About Dr. David Slocum

David is a zealous advocate of continuous and active learning who crafts innovative leadership programs and experiences that scale learning, advance organizational agility and performance, and deliver targeted and innovative solutions to people, teams, and businesses. While working widely across industries and sectors – including banking and finance, energy and petrochemicals, city management and urban planning, and new technologies – and in nearly 40 countries, the central focus of David’s teaching, learning, and (increasingly) senior advisory work has been on the leadership and organization of the cultural and creative industries.

David is a Professor of Practice at the Thunderbird School of Global Management (Arizona State University, USA), where he teaches high-impact leadership, strategic management, and the management of the creative industries in global management degree and Executive Education programs.​ In addition to his appointment at Thunderbird, David is Professor of Creative Leadership at the Berlin School of Creative Leadership (Steinbeis University, Germany), where he was previously the Academic Director and oversaw for a decade the Global Executive MBA in Creative Leadership and the school’s non-degree corporate, agency, and partner programs.

David also served for five years as the Academic Director and Program Adviser at RARE with Google, where he provided thought leadership and academic support to develop and improve retention of diverse creative talent among Google’s creative, marketing, media, and technology industry partners. In addition, he co-founded On Global Leadership, an international leadership education, research, and advisory firm (USA); and the C-School, the first online Creative Leadership school designed for creative industry professionals (Lithuania).

Since 2010, David has been a certified executive coach whose clients include executives and business owners in EMEA and the Americas in industries ranging from advertising, design, and Big Tech to business intelligence, strategic consulting, and NGOs.​ While the specific agenda varies with each client, the goal of David’s practice is for each to flourish by becoming – or becoming better at being – a ‘thoughtful practitioner’ in their leadership and life.

David’s coaching addresses a full spectrum of human, organizational, and business issues that include building self-belief and self-care; navigating complexity, conflicts, and tradeoffs at work and in life; guiding learning and lifelong growth and development; strengthening relationships with employees, teams, other leaders, boards, and clients; and thriving amidst professional and personal transitions. Importantly, and unlike many other coaches who concentrate mainly or even exclusively on inspirational self-leadership or self-help moments, David’s practice emphasizes the necessary coordination of deep focus, integrated growth, and ongoing change in self, business, and relationships with others. Put differently, his practice prioritizes individual growth and stress-is-enhancing mindsets and strategic, organizational, financial, and operating models – and one’s leadership engagement with the mysteries of human behavior and relationships.

Earlier, David directed Executive Education Programs at the George Washington School of Business and served as both a dean of the Graduate School of Arts & Science and director of the university-wide Center for Teaching Excellence at New York University. David’s current research and writing focus on the history and future of creative leadership, the practice of leadership, coaching learning leaders, and the convergence of executive coaching and leadership development. Born and raised in the United States, David was educated at the University of Michigan, Harvard University, and New York University. He currently resides in Paris. ​