DAVID HELPS YOUR BUSINESS REDUCE the FRICTION that hinders performance
BY BUILDING A CULTURE OF TRUST & CONNECTION
“Fascinating, engaging, the perfect combo of narrative and instructional.
The best corporate speaker I’ve ever seen.”
3 ways to ensure an event will have a lasting impact on your team:
Invite a speaker/facilitator whose content aligns with your culture-building efforts
Give permission to everyone in the room to fully engage during the session
Show your people it mattered by intentionally implementing the content
3 ways to ensure talks, trainings and workshops will waste your time & money:
Choose content that feels like the flavor the month (yeah, your people can tell)
Allow leaders to sit in the back and watch (sends a clear message that this doesn’t matter)
Never talk about it again (add the cost of cynicism and disengagement to the event cost)
PARTNER WITH DAVID AS YOUR GUIDE
Speaking
Workshops
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“David is a fantastic teacher and example. My team only had 60 minutes with him and we all wished for more! He is truly inspiring and gave us all real life takeaways.”
“David’s ability to weave in information about our company made the presentation relatable and relevant for attendees. His personality was engaging and drew you in to the subject.”
“David was AWESOME! He was a definite fit for our team—well spoken, smart and knew when to flex. We really, really enjoyed him.”
“David amazingly got in a lot of information in four hours that easily could have been extended over two or three days. He is very knowledgeable, made the workshop meaningful and fun and reinforced our passion.”
Hi, I’m David and this is why you and your people matter to me
I’d found the perfect job.
Every day I’d run up the stairs, skipping at least one or two as I made my way to the office on the 2nd floor. The work was exciting. We were building a cool startup with an inspiring vision, and I was a part of it.
Things weren’t perfect. No company ever is, but we all showed up with a common vision. We were in the trenches together, building friendships and loyalty to each other and a cause. I was looking forward to a lot of years building something I believed in.
Then, one day it all went sideways. It was a minute or so before 9:00 and I was in the conference room, about to start a meeting with my little team. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Shelly, the assistant of one of the founders. “Paul needs to see you,” she said, attempting a smile.
“Now? OK.” was my surprised response. I walked into Paul’s office to find him sitting in front of his desk, not behind it, with two other chairs. One for Shelly (who also doubled as HR - we were a start up remember?) and one for me.
As I took my seat, there was a split second wrestling match in my mind. I instinctively knew what this setup of chairs meant but at the same time I was frantically reassuring myself that we were a family, there was loyalty here, we all needed each other if this was gonna work!
With all the emotion of a piece of toast, and in a matter of about 90 seconds, Paul told me my position was no longer required. In a split second, things went from “we’re in this together” to “we don’t even need you anymore.” He made a token apology, after which Shelly escorted me to my cubicle with an empty box that would definitely not hold the amount of hurt I felt. On the way out of the office, I passed the CEO in the hall. He’d portrayed himself as my biggest champion. But that day, he didn’t even look at me.
It’s amazing to me how our humanity can evaporate during tough conversations, stressful decisions and crisis.
Does it have to be this way?
No, it doesn’t. Leaders and companies will always face friction. How we go about facing that friction determines our ultimate success. The default is often to become objective, emotionally disconnected and attempt to bury the feelings we have. But that breeds cynicism, fear and mistrust that trickles down to performance.
Great leaders and teams know how to navigate friction with feeling, not in spite of their feelings. I never want anyone to feel the way I did that day. My work is dedicated to helping leaders and teams build trust & human connection so that, together, they can create a more meaningful human experience and achieve sustainable progress.
If you’re ready to become a leader of people instead of a manager of problems, we’re ready for you!
Wherever you are on the leadership journey, we’d love to learn more about you, your culture and how we may be able to partner together to reduce the friction that’s keeping you from making sustainable progress.
“I had high expectations…and David absolutely exceeded them! Of the 99 attendees at the conference, no less than 75 specifically cited David as one of the key presenters who gave them takeaways that they planned to implement immediately in their day-to-day approach to business. I couldn’t have been more pleased.”