J. Michaels

Technology and Project Management Leadership

Prior to my relatively recent incarnation as a fulltime author, and after a stint in the United States Air Force and obtaining a degree in Computer Science, I entered the business/technology sector. Initially, I functioned primarily as a team member on large development projects, functioning as a Software Engineer, Programmer/Analyst, Systems Analyst, Systems Architect, and Technical Lead, among others.

Later, as a Project Manager and Leader, my teams successfully delivered over forty-five projects; mostly medium and large scale and oftentimes mission-critical efforts such as cyber security. I was later promoted to the level of Director where I successfully managed mission-critical project portfolios and staff, while individually and collectively mentoring project managers.

Having worked for several startups and high growth companies as a hiring manager, as well as significant recruiting contract work, I gained valuable and extensive experience as a recruiter. I have reviewed thousands of resumes, interviewed hundreds of applicants, and hired many of those. I have bult entire project teams and also arranged orientation programs and training for new team members. I have utilized profiles and testing for help in determining relevancy while still relying heavily on one-on-one interviews with a focus on fit, attitude, and work ethic, as well as experience, knowledge, and demonstrated skill via accomplishments.

My recent groundbreaking book, based on a humanistic approach to project leadership, "High Performance Project Teams - Leveraging the Power of Cohesion", is both a candid revelation of a career rich in challenge, success, adversity, rewards, and job satisfaction, as well as a clinic for successfully and safely traversing the mine fields of project leadership and doing so in a more humane manner. And, above all, it is a recipe for creating high performance teams via the miracle of cohesion. It is truly a paradigm shift worthy of consideration, and adoption. The author proudly proclaims it "the high road to high performance" and suggests "we all get high!".

Author, Poet, Storyteller, Freelance Writer

Overlapping a career in technology as a leader and extending beyond it, the author eventually turned to writing poetry and fiction and has since published over a dozen books in these genres. J. Michaels is a lifelong student of the human mind and spirit. He is a longtime meditator, seeker, and mystic at large who has experienced numerous spiritual practices and psychic encounters. He has authored numerous volumes of mystical poems, lyrical tales, short stories, novels, and a novella. His writing is provocative and challenges popular beliefs while expressing the spiritual in a unique storytelling style.

His unique brand of poetry is published in the nine-volume "Musings of Mind and Spirit" series, and he is also the author of the novella "Treasure of the Mind", based on the real-life murder of his teenage son. His anthology of story poems (lyrical tales), "The Storyteller" explores the human condition in all its foibles and fables.

The author's latest offering, "Magnificent Misfits" is an unusual novel; a story of a band of misfits drawn irresistibly to convergence while searching to find home and family. Their odyssey takes them on a journey from the profane to the profound; encountering love, acceptance, betrayal, and a terrifying sociopath! They are drawn together by forces beyond their comprehension and eventually into a mystical, mind-blowing experience that will change them all forever.

The sequel "Ascension - Rise of The Mystics" follows the "divine nine" as they encounter mystical and paranormal obstacles in their pursuit of the greatest gift of all … and the unexpected consequences of that pursuit.