Michael Pagnotta
From the vibrant stages of theatre to the high-stakes boardrooms of global corporations, Michael Pagnotta’s journey has been anything but conventional. With a passion for human behavior and a knack for challenging the status quo, he has carved out a career that merges creativity, strategy, and a fearless approach to leadership.
A Montrealer with Italian immigrant parents, Michael grew up in a bilingual but not necessarily bicultural environment that was at odds more often than it got along between English and French.
The tender age in which he grew up was defined by a strong cultural context that highly motivated him to explore his own inner complexes of identity and self-expression. He was interested in people from the get-go — what makes them tick, why they do the things they do, and why we stand in our own way.
Michael took a major leap of faith when he was just 22, and it set him on an unstoppable trajectory going forward. He went to university for unrelated topics, and then immediately left home to follow his passion for the arts as an actor and theatre director. In the theatre world, this is where he developed his crossroads in storytelling and human emotion — the study of behavior. However, Michael sought to not only stop there. That led him to launch his first business delivering training courses for business students using theatrical techniques they could apply in presentations. What started as a little foray into the mind became something larger; an awareness that business, and human nature, were intertwined in a dance all their own.
As his career evolved, so did his focus. This passion for the mechanics of human behavior initially led him to a career in the corporate world, and more specifically, HR, leadership development. Over the years, Michael climbed the ranks, eventually becoming a partner at a global property firm. Yet, despite the accolades and success, he felt something was missing.
Michael describes this moment as a realization: “I got tired of hearing ‘no we can’t do that’ or ‘no, that’s not how we do things here.’ I realized that companies often say they want to change, but the reality is they don’t want to do anything different.” That’s when it clicked—his ability to see the world through a different lens was not a weakness but a strength. He was, as one of his managers once put it, a “maverick,” someone unafraid to challenge the status quo and push the boundaries of what’s possible.
He then took the big step into integrating business strategy into his coaching practice in 2020. It was not all, propelling to businesses but also boosting the power of businesses to embrace self-sustainability. Michael had a special mix of cognitive behavioral tools, coaching and new business models to empower his clients to become the captain of their own ship. His process sounds straightforward, but in fact its magic is that he enables people to realise for themselves what makes them tick and the results will follow.
He has coached senior leaders, managing directors and CEOs all around the world — as a coach! His mission clearly — to drive organizations into the future by meeting both their business goals and that of its people. He is known as a steadfast confident and fearless coach who demands his clients reach beyond their comfort zones. His influence carries from the UK to EMEA and into Asia Pacific, guiding entire organizations along with their fostering managers.
However, for him, success is not merely the sum of accomplishments in his life. It’s a legacy that transcends personal success. He says, “A very senior leader I worked with once quoted me a Buddhist expression: ‘If you want to be a great leader, then plant trees that you will never see’. I have taken that with me ever since.” He speaks of a world where leaders lead with empathy and compassion, with collaboration instead of competition, with an understanding instead of judgment.
When asked about the advancement of females in leadership, he is forthright: “As 50% of my clients are female entrepreneurs and executives, I know that headway is being made — but there remains a great deal to be done.” He stresses on rising through lifting others together with him, he is a complete opposer of pulling people down; “stopping people from reaching greater heights has become a norm and to me, genuine leadership means sending the elevator back down after you have arrived.”
Something he advises his clients over and over again is: “Stop trying to control the things outside your control and catastrophizing the worst case scenario because that is probably, the least likely outcome.” This mentality has helped him subdue hardships and keep investing in what he believes in all while living life and trying to fulfill on businesses.
To the new generation of leaders, specifically young women entrepreneurs, he passes on this piece of advice from his journey: “There is no quick path to success. It requires sweat, blood and tears, and many days on which you simply do not want to continue. Don’t! You need to remind yourself why you are doing it and as along as your heart is still in it, then you have to give going.
Michael Pagnotta’s journey is a testament to the power of believing in one’s vision, even when the world says otherwise. A maverick in every sense, he continues to shape businesses and individuals alike, empowering them to embrace change, drive growth, and create a legacy that matters.