About
David has been recognized as a world-class executive coach and thought leader for over 25 years. In 2019 he was selected as the #1 Corporate Coach in the world.
Prior to co-founding 7 Paths Forward, he led Google’s Executive Coaching & Development team for 10 years, where he built one of the world’s most innovative and high-impact coaching programs. During his tenure at Google he coached over 500 senior leaders, including half of the company’s VPs and SVPS, provided onboarding coaching to all newly hired VPs, led the agile organization design team for Google’s future needs, and designed and facilitated workshops on organizational design, coaching skills, scaling your leadership, and decision-making in complexity.
He is a popular and highly-regarded speaker at leadership and coaching conferences. A book on the history of coaching cites David as one of the primary influencers on the field for decades, “on the cutting edge of the profession, doing and saying surprising and thought-provoking things.”
Before joining Google, David was SVP of worldwide Executive Coaching Services at PDI Ninth House (now part of Korn Ferry), where he coached senior executives at leading organizations, including Microsoft, Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Walmart, Target, Shell, Mayo Clinic, Stanford University, Harvard University, and Genentech, as well as tech startups.
David lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Alexis Shoemate, and two adorable Tibetan Terriers named Pinot and Cab.
