Dr. Michele D’Amico: Unmuted Leadership with Empathy and Power

In a world craving authentic leadership, Dr. Michele D’Amico stands out as a transformative force. A clinical psychologist turned executive coach and founder of Vetta Consultants, Michele blends deep psychological insight with heart-centered strategy to reshape how leaders, men and women show up at work and in life. Through her groundbreaking work, she’s redefining power as empathy in action, courage over perfection, and equity as a daily practice. In this feature, discover how Dr. D’Amico empowers leaders to create psychologically safe workplaces where voices are heard, authenticity reigns, and true influence is born.

What inspired your journey from clinical psychology to executive coaching and founding Vetta Consultants, and how has this shaped your approach to leadership development?

While pursuing a Master’s and a PsyD program and raising my daughter as a single parent, I needed to make money. I came across coaching and loved it. I use my psychology background in all my coaching to help my clients change behavior patterns that are not working for them.

How do you define psychological safety in the workplace, and what are some common misconceptions leaders have about fostering it?

Psychological safety in the workplace is the shared belief that it’s safe to speak up, take interpersonal risks, and express oneself without fear of humiliation, punishment, or retribution. It’s the foundation for trust, innovation, accountability, and belonging. When psychological safety is present, team members feel confident asking questions, admitting mistakes, offering feedback, or challenging the status quo because they know they’ll be met with respect, not ridicule.

I see two common misconceptions: 

Psychological safety means anything goes.
Some leaders think psychological safety means there are no boundaries, rules, or accountability, that people can say whatever they want without consequences. But true psychological safety exists within a culture of mutual respect and responsibility. It’s not about tolerating harmful behavior; it’s about creating an environment where people can speak up constructively and take risks without fear of being punished or humiliated.

Psychological safety is a one-time initiative.
There’s a belief that psychological safety can be “trained into” a team with a workshop or a single team-building session. In reality, it’s an ongoing, daily leadership practice. It’s built through consistent behavior: following through on feedback, modeling humility, admitting mistakes, and listening well, especially when it’s hard.

In your experience, what are the key ways leaders can cultivate empathy and ethical leadership within their organizations?

To cultivate empathy, leaders must first model self-awareness. This means recognizing their own biases, stress responses, and blind spots. It also means listening without defensiveness and asking questions that go beyond performance, questions like “How are you, really?” or “What would support look like right now?” The key here is to listen to the answer.

Ethical leadership grows from the same roots. It’s about making decisions guided by principles, not just profits. Leaders can demonstrate this by setting clear values, being transparent in communication, and holding themselves accountable, not just when it’s easy, but especially when it’s hard.

Some actionable strategies:

• Create space for hard conversations – about bias, equity, or ethics without rushing to resolve discomfort.
• Reward vulnerability and integrity, not just results.
• Invite diverse voices to the table, and not just for optics. Genuinely share power.
• Lead by example. If you want honesty, be honest. If you want respect, offer it consistently. Trust and honesty go hand-in hand. You can’t have one without the other.

You focus on helping women reclaim their voice and leadership identity—what internalized beliefs or societal barriers do you most often see holding women back?

There are a few, some of the more common ones I see are feeling like we have to be perfect to be worthy, silencing our voice and not taking up too much space. So many women are raised to be accommodating, agreeable, self-sacrificing and small. We’re told not to rock the boat, and if we do, we risk being labelled difficult or too much.

Society still rewards silence and compliance in women, and that message sticks. It shows up as imposter syndrome, hesitation to speak up, or second-guessing our worth. The good news is that once we name it, we can start to unlearn it and reclaim our voice without apology. Our voice is our power to live expansively.

How do you encourage women leaders to embrace imperfection as a source of authenticity and power?

I remind them that perfection is often just a mask for fear. What truly inspires others isn’t flawlessness, it’s honesty, growth, and realness. When we own our missteps, we permit others to do the same in leadership and in life. Authenticity builds trust; perfectionism builds walls.

As a certified human rights consultant, how do you integrate principles of equity and dignity into leadership coaching and organizational culture?

I bring equity and dignity into leadership work by helping leaders see that every policy, decision, and interaction either honors or undermines human worth. It starts with listening, especially to voices that often go unheard. Be curious and ask better questions about who benefits, who’s left out, and why. True leadership isn’t just about performance; it’s about creating environments where people feel seen, safe, and respected. Equity and dignity aren’t extras, they’re the foundation. The same is true in life. When we listen, we nurture relationships at work, at home and in life.

Can you share a success story where your coaching led to a transformative change in an organization or individual’s leadership style?

Often times, an individual hires me or I am brought into an organization because people aren’t happy. Either the people they supervise aren’t performing well or the individual wants to do better. One recent situation stands out to me. The organization came to me because the department that one of their C-suite individuals ran had a revolving door. This person could not keep staff and the staff that stayed were consistently unhappy. HR brought me in to find out how to stem the bleeding and possibly avoid a lawsuit! They did not want to lose this person because they were excellent at their job, but no one liked them. After performing a 360 assessment with this person’s peers and staff, we homed in on a couple of strategic challenges this person had when leading the staff. We worked together for 1 year on how to listen, how to talk to people, build back trust and even how to communicate through emails without being condescending and authoritative. 

Slowly after about 4 months things began to shift. At the end of the year when I did the follow up 360, things turned around enough that the revolving door closed and complaints were few and far between. The organization was happy and my client was more self-aware which led to some strong personal growth as well. 

What inspired your book Clear & Purpose-Driven, and what key message do you hope leaders take from it?

I wrote Clear & Purpose-Driven because I kept seeing good leaders struggle when doing the right thing felt inconvenient, lonely, or hard. The book is a guide for those moments when values and pressure collide. My hope is that leaders walk away with the understanding that integrity isn’t just a trait, it’s a practice. And the best leadership doesn’t come from having all the answers, but from leading with courage, clarity, and conviction, especially when it’s not easy.

Your upcoming book Unmuted sounds compelling—can you share what themes you will explore and why they are important today?

In a world where women are still told to shrink, smooth the edges, and seek permission, Unmuted is a call to reclaim what was always ours, our voice. Unmuted, explores how women around the world are shedding silence, unlearning survival scripts, and speaking with bold, collective power.

From boardrooms to global movements to everyday life, this book weaves together personal insight, cultural shifts, and real-world examples to inspire women to lead and live with truth, collaboration, and courage. At a time when women’s voices are both more powerful and more under threat than ever, my hope is that Unmuted will resonate with every reader who has ever been told to stay small and is ready to rise instead.

Ideal for any women navigating identity, leadership, and social change, Unmuted offers not just reflection, but a call to action: speak, lead, and redefine power together. It’s also a call to action for the men in our lives who love us an support us.

What one mindset shift or practice would you recommend to leaders who want to lead with greater authenticity, courage, and impact?

Shift from “I have to have the answer” to “I’m here to listen, learn, lead and live with intention.” Authentic leadership and leading an authentic life isn’t about perfection, it’s about curiosity, clarity, and consistency. When we get comfortable not knowing everything, we create space for collaboration, courage, and real growth. Listening well is often the boldest move any individual can make.