David Cohen

TEC Canada Speaker | Founder & Senior Consultant – DS Cohen & Associates | Vistage Speaker

David Cohen is a globally recognized thought leader, executive consultant, teacher, and author, specializing in the intersection of values, vision, purpose, leadership, and people. As a disruptor and contrarian consultant, David accelerates companies by ensuring they are as great as the people within them. With experience spanning five continents, David works with government, not-for-profit, and for-profit organizations. A frequent speaker at global and industry conferences, David is also quoted in the business press worldwide. David has published two books, with a third on identifying authentic company values and hiring for cultural fit set to release by the end of 2023. Recognized as a Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches member and ranked in the Global Gurus Top 30 in organizational culture, David is also a husband, father, and grandfather committed to improving the world.

David Cohen

TEC Canada Speaker | Founder & Senior Consultant – DS Cohen & Associates | Vistage Speaker

David Cohen is a globally recognized thought leader, executive consultant, teacher, and author, specializing in the intersection of values, vision, purpose, leadership, and people. As a disruptor and contrarian consultant, David accelerates companies by ensuring they are as great as the people within them. With experience spanning five continents, David works with government, not-for-profit, and for-profit organizations. A frequent speaker at global and industry conferences, [Name] is also quoted in the business press worldwide. [Name] has published two books, with a third on identifying authentic company values and hiring for cultural fit set to release by the end of 2023. Recognized as a Marshall Goldsmith 100 Coaches member and ranked in the Global Gurus Top 30 in organizational culture, David is also a husband, father, and grandfather committed to improving the world.

David’s Topics

In this session, participants will gain a practical understanding of the power of organizational culture and its impact on business strategy. Focusing on how culture is created and whether it can be changed, the session explores the role of values like integrity and examines whether yesterday’s values can affect a company’s current performance. Through industry examples and cultural comparisons, attendees will learn how culture can either support or hinder the execution of strategic plans and influence profitability. By the end, participants will be equipped to assess their own organization’s culture and its implications on business strategy execution.

In this session, we’ll explore the idea that there’s no single “correct” leadership formula, as every unsuccessful leader fails in their own unique way, just as happy families are alike but unhappy families are not. Leadership is diverse, with many styles such as autocratic, democratic, laissez-faire, transformational, and transactional, each suited to different contexts and individuals. Key common attributes across these styles include communication, emotional intelligence, personal values, decision-making, and perspectives on power and relationships. Ultimately, the most effective leadership style depends on the specific circumstances, culture, and individuals involved, rather than a universal best practice.

Join me for an engaging session on leadership behaviors that foster employee belonging, responsibility, accountability, and ownership in the workplace. This session will explore critical strategies to guide employees through these stages, offering practical insights leaders can immediately apply. We’ll dive into how leadership shapes organizational culture, influences employee behavior, and aligns practices with corporate values, creating a purposeful work environment. Learn how to navigate the challenges of leading in a world where influence often outweighs authority, and discover how to move your employees from belonging to accountability to ownership.

Learn how to leverage today’s in-house talent to ensure the right person is in the right role for tomorrow’s success. With senior leadership development and succession planning ranked as top priorities, many executives fear the lack of qualified internal candidates to fill key roles, especially as Baby Boomers retire. Research shows that when senior roles are filled internally, success rates are four times higher than when hiring externally. This session will offer practical recommendations for organizations to better utilize their managerial talent, focusing on developing internal employees as future leaders and making leadership development a shared responsibility across all levels.

With projections indicating that 540% of employees will leave their jobs in 2024-25, hiring the right candidate the first time is crucial. Unfortunately, many leaders lack the training to properly interview for cultural fit, which is essential for retaining productive and engaged staff. This session will explore the importance of hiring for values, an approach proven to enhance retention and reduce costly turnover. Drawing from his 30+ years of experience, David will teach participants how to conduct structured behavioral interviews that align with company values, providing a set of questions and scoring tools for more objective, bias-free hiring decisions.

Many leaders believe they’re skilled at hiring simply because they’ve done it for years, but this doesn’t guarantee they’re hiring the right people. Turnover is often seen as a cost of doing business, but its true financial impact—sometimes up to six times the salary of the person who left—can be devastating. This workshop dives into the real costs of turnover, the effectiveness of various interview questions, and the importance of understanding workplace behaviors. We’ll simplify the process of measuring behavior, teach how to craft structured behavioral interview questions, and show how to objectively score candidates using an anchored rating scale.

In David’s session participants will learn the step-by-step methodology to create a succession planning and management (SPM) process that leverages today’s in-house talent to ensure the right person is in the right role for tomorrow’s success.

In Built to Last, while the exact cause of sustained corporate success isn’t explicitly stated, it’s clear that companies that live, celebrate, and stay true to their values are the most sustainable. The hot topic in business today is company culture, and understanding it is key to linking values with long-term success. Companies that align their leadership with core values thrive, while those that don’t often fail. Through real-world examples, such as Starbucks’ growth and Home Depot’s resurgence, this session explores how values-driven leadership fosters sustainability, reveals the difference between overt and covert cultures, and shows why a company’s authentic values are crucial for success and employee engagement.

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