Michaela Merk

With over two decades of expertise in leadership and luxury, Michaela has identified the power of relational intelligence, the art of connecting, analyzing and adapting to create lasting and meaningful relationships with all stakeholders. 

Mastering not only emotional but also relational intelligence is becoming vital at a time when companies are frequently faced with major challenges: transformations, reorganizations, crisis management, mergers, with the challenge of collaborating better together but also keeping loyal customers who are increasingly demanding.

To identify the most universal skills that make Relational Intelligence so powerful, she began conducting research in 2009, interviewing hundreds of managers and their teams in sales and service functions. She focused on customer-centric industries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the USA.

This research led to a PhD, which she defended in Paris in 2012, the publication of articles and books such as “Luxury Sales Force Management: Strategies for Winning over your Brand Ambassadors” (Palgrave McMillan) and the development of keynotes and training courses based on relational intelligence.

At the heart of these skills are the 5 rings of Relational Intelligence, the most universal skills for strengthening relationships between human beings:

• Demonstrating empathy
• Building trust
• Sharing passion
• Generating gratitude
• Knowing how to stimulate

Each ring consists of numerous sub-skills, enabling managers to better connect with their teams, salespeople to better retain their customers, and employees to work better together. 

While emotional intelligence allows to identify and analyze our own emotional state, Relational Intelligence goes a step further and measures our ability of establishing strong relationships with our environment. 

The concept’s ultimate goal: The employee or salesperson becomes an ambassador for his or her company and its products, and succeeds in turning customers into ambassadors thanks to a perfect mastery of Relational Intelligence.

The concept of Relational Intelligence lies at the heart of all successful leadership and customer loyalty. It is the basis for generating employee and customer experience.

When Michaela takes the stage, the first thing that captivates the audience is her boundless energy, filling the room within moments of her arrival. This vitality is not only palpable but infectious, as she seamlessly connects with her audience throughout her speech. Michaela’s keynotes are a tapestry of interaction, each thread woven with the intention of joyfully anchoring the content.

She doesn’t just command the stage; she commands the attention and presence of every individual in the room, regardless of their proximity to the platform. With a wealth of expertise drawn from her own leadership and luxury background, coupled with a passion for imparting knowledge, Michaela elevates her presentations with insights gleaned from her research as a respected professor in prestigious business schools.

A former competitive gymnast, Michaela infuses her key messages with artistic flair, rendering her presentations both unique and unforgettable. Moreover, her extensive professional tenure, spanning over two decades and marked by close collaboration with the most esteemed luxury houses across various sectors, equips her with a plethora of compelling examples to illustrate her points.

Years may pass, but Michaela’s impact endures. She dares to stand out, ensuring that her audience’s encounter with her remains etched in their memory long after the curtains fall.

Further characteristics:

• Michaela is perfectly trilingual and proposes keynotes in English, French and German 
• The average length of one keynote is between 45 minutes and 1h30
• She presents in front of audiences of 50 up to 2500 people
• Thanks to her very international background she delivers keynotes across the world
• Michaela’s speeches are always adapted to her client’s needs, the event, the audience, the industry able to build the bridge between her own cases and research and the reality of the companies that invite her.