lead with clarity. simplify what matters. deliver results.
Gary S. Michel is a former public-company CEO, board director, advisor, speaker, and award-winning bestselling author with nearly 40 years of global leadership experience.
Throughout his career, Gary has led iconic industrial, commercial, and consumer businesses through growth, transformation, operational improvement, and periods of significant change. His leadership experience includes serving as Chair and CEO of JELD-WEN, President and CEO of Honeywell Home and Building Technologies, and senior executive roles across Ingersoll Rand, Trane, Club Car, and Schlage.
Today, Gary serves on public and private company boards, advises CEOs, founders, investors, and leadership teams, and speaks on leadership, transformation, simplicity, execution, and the power of clarity to drive performance.
Across each of these roles, Gary brings the perspective of an operator who has faced the real decisions, tradeoffs, and complexities of leading organizations at scale—and a practical belief that better results begin with clearer purpose, stronger leadership, simpler systems, and disciplined execution.
Gary’s BOOKS & PHILOSOPHY
Gary’s work is built around a simple belief: better leadership begins with greater clarity. Across his books, speaking, and advisory work, he helps leaders simplify complexity, focus on what matters most, and create the alignment and accountability required to turn strategy into results.
He is the author of two complementary leadership books:
- The Founder’s Mindset: A practical framework for helping leaders preserve clarity, ownership, customer connection, and speed as organizations grow and complexity increases.
- deCOMPLIFY: A practical guide to removing unnecessary complexity, strengthening alignment, and focusing people and resources on the work that creates the greatest value.
