Our Founder
Michael
Urtuzuástegui
Melcher
M2Leaders was founded and is led by Michael Urtuzuástegui Melcher, an internationally respected executive coach and leadership expert. He created M2Leaders and built its stellar team of coaches to set the new standard in the industry for excellence, rigor, and contribution.
Over the past 20 years, Michael has coached senior executives, entrepreneurs, attorneys, investment bankers, White House appointees, tech wizards, healthcare leaders in the developing world, community activists, and board chairs. He has delivered hundreds of keynotes and workshops, including at Camp David, Google, and leading universities around the United States, and in a dozen countries on five continents.
Michael is widely known in the coaching field, and has been recognized for his competence in building effective coaching organizations, setting the mark for client service, and training new generations of leadership coaches in both the practice and business of coaching. Earlier in his career, Michael served as a foreign service officer in the U.S. State Department, worked as a securities lawyer with Davis Polk & Wardwell, was an in-house lawyer with D.E. Shaw, and founded an internet startup.
Michael grew up attending public schools. He was the first student in his high school’s 50-year history to be admitted to Harvard, where he earned his BA, magna cum laude. He later earned a JD/MBA from Stanford, where he was copresident of the Hispanic Business Students Association with Miriam Rivera. He was raised by a Mexican-American single mother who was the first Hispanic woman in America to earn a doctorate in accounting. He speaks Spanish and Mandarin Chinese fluently, and has also studied French, Bengali and German.
He is the author of three books, including Your Invisible Network: How to Create, Maintain, and Leverage the Relationships That Will Transform Your Career (Matt Holt Books, 2023), and The Creative Lawyer: A Practical Guide to Authentic Professional Satisfaction (ABA Books, 2nd Ed 2014). He has been quoted by Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune and NPR for his views on leadership, career development and the evolving workforce. His output includes two podcasts totaling 80 episodes, “Career Stewardship with Michael Melcher” and “Meanwhile.”
One of Michael’s consistent ambitions has been to share the transformative concepts of coaching to broader audiences in the U.S. and abroad via writing and pro bono service.
Michael regularly mentors newer coaches, including those from underrepresented backgrounds. He serves on the board of Comprehensive Youth Development, a NYC nonprofit that partners with students from high poverty neighborhoods. Over the years, he has counseled numerous first generation students on making the jump from high school to selective colleges.
He lives in Manhattan with his twin sons, Nicolás and Mateo.
Herminia Ibarra, professor at INSEAD and author of the classic Working Identity, has described Your Invisible Network as,
“The best book on networking in the field, one I recommend to all my students.”
Pam McLean, CEO of the Hudson Institute of Coaching, has said,
“Your Invisible Network demystifies how to take intentional action to expand and improve your relationships. It will be equally relevant to experienced CEOs and to recent grads entering the workforce.”
Michael
Urtuzuástegui
Melcher
M2Leaders was founded and is led by Michael Urtuzuástegui Melcher, an internationally respected executive coach and leadership expert. He created M2Leaders and built its stellar team of coaches to set the new standard in the industry for excellence, rigor, and contribution.
Over the past 20 years, Michael has coached senior executives, entrepreneurs, attorneys, investment bankers, White House appointees, tech wizards, healthcare leaders in the developing world, community activists, and board chairs. He has delivered hundreds of keynotes and workshops, including at Camp David, Google, and leading universities around the United States, and in a dozen countries on five continents.
Michael is widely known in the coaching field, and has been recognized for his competence in building effective coaching organizations, setting the mark for client service, and training new generations of leadership coaches in both the practice and business of coaching. Earlier in his career, Michael served as a foreign service officer in the U.S. State Department, worked as a securities lawyer with Davis Polk & Wardwell, was an in-house lawyer with D.E. Shaw, and founded an internet startup.
Michael grew up attending public schools. He was the first student in his high school’s 50-year history to be admitted to Harvard, where he earned his BA, magna cum laude. He later earned a JD/MBA from Stanford, where he was copresident of the Hispanic Business Students Association with Miriam Rivera. He was raised by a Mexican-American single mother who was the first Hispanic woman in America to earn a doctorate in accounting. He speaks Spanish and Mandarin Chinese fluently, and has also studied French, Bengali and German.
He is the author of three books, including Your Invisible Network: How to Create, Maintain, and Leverage the Relationships That Will Transform Your Career (Matt Holt Books, 2023), and The Creative Lawyer: A Practical Guide to Authentic Professional Satisfaction (ABA Books, 2nd Ed 2014). He has been quoted by Bloomberg, The Wall Street Journal, Forbes, Fortune and NPR for his views on leadership, career development and the evolving workforce. His output includes two podcasts totaling 80 episodes, “Career Stewardship with Michael Melcher” and “Meanwhile.”
One of Michael’s consistent ambitions has been to share the transformative concepts of coaching to broader audiences in the U.S. and abroad via writing and pro bono service.
Michael regularly mentors newer coaches, including those from underrepresented backgrounds. He serves on the board of Comprehensive Youth Development, a NYC nonprofit that partners with students from high poverty neighborhoods. Over the years, he has counseled numerous first generation students on making the jump from high school to selective colleges.
He lives in Manhattan with his twin sons, Nicolás and Mateo.
Herminia Ibarra, professor at INSEAD and author of the classic Working Identity, has described Your Invisible Network as,
“The best book on networking in the field, one I recommend to all my students.”
Pam McLean, CEO of the Hudson Institute of Coaching, has said,
“Your Invisible Network demystifies how to take intentional action to expand and improve your relationships. It will be equally relevant to experienced CEOs and to recent grads entering the workforce.”
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