David Whitaker OBE

David Whitaker has been involved in the coaching of individuals and teams at the highest levels in international sport and business for over 25 years. He is highly experienced in the art and science of coaching and learning, and applies this in his working with people to open up greater opportunities for sustained high performance.

After graduating in 1971 he spent 18 years in leadership roles in education and international sport. He represented England and Great Britain over 100 times in hockey and between 1980 and 1988 he coached both England and Great Britain men’s teams to unparalleled success in winning Olympic Bronze (1984), World and European Silvers (1986 & 1987), and Olympic Gold in 1988. Between 1985 and 1989 he worked full time as Director of Coaching for the Hockey Association.

In recognition of his achievements in and understanding of coaching, David was awarded the OBE in 1989, chosen as Coach of the Year in 1985 and 1988, and in 1998 invited to be one of the first six recipients of the Mussabini medal, the National Coaching Foundation’s UK Hall of Fame.

In 1989 David transferred his knowledge and experience into the world of business, and along with David Hemery M.B.E. and Sir John Whitmore founded Performance Consultants. Together they developed a coaching model and methodology that has been recognised by many businesses as highly effective in generating both performance improvement and behavioural change within individuals, teams and organisations. They built a reputation for working at the leading edge of promoting high performance through leadership coaching, for understanding the psychology that underpins sustained performance and for being outstanding practitioners.

Within Performance Consultants David worked both nationally and internationally with a host of blue chip organisations in all sectors of business. He has utilised his understanding of learning and his ability as a coach to enable the leaders of business to promote and sustain high performance both in themselves and their colleagues. During his two decades in the corporate world he has coached many business leaders and executive boards/teams. He has also captured his wisdom on teams in his book The Spirit of Teams which is applicable to teams in any context.

While working with business he maintained close links with leadership within sport. He sat for 5 years on the Sports Lottery Panel, was a World Class Adviser for UK Sport, sat on and chaired the Sports Coach UK Board and was part of the group which ran one of the periodic reviews of Sport England and the reorganisation of UK Athletics.

David now focuses his work on supporting leaders in sport and business using the experience he has gained over the last 25 years to contribute to developing leadership at the individual level. He also believes that great leadership in these areas can offer so much to future generations and thereby to society.