Michele Benton, Ph.D.
President of
lime – a marketing strategy & capability company
Raleigh, NC and Casablanca, Morocco
Email: mb322@cornell.edu
Web: https://www.linkedin.com/company/growwithlime
Michele runs a boutique management consultancy focused on marketing strategy, excellence, and capability building. Her company helps organizations, leaders, and teams ensure they have the right thinking, tools, and conversations in place to drive breakthrough strategy and profit growth in times of high uncertainty and change. Michele facilitates marketing and leadership workshops with clients around the world and is a LinkedIn author writing on topics of innovation and strategy. In addition to her practice, her research—with interests in creativity, meaning, and purpose against the backdrop of work—surfaced a new relational model that executive women might use to create a good life in a world of social saturation. She’s excited to be exploring the impact her findings might have on strategy and leadership development.
Michele’s commercial edge was built across two decades of marketing leadership roles across four countries. In addition to strong in-market results, her marketing work has been recognized via scores of industry awards. In her last corporate role, Michele headed up the Marketing & Sales Capabilities function at a Fortune 500 global pharmaceutical company. She and her team developed and implemented the strategy and curriculum to improve how 4,500+ commercial leaders connect with customers. They designed competency models, authored global marketing and sales practices, and created novel learning experiences with a particular emphasis on marketing leadership and strategy. She also partnered with senior leaders and across multiple global functions to find new ways to improve marketing and selling quality, efficiency, and collaboration. Michele tends to work at the intersection of profit and people, and is known for being a bold, differentiated thinker who engages others and makes things happen.
Michele holds a B.S. in Industrial & Labor Relations from Cornell University, a M.A. in Creativity Studies from Union Institute & University, and a Ph.D. in Behavioral, Management & Social Sciences from the University of Twente. Michele, her husband and her two “tween-age” kids are dual-based in Raleigh, NC, and Casablanca, Morocco, where they enjoy music, art, travel, and the water.