David Cole provides executive and leadership coaching, and organizational and change consulting services, helping leaders to uncover growth potential and supporting organizations through business transformation. His approach is personalized and tailored to each individual, revealing their unique strengths and hidden “blind spots,” and opening doors for them to cultivate a powerful sense of compassion for themselves and deep empathy for others.
We sat down with David to learn more about the importance of coaching, why 30-something up-and-comers are his favorite group to work with, and how self-awareness and self-compassion can make or break a leader.
WPI >> Tell me about yourself and your company. What types of agencies do you work with? What services do you provide?
David >> I’m a former advertising professional turned executive/leadership coach and organizational consultant. I have worked with an array of full service and public relations agencies. I have had a great deal of success lately coaching current and upcoming agency leaders. I also work with high-potential mid-level leaders who aren't quite living up to that potential.
On the organizational consulting side, I work with agencies on several fronts (including but not limited to): purpose, vision and values development; team development; strategy alignment and change
WPI >> How does your coaching differ from other training or development programs that agencies might invest in?
David >> My experience has been that leadership development is best done in a coaching relationship. Here’s why: leadership is the dozens of conversations, the hundreds of decisions (often made with others) that take place every day. Coaching works because every session addresses a leadership challenge a leader has recently run into. This customization can only come from coaching.
WPI >> What are the biggest challenges you see your clients face today?
David >> On the coaching side, what gets one promoted into a leadership position can get in the way of becoming a successful leader. Often things like perfectionism or a lack of vulnerability are strengths when getting work done; unfortunately, these same characteristics undermine becoming a truly successful leader.
WPI >> What excites you about coaching advertising leaders?
David >> Truly how amazing these often-young people are. They are sponges for learning what it takes to be an authentic and terrific leader.
WPI >> I imagine you work with clients from various stages and milestones in their careers. Is there one stage or group you enjoy working with most?
David >> Ya. It’s these often-30ish up-and-coming leaders. They often haven’t been provided any real leadership training and so are eager to jump into a leadership coaching relationship.
WPI >> Have you seen a shift in the types of topics or challenges that clients are coming to you for over the last few years?
David >> Yes, and no. The biggest challenges are the same: learning their true strengths and making the transformation to overcome their weaknesses; growing as a human being and therefore as a leader. Of course AI and work life post-pandemic are there, but the real big challenges are the same.
WPI >> Leaders come in all shapes and sizes. But are there any key characteristics you see in all successful leaders you work with?
David >> Yes. One of the most important is self-awareness and how they show up as a leader and human being. Equally important is the need to be vulnerable: no one is willing to follow and put all of their efforts into supporting someone who doesn’t reveal who they really are.
WPI >> On the opposite side, what are the most common “blind spots” that advertising leaders face?
David >> Interestingly enough, self-compassion. If a person can’t be compassionate to themselves they show up handicapped to lead others.
WPI >> You help leaders cultivate two key characteristics: a powerful sense of compassion for themselves and a deep empathy for others. These are essential qualities of a leader, but perhaps not so simple to develop. How do you help leaders find these qualities?
David >> My experience has been that one way to develop this is in a coaching relationship. It begins with the coach modeling compassion at every turn. This reveals an unfortunately rare behavior that in itself opens up the leader to being a bit more compassionate to themselves and others.
Beyond that I like to introduce what I call “mindfulness light” where they get to experiment with examining their thinking and how it affects themselves and others.
WPI >> You’re a big fan of Russ Laraway’s book When They Win, You Win and share his opinion that, as an agency leader, you should help your staff advance their full careers, not just their careers at your agency. This can be difficult to accept when you’re also responsible for the agency’s bottom line. But are these connected and if so, how?
David >> Ya, that’s one of the amazing findings in his research: by focusing on the three pillars of management (including helping people with their full career), the research suggests that you will see an increase in employee engagement and with that an increase in ROI.
WPI >> What is one piece of advice you would give to all agency leaders?
David >> It’s from a quote by Randy Root, an organizational change consultant: “People will tolerate the ideas of leadership but in the end act on their own thoughts, feelings, and ideas.” In other words, control is the antidote to progress and change.
This article is an installment in a series where Worldwide Partners speaks with experienced consultants and service providers that are part of our WPI Faculty. Check back for more interviews with our industry’s leading consultants in PR, business development, financial services and more.