Executive coach
Trusted advisor
Leadership catalyst
Empathic Listener
Problem Solver
Clarity Facilitator
The leaders and founders that I serve
Span a wide array of C-level roles, industries, and are all on their own unique path.
Are creating ambitious solutions to address systemic issues within their markets and beyond.
Demonstrate openness, humility, and a strong desire to grow and evolve as a leader.
Recognize they need to learn at an accelerated rate so they can keep pace with their fast-changing companies.
Are committed to developing a team and culture consistent with who they are as leaders.
What we achieve together
Discovery
I partner alongside you to diagnose and dissect current, real-life issues. I guide you to gain self-awareness , align your leadership with your true values, and gain insights that help you shape your company. We focus on identifying and addressing organizational challenges with an emphasis on individual accountability.
Synthesis
Our work together aims to reconcile conflicting ideas and perspectives, giving you space to see a more clear path ahead and to develop as a leader. Clarity brings awareness and with it an increased confidence to shape your company. Your results are leader-specific recommendations.
Growth
With an enhanced understanding of themselves and how their organizations need to evolve, clients are better able to surpass their own personal expectations, bringing greater value to their teams.
Over time, our partnership can evolve into an advisory relationship leveraging my knowledge of you as a leader and your organization. I offer guidance on strategy, organizational design, culture, 360-reviews, and senior leadership team facilitation as a way to expand beyond our 1:1 coaching.
The approach
01
Discovery
Life and background exploration to gain an early understanding of who you are as a leader and individual. Organically introduce the coaching framework and lexicon.
02
Clarify
Sync on organizational, personal, professional goals. Discuss the challenges facing you and your team, and gain a shared understanding of the culture within your team and organization.
03
Diagnose
Ongoing “Issue Diagnosis” with a focus on personal responsibility, blind spots, and lack of clarity within your organization. Identify and define specific issues and gain clarity into the cause of unrealized goals.
04
Solve
Partner together to develop personalized, leader-specific solutions by applying in-session insights, takeaways, and enhanced self-awareness. This learning will continuously fuel your ability to deliver clarity and achieve results.
05
Achieve
Reach goals through leadership, management, and cultural clarity, then move onto your next set of expanded objectives.
This is accomplished via bespoke, highly personalized executive coaching engagement that includes weekly or bi-weekly coaching sessions, ad hoc intra-session requests and availability, and quarterly reviews of goals.
Partnering with leaders and companies across the globe
What drives success?
The success of any coaching relationship hinges on a match between client and coach. This is a product of personal fit and alignment with the unique methodology that the coach applies. Safety and trust are essential to each relationship and serve as the foundation for the relationship. I see myself as part of your team for the duration of your leadership journey with your company.
There's no one answer and it’s not a decision that should be rushed. I love helping people on their leadership journey—when done right, it enables leaders to find their own courageous authenticity as individuals, parents, friends, and citizens. I believe excellence lies within all of us; the key is for people and the entire team to actualize that potential.
Testimonials
Rory Golod
President, Growth & Communications
Compass
“Doug has been an incredible partner in helping me to become a better leader and manager through his clarity-focused approach. Often times, I would find myself facing challenges and problems where I was sure of what the cause was or why a specific person was creating an issue. Doug pushed me to step back, assess the situation, and most importantly, look inward to my own triggers and confusion to make sense of why I was interpreting the situation in the
way I was.
The exercise has proven to be invaluable because it's something that can be applied not just in my professional career, but also within my life. From there, I have been able to better assess situations, control my own emotions and triggers and get to the optimal set of next steps or outcomes. Specifically to me, this is something that I have benefited from when managing a large organization of people, working with other executives, or making decisions on what is best for my career.”
Marques Torbert
Co-founder, Managing Partner
5th Century Partners
“Doug is a skilled and trusted coach and advisor. I have had the privilege of working with Doug as my executive coach for over 5 years and across two companies / firms that I have led. His philosophy on seeking clarity and identifying one's blindspots have become a cornerstone of my own leadership. I could not think of a better person that I trust to help me grow as a leader and navigate some of the most challenging leadership hurdles that I have encountered.”
