C 17-18a David Gouthro on Conversations in Organizations

David says “When I was attending the University of Waterloo, near my hometown of Toronto, I never imagined that my role as a residence “don” would turn out to be more relevant to my career than my major, Earth Sciences. As it turns out, listening is at the core of my work; it’s my passion.

Shortly after university, I began working as a performance consultant at the Canadian headquarters of Wilson Learning Corporation, a Minneapolis based training and development organization. And then on to Apple Canada where I held a variety of roles in sales, marketing and human resources. After five years with Apple, I was starting to ponder becoming an entrepreneur; despite the advice from friends that staying at Apple would have been more “safe” considering how successful the company was becoming. Since I am not one to necessarily take the safe route, I started out on my own! After several months, I joined business with five friends/colleagues in Toronto, forming The Cadence Group. We were a consultancy that built and delivered leadership development courses, primarily for financial services and technology organizations.

I began noticing a pattern in my training workshops. Clients would say, “This is great for us, but we’re not the problem—it’s leadership.” So I changed the focus of my practice and began working almost exclusively with senior leaders and boards, people who have both the desire and the power to influence organizational change.

Eventually, my curiosity pointed me towards the west side of the country and in 1995, I moved to West Vancouver and fell in love with the mountains, the ocean and the person who became my wife (not necessarily in that order). I continued operations as The Consulting Edge: Movers & Shakers, Inc. and furthered my passion for listening and helping businesses and organizations become more effective leaders – invoking curiosity and courage as core attributes.

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Over the past 30 years, I’ve worked with dozens of organizations in many countries to help them discover hidden strengths, transform their organizational culture and serve their stakeholders better. I’m passionate about social issues and community service. Over time I have served as a volunteer member on the boards of Vancouver Theatre Sports League, North Shore Restorative Justice Society and West Vancouver’s Kay Meek Centre. Additional volunteer time is invested in parent groups supporting child & youth mental health on the North Shore, Leadership Vancouver Island and for several years, as a Board member/past National President of the Canadian Association of Professional Speakers.

In my personal time, I enjoy hanging out with our teenage daughter and spending time outdoors with our two dogs, Holly and Maggie. I have recently begun to learn to play the ukulele, which I promise never to incorporate into my professional repertoire!”