PROFESSOR DAVID CLUTTERBUCK

David Clutterbuck is one of Europe’s best-known and innovative writers and thinkers on leadership and the foremost authority globally on mentoring. He has a rare talent for making complex topics understandable and for presenting them with humour and insight. 

Recently described by The Sunday Independent as second in the list of top business coaches in the UK, he is the author of nearly 50 books, including the best-sellers The Winning Streak and Everyone needs a mentor. He has helped hundreds of senior teams across the world find the Massively Difficult Questions that lead to deeper understanding of themselves and their businesses. 

He is visiting professor at Sheffield Hallam University, where he is a member of the Mentoring & Coaching Research Group, and also Oxford Brookes University. He leads an international consultancy which specialises in helping organisations develop greater capability for learning dialogue. 

Areas of expertise

Coaching and mentoring 

David has written 10 books in this fast-growing area. He led the development of the International Standards for Mentoring Programmes in Employment and is currently leading the development of parallel standards for coaching. He co-founded the European Mentoring and Coaching Council, where he is head of the research committee. He has designed hundreds of sustainable mentoring and coaching programmes over the past 30 years, since he brought the concept of structured mentoring to Europe.

His key workshop themes in coaching and mentoring include: 

The leader as coach and mentor Practical guidance and skills for effective mentoring or coaching at senior management levels

Mentoring and the diversity agenda The role of mentoring in supporting diversity objectives; practical skills for the mentor in a cross-culture or cross-gender developmental relationship

How to create a coaching climate Based on the recent book, Making Coaching Work, practical guidance on how to build a culture supportive of continuous learning

The coaching and mentoring techniques masterclass For those, who have some experience of coaching and mentoring, an opportunity to acquire advanced skills. Can be pitched according to level of experience/ seniority.

Coaching the team Based on current, international, good practice research, processes and skills for enhancing team performance by focusing on the learning agenda.

Innovation, entrepreneurship and intrapreneurship. 

David has explored how both individuals and organisations can become sustainably innovative.  

Key themes include: 

• How maverick companies establish clear differentiation from competitors (based on the book Doing it different)
• How to reduce the risk of innovation
• Understanding the story of change in your organisation
• Practical creativity at work

Work-life balance 

David’s ground-breaking study of organisational strategies for managing work-life balance provides the basis for pragmatic approaches to managing conflict between organisational and individual employee priorities. He presents work-life balance as primarily an issue of making choices in a complex environment. This is an invaluable workshop or presentation for any organisation aiming to attract and retain talent by improving the psychological contract with its employees. 

Key themes include: 

• The real and sustainable business case for investment in work-life balance
• What the company can do
• What the individual and the team can do
• Strategies for regaining control of your life

The effective board 

David was the first UK author to investigate in depth the role of non-executives. He advises public and private sector companies around the worlds on how to improve the quality of the board’s activity. His interest in boards and corporate governance focuses on the quality of the discussion, decisions and leadership demonstrated by the board, both as individuals and together.  

His key themes include: 

• Measuring and valuing the contribution of the board
• Improving the quality of board dialogue
• Raising the credibility of the board
• Communication between the board and the rest of the organisation
• The 14 critical roles directors play – and hw to ensure that the positive side of each role dominates

How teams learn 

David led a European Community project to explore the nature of learning in each of the six common types of team. In this workshop, he helps teams develop viable processes to manage and increase the quality and quantity of their learning. He debunks the myth of team building – which may often be dysfunctional to team effectiveness beyond the short term – and demonstrates practical ways manage learning.  

The key themes are: 

• The importance of balancing task, learning and behaviour in how the team appropriates its goals and activities
• The eight core roles, through which team members can support the learning of the team as a whole
• The five steps to maintaining learning momentum
• How team learning plans link individual learning to organisational learning

This workshop is suitable for working teams at all levels. 

What previous audiences have said about Prof David Clutterbuck 

Angie Risley, Human Resources Director, Whitbread Group PLC

 “David really cuts to the compelling economic case for investing in work-life balance and the resulting benefits for the organisation – as well as the potential penalties if you don’t!”

Akela Peoples, Conference Chair, Mentoring Connections National Conference 

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for joining us in Canada to share your expertise, experiences and insights on mentoring. Without your enthusiastic participation, the conference would not have been as successful as it was”.

Ceil Sheen, Program Leader, HR, Duke University and Health System, North Carolina 

“David made a hugely positive impression on me at the Linkages conference on coaching and mentoring in San Diego last fall. . . his knowledge, information and feedback has been invaluable.”

A selection of organisations that David has spoken to: 

• Audit Commission

• Chartered Institute of Personnel Development

• Clifford Chance

• Credit Suisse First Boston

• DfEE

• European Foundation for Management Development

• Goldman Sachs

• Institute for Practitioners in Advertising

• Kellogg

• London Borough of Brent

• London Borough of Ealing

• London Borough of Hackney

• National Mentoring Network

• National Security Agency (US)

• NHS

• Nokia

• Petronas

• Pilkington

• Standard Chartered

• The Cabinet Office

• The Home Office

• The Office of Health Management

• UK Immigration Service

• Whitbread

• World Bank