addition to the jobs of her team members. Although it was an uncertain time for her personally, she showed our team through her own resilience that we could all get through this together.
5 . Ask for feedback — in order to help others feel comfortable to share their ideas, you need to be open to receiving feedback which helps to create psychological safety and shows team members you are committed to learning and developing. You can ask “what would you like to see more of from me? Less of from me?” then be ready for what team members share. Actioning their feedback will be key to building trust and a safe space to share in your working relationship.
In your opinion, how does authenticity within an organization influence its relationship with customers, clients, or the broader community?
I believe authenticity in an organization not only influences relationships with customers, clients, employees or the community — it cements it. This was most apparent during the pandemic, and even now becomes one of the key requirements job seekers look for in a prospective employer. Four years ago, companies all over the world were responding to a global health crisis — and they were responding in real time. Through their approach, words and actions, companies everywhere were demonstrating their values. This was key for job seekers, as they didn’t just look at a company’s website to see what the company stood for — they could see what was important to them through their treatment of customers, employees and other stakeholders. If a company wasn’t authentic in their dealings and approach, then they were not trusted. And if they could not be trusted, then their bottom line suffered. Just as people want to work for a company that demonstrates authenticity in everything they do, people also want to buy from companies that value authenticity and trust.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
Wow — that’s a great question. I’m a serial volunteer, and have donated my time to my community since age 12 (my parents truly influenced me with this one!) I’ve continued this commitment — so I’d love to see a national holiday devoted to acts of kindness for others. Even the smallest act — like buying a coffee for someone — can turn around their day. Maybe there will be a Pay It Forward Day in our future!
How can our readers further follow you online?
is one of the best places, as I regularly post on this platform on both career transition and leadership topics. Other places are Brainz Magazine (I have authored a library of articles there), and my website. I’ve included the links here.
https://ca.linkedin.com/in/michelleschafercoaching
https://www.brainzmagazine.com/executive-contributor/Michelle-Schafer
Thank you for the time you spent sharing these fantastic insights. We wish you only continued success in your great work!
About The Interviewer: Vanessa Ogle is a mom, entrepreneur, inventor, writer, and singer/songwriter. Vanessa’s talent in building world-class leadership teams focused on diversity, a culture of service, and innovation through inclusion allowed her to be one of the most acclaimed Latina CEO’s in the last 30 years. She collaborated with the world’s leading technology and content companies such as Netflix, Amazon, HBO, and Broadcom to bring innovative solutions to travelers and hotels around the world. Vanessa is the lead inventor on 120+ U.S. Patents. Accolades include: FAST 100, Entrepreneur 360 Best Companies, Inc. 500 and then another six times on the Inc. 5000. Vanessa was personally honored with Inc. 100 Female Founder’s Award, Ernst and Young’s Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and Enterprising Women of the Year among others. Vanessa now spends her time sharing stories to inspire and give hope through articles, speaking engagements and music. In her spare time she writes and plays music in the Amazon best selling new band HigherHill, teaches surfing clinics, trains dogs, and cheers on her children.
Please connect with Vanessa here on linkedin and subscribe to her newsletter Unplugged as well as follow her on Substack, Instagram, Facebook, and X and of course on her website VanessaOgle.
