Solutions to your workplace challenges are found UpStream.
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Our Team

Our founders are two long-time legal advisors who spent years helping employers rescue struggling employees and defend against damaging work environments, before recognizing there was a better way. 

We help managers, leaders and HR professionals identify and leverage the strengths of your workforce through individualized coaching, workshops and leadership training provided at all levels of your organization.  

We were founded on the principle that solutions to your workplace challenges are found upstream, and our experienced team will guide you there.  

 

 

 

 
 

Mike Tooley

“Do more of what fuels you.”
— Mike

Mike works one-on-one with leaders and individual contributors in a confidential setting to help them identify and leverage their strengths and do more of what fuels them and what they love.  Mike also works with teams to identify their collective team strengths and better align them to accomplish individual and team objectives, including facilitating group retreats and strategic planning sessions.

From more than 29 years of representing employers in litigation and collective bargaining, Mike discovered that the "secret sauce" for winning workplace disputes is to prevent them from arising in the first place, and the best way to do that is by helping organizations and their leaders create better workplaces in which their employees are developed, cultivated and engaged.

Because he believes in this formula so strongly, Mike has supplemented his legal practice by becoming a certified Leadership and Strengths Coach and co-founding Upstream Principles LLC.  As a coach, Mike guides leaders and teams on how to recognize and develop their strengths, with the goal of creating better workplaces, more engaged and productive workforces and fewer employment disputes.

As a coach, what sets Mike apart is his high level of emotional intelligence, his insight into how people can best utilize their unique strengths, and his passion for helping others discover and live out who they are designed to be.

Mike is certified by the International Coaching Foundation as a Professional Certified Coach (PCC) and by Gallup as a Certified Strengths Coach. In addition, Mike received his Executive Certificate in Leadership Coaching from the Institute for Transformational Leadership at Georgetown University School of Continuing Studies in 2020. He is also certified by The Leadership Circle™ to administer The Leadership Circle Profile™ 360 evaluation and by TalentSmart, Inc. to administer its leading Emotional Intelligence (“EQ”) assessment for leaders and teams.

Mike also has had the opportunity to meet and pick the brains of such thought leaders as Marcus Buckingham, Pat Lencioni, Daniel Pink, John Maxwell, and Seth Godin and weaves insights gained from them into his coaching practice.

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Connect with Mike at mike.tooley@upstreamprinciples.com. 

Feedback from Mike’s Coaching clients:

“Our coaching has given me a new sense of freedom. As I realize there are some things that I am not inherently strong in, and many I am, I can lean more on my wiring instead of spinning my wheels trying to do something I wasn’t designed to do! I feel more confident in who I am as a leader and a person – less apologetic and more ready to engage the world confidently!”
“I feel much more confident in my strengths and I can think of many people (especially other women who have leadership gifts) who need that same confidence!”
“Mike has taught me to listen to my gut, but ask the appropriate questions to really form and fortify the nuances around decisions.”
“Mike helped me boost my confidence levels and lift the confidence levels of those around me by utilizing my strengths to bring the team together, allowing the group to have a voice, but harnessing the opinions to move forward and make decisions as a team. I found his insight so powerful that I intend to continue working with him.”
“Mike’s demeanor is so welcoming and disarming. He really challenges you to think and get to a conclusion that is yours – taking into account your style, your personality, and your goals.”
“I would absolutely recommend Mike’s coaching to other colleagues because his easy listening, laid back style works well with most people. He was able to push me to communicate and quantify my own goals and ways to meet them without being forceful or making “homework” feel like it is for a class.”
“Mike’s coaching has been really helpful in reframing the stories I tell myself and the patterns I found myself in. I feel more capable of identifying those patterns, and suggesting ways to address them in a new way. I also feel more grounded in some things that are special about me that I can use as tools in my toolbox.”
“Mike helped me think through things at a challenging moment in time for me, and I feel optimistic about my future and capable of dealing with challenges as they arise.”

Feedback from Mike’s speaking engagements:

“Mike’s information was outstanding. I really enjoyed this presentation about focusing on employees’ strengths.”
“In my humble opinion, the best presentation I’ve seen on Clifton Strengths Finder!”
“Best session of the whole conference! So glad I attended.”
— SHRM Indiana conference attendees
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