Executive Coach

David Doughty

Executive Coach, Team Coach, Facilitator and Board Facilitator

Professional and working background

As an experienced Chief Executive, Chair and Non-Executive Director who has specialised in Corporate Governance, David works with executives and other board members to help them to be more effective.

He helps directors, trustees and governors to understand their board roles and what is required in order to succeed at board-level.

David began his career as an industrial physicist with BICC and Marconi before moving into robotics, automation and computer vision, firstly as a consultant and then as founder of his first business. He then became a management consultant working with clients such as TSB, Mortgage Express, Courtaulds and the European Space Agency on change management before becoming Marketing Director of a manufacturing company with a global customer base. David then co-founded an enterprise software business supplying customers such as the NHS, UBS, Oracle and AstraZeneca with talent management software platforms, which was then sold to a US consortium.

Following a spell as CEO of the Oxford Economic Partnership, where David was responsible for development of the £15 billion GDP economy of Oxfordshire, he founded Excellencia, a Corporate Governance consultancy which has worked with Boards of organisations of all shapes and sizes in the private, public and not-for-profit sectors.

Throughout his career as a leader, often in high-pressure environments, David has embraced a coaching leadership style, identifying and developing talent and encouraging employees to achieve their potential.

Coaching expertise

Having worked closely with global organisations on the development of their talent management systems, David has significant knowledge of the tools and techniques that can be used to develop executives both individually and as members of the Board team. His hands-on experience as a Board member, executive coach and Board coach, has given him an understanding of the behavioural and emotional aspects of the way Boards function and he has adapted Lencioni’s Five dysfunctions of a team to address the issues found in dysfunctional Boards.

To support his work with individuals as an Executive Coach, David has developed the personal business plan and career mapping tools which have proved to be particularly effective when supporting clients through career changes.

Recent Engagements

  • Coaching a charity CEO to support him as he adjusted from a hands-on, operational and internally focused role to a more hands-off, strategic and externally focused role as the charity went through a period of high growth.
  • Coaching and Mentoring an at-revenue software start-up CEO to support him as he rebuilt his board to prepare for the next stage of fundraising/IPO.
  • Coaching a listed company Chair as he exited from that role and took up another Chair role in a pre-IPO start-up.

Continued professional development

David is currently working with the Association of Psychologists on Boards (APOB) on articles, presentations and a paper exploring the role of Psychologists, either as Board members or Board Psychologists.

Qualifications

  • Certified Mentor, EQmentor 2013
  • Chartered Director, Institute of Directors 2000
  • Qualified Interviewer for the Chartered Director Professional Review, SHL 2000
  • MA Company Direction, Leeds Business School 1998
  • Trained Volunteer Counsellor, Samaritans 1983
  • PGCE Further and Higher Education, University of London 1981

Recommendations

I first got in touch with David at a time when I was looking to accelerate my career, and wasn’t sure about the best path to pursue.  I am very career-minded and had just changed jobs twice in a short period of time.  It was time to take control of my career path.  

David listened to my current thinking and asked me lots of questions.  He helped me ask myself the questions that I needed answers to, and he did so in a way that was appropriate for me, which was important.  

David showed me some examples of a centred approach, which helped me figure out what I needed to do strategically and tactically.  I have never looked back since…. He checked in with me occasionally over the years too, which I really appreciated.  

Coaching is a very personal thing, and only those with a very high EQ can match their clients’ intelligently and intuitively to apply the correct methods – David absolutely has this skill.

Vanessa – Digital Transformation Consultant

David provided me with 1:1 coaching when I was approaching a crossroads with my business partners.

I found him attentive and easy to talk to. He helped me answer my questions in a gentle way that I appreciated.

David’s approach is to listen and get you to open up and find the answers yourself.

I am pleased to say that I have now set up my own business and David’s coaching helped me to make this decision.

I would be happy to recommend David to anyone who is seeking caring, intuitive coaching.

Derrick – Chartered Financial Planner