Rachel Horowitz
General Manager
Flare / Marble
“Doug is an outstanding coach and advisor. He actively listens with empathy and truly cares about his clients, and knows when to listen vs when to ask, challenge and push to help you create clarity and understand the best path forward. Doug's framework-based way of thinking helps to create structure and shared understanding, which I've found to be highly applicable to help me navigate circumstances even outside of our sessions. Through my sessions with Doug, I have been able to uncover a deeper understanding of myself and my leadership style which has helped me tremendously with my personal and professional growth. I can't recommend him enough to anyone looking to take their leadership to the next level.”
Jacob Smith
Co-founder, CMO
Packet
“Reflecting on my journey working with Doug inspires a sense of grounded confidence. Through our formal coaching sessions, and equally important "walk and talks", Doug and I built up a rapport that provided a strong human, intellectual and strategic foundation for my personal and professional growth. Looking back, it's clear that Doug's congenial, engaged demeanor rests on top of a passion for helping those around him grow, solve tactical challenges, and move towards their strategic goals in a clear-headed way. Our coaching relationship was — and continues to be — an important touchstone for me.”
Neda Navab
President, US Region
Compass
“Working with Doug is like being led by a great sports coach. He is on the sidelines, observing you and your strengths and opportunities and blind spots, but also thinking big picture about the field, the other players, the rules of the game, etc. He is holistically thinking about how to make you better, how to give you an edge, and how to help you get to whatever goal line you want. He is direct and honest and no nonsense the way a good sports coach needs to be, telling you when you are messing up or getting in your own way or not pushing hard enough, but he does it from a place of genuine care. And when you win, he feels like he wins.”
Nick Baum
Founder, CEO
Tremendous
“I've greatly enjoyed and benefited from working with Doug for the past two years. He's positively influenced my approach to many of the company's major challenges. If you're thinking about working with an executive coach, get in touch with Doug.”
Dachi Choladze
Co-founder, CEO
PulsarAI
“I met Doug at a very early stage of building my startup Pulsar AI (Acquired by Impel). Pulsar AI was at its product-market fit stage with just a handful of people working together. From a complete ambiguity stage to a successful exit, I can’t recall a single stage of my company’s and my personal development where Doug hasn’t played a critical role. It wouldn’t matter whether it was about challenges of scaling the company from a tiny team to >50, problems related to managing cross functional teams, challenges of go to market, issues in relationships, etc - he would always guide me to the best version of myself to find solutions and answers to all problems and questions during my journey.
After successful exit and ending of that chapter, now being at the executive level of the parent company, I still continue to get coaching from Doug and every conversation we have is pivotal for me.”
Caleb Jones
Founder, CEO
Ink
“Doug is a world-class executive coach and advisor. He is someone whom I deeply trust and value his perspective and advice. After my first exit, I wrongly thought executive coaches were for professionals who have not yet walked the path or had not enjoyed some level of success. After being introduced to Doug and working with him I could not have been more mistaken.
If you want to be elite in any discipline you absolutely need high-caliber mentors and coaches surrounding you to achieve your goals. Doug is such a coach. He has led me to breakthrough moments both professionally and personally. He has unlocked me and been a multiplying factor in my career and as a leader. I can not endorse or recommend him highly enough.”
Lisa B. Baird
Global Head of CHRO
N / A
“Working with Doug impacted me as a person and as a leader on multiple levels. I looked forward to the sessions the way one looks forward to meeting a close friend you haven't seen in a while. The sessions themselves always pushed me to look deeper into the "whys" — why I was doing what I was doing; why I was feeling about it the way I was feeling about it; why I was ignoring some things or paying too much attention to others; why I lead at all. I found myself thinking and reflecting on things he pointed out in sessions for days after we met and integrating his insights into my own about my "whys." Over time, I began to think of Doug as a friend, as much as a coach. He was able to help me with with my personal challenges as well as my professional challenges. He found a way to become the voice of my best nature and aspirations and to speak those out loud to me in a way that inspired me to be true to them.