MJ's Biography
From Operational Leadership to Executive Advisory.
My career spans nearly 35 years in leadership, including nearly 20 years leading production and operations in complex, unionized technical environments, followed by more than 15 years supporting executives, managers, project leaders, and teams through organizational challenges.
Having worked both inside organizations and alongside those leading them, I bring a practical understanding of operational realities, leadership pressures, and the human dynamics that shape decisions, relationships, and results.
Today, I draw on this experience to help leaders understand what is happening beneath the surface, navigate complexity, and move forward with greater perspective and intention.
The human dynamics behind results.
Throughout my career, I have seen how much workplace outcomes depend on what happens between people: how situations are interpreted, how trust is built or lost, how tensions develop, and how people respond when expectations or ways of working change.
This understanding has shaped my work in applied emotional intelligence, leadership development, organizational change, and psychological health at work.
My approach combines practical leadership experience, structured reflection, and an understanding of human behavior to help leaders address challenges that technical expertise alone cannot resolve.
Career Highlights
Operational Leadership
Before becoming an advisor, I held senior operational leadership roles in demanding technical and service environments.
My experience includes:
Leading teams of up to 200 employees in complex, unionized settings.
Managing budgets of up to $40 million.
Overseeing operational performance, service delivery, organizational structures, and change initiatives.
Working across unionized and non-unionized environments with employees, management teams, and subcontractors.
This experience continues to inform my work with leaders facing operational pressures, organizational complexity, and decisions that affect both people and performance.
Leadership Development & Applied Emotional Intelligence
MJ Michaud designs and delivers leadership development programs that strengthen leadership practices, workplace relationships, and team effectiveness. Her work combines applied emotional intelligence with development approaches tailored to leaders, teams, and organizational contexts.
Selected initiatives
Applied Emotional Intelligence for Leaders and Teams: Designed and delivered tailored programs across aerospace, technology, engineering, and investment, addressing the human dynamics that influence leadership, relationships, and team functioning.
Executive Presence | NAV CANADA: Designed a tailored executive presence development program for an assistant vice-president.
These initiatives reflect MJ’s ability to translate leadership challenges into practical development programs grounded in organizational realities.
Mental Health, Recovery & Peer Support
MJ Michaud has designed and supported initiatives that help organizations address mental health challenges, equip managers to support employees, and promote recovery through peer support and targeted development programs.
Selected initiatives
Manager to Manager (M2M) | Employment and Social Development Canada (ESDC): Designed and implemented a program to equip managers to better support employees experiencing mental health challenges. Selected and trained ambassadors to support managers in addressing these situations. The program was deployed to more than 3,000 managers.
Peer Support Programs | Public Sector and Emergency Services: As Lead Innovator with MHIC, contributed to the deployment of peer support programs and integrated applied emotional intelligence concepts and tools into training. Initiatives included the federal public service, Durham Regional Police, and Peel Region paramedic services.
Self-Esteem Development Program | Québec Nonprofit Mental Health Organization: Designed and delivered a program for individuals in recovery, facilitating virtual group sessions from May 2025 to spring 2026. Adapted the approach to participants’ needs to encourage dialogue, mutual support, and recovery through improved self-esteem.
This work reflects MJ’s ability to translate an understanding of human dynamics into practical programs that support mental health, recovery, and more effective relationships.
Strategic Advisory & Organizational Mobilization
MJ Michaud advises leaders and organizations on complex situations where organizational change, operational demands, and labor relations intersect. Her experience spans strategic mobilization, operational transformation, and employee engagement in both public-sector and industrial environments.
Selected initiatives
City of Québec | Union Mobilization: Developed a mobilization strategy during a pension dispute to encourage unions to return to the negotiating table. The intervention contributed to the resumption of discussions.
Reliance-Protectron | Organizational Restructuring & Change: Following her operational leadership role, was engaged as an external consultant to support the restructuring of the Québec region. The plan developed for Québec subsequently served as the basis for a national rollout, with support provided to peers during implementation.
ACTS/Aveos | Lean Manufacturing & Change Implementation: Led the implementation of Lean Manufacturing in the landing gear department, reducing turnaround time from 72 to 36 days. A structured project, change, and communication plan helped maintain 100% of production targets during implementation, supported by a strategy for engaging key union representatives.
STM | Operational Systems & Change Implementation: Contributed to the planning and change preparation for the SAP PM maintenance management system implementation, with the transport center achieving implementation without production loss. Also managed the pilot project to install new fare collection equipment on buses, developing an action plan and union change strategy before taking over project management for the rollout across other centers.
These experiences reflect MJ’s ability to connect strategic objectives with operational realities while addressing the human and labor-relations dimensions that influence implementation.
Conferences, Targeted Workshops & Facilitation
MJ Michaud designs and facilitates conferences and workshops tailored to organizational challenges and audience needs. Her work spans leadership, applied emotional intelligence, psychological health, workplace relationships, and organizational change.
Selected Topics & Interventions
Psychological Health at Work | Unifor Canada
Delivered a four-hour conference-workshop for 150 union delegates on maintaining psychological health in the workplace.Collaborative Leadership & Applied Emotional Intelligence
Designed and facilitated sessions on collaborative leadership, emotional intelligence in leadership, and professional relationships.Trust & Collaboration Through Change | Special Education
Designed a workshop on building trust and collaboration during organizational change, particularly when people must work together without formal authority.Mental Health & Gradual Return to Work | Industrielle Alliance
Designed and delivered a three-hour conference-workshop for the Health and Wellness department on ethical considerations in mental health and supporting managers through gradual return-to-work situations.
Her approach combines tailored content, facilitated discussion, and practical application to real workplace challenges.