David Couper has twenty years experience developing peoples’ talents and coaching executives and managers in transition. His career successes range from coaching managers in Tokyo to supporting producers in Hollywood.

David started his career, in Tokyo, after completing his first degree in communication. In Japan, he worked with one of the top engineering companies, where, at the age of 22, he was in charge of a revolutionary program to develop communication skills for 300 managers assigned to overseas projects.

After that contract was complete, he stayed in Asia, where he worked for the BBC in Tokyo. He developed educational programming for the BBC including working with the hotel and tourist industry on hospitality training. At that time, he also began his coaching career, working one-on-one, with Japanese managers from private and government organizations including Shell, Suntory (one of the largest companies in Japan), and The New Energy Development Organization.

Back in the UK, David completed a postgraduate diploma in education. He graduated Project Author – one of the first courses in Europe in how to design interactive training – programs where the learner interacts through a computer.

Armed with these skills, David then successfully worked as a consultant developing training programs for clients such as Rolls-Royce, Halifax Bank, Ford Europe, and the Post Office. One example of David’s many successes, during this period, is the program he designed for the Alliance & Leicester Building Society – a major financial institution in the UK. The training program, that he designed, resulted in an increase of 30% in sales for the Alliance & Leicester.

Asked to move to the United States by a premier consulting company, David then worked in Chicago where he developed award-winning training and organizational development programs.

His projects included a program that explored the uses of the Internet and was awarded “Best Program in the US” by TelCon. David also developed a program which introduced mentoring and coaching to the 5000-plus employees of a major business consulting company. The coaching program resulted in increased individual motivation, better teamwork and improved organizational productivity.

Eventually, he left the Windy City for the Golden State. In Los Angeles he began his practice with clients in transition. David specializes in three areas of transition: career transition; life transition; and overseas transition.

David’s first coaching area is career transition. He has worked extensively with clients who are in career transition. Those clients have included those at the executive level from some of the major entertainment companies, such as Fox and Sony. He has also worked one-on-one and in groups with individuals as a part of an outplacement process. An example of one of those projects includes working with a manufacturing company who closed a plant and laid off 300 employees. David assisted those employees in finding a new position and through his coaching 100% of those employees, who were looking for a job, were successful in finding a new position.

His second coaching area is life transition. David has worked with accomplished individuals from profit and not-for-profit organizations who want to develop or change their careers. David worked with a senior producer who was burned out with her media career. After a series of coaching session, she gained a new role working for a not-for-profit in a challenging and stimulating job but without the headaches of her previous media position.

Finally, his last and third coaching area, is overseas transition. David has been instrumental in enabling managers and executives to be successful in transitioning to overseas assignments. He has worked personally with employees of Arco, The Gap, and Nestle who have been posted to Asia, Australasia, Europe, and Latin America, on dealing with culture shock and change. One particular success was coaching an HR Vice President who was moving to Tokyo. After coaching, she landed successfully and had a profitable and fulfilling assignment based on the up-front knowledge she received.

In addition to his coaching practice, David is as an accomplished writer. David has published seven fiction and non-fiction titles. His non-fiction titles on interpersonal skills, counseling in the workplace, and management issues (Gower, Connaught, HRD Press) have been translated into Swedish, Polish, and Danish and published in the UK and the USA. One of his fiction titles – George Sees Stars - has sold over 70,000 copies. He is currently working on his latest book about being a “successful misfit”.

David’s other interests include creative writing. He has two of his screenplays optioned and has had two plays produced. He is a member of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, where he is on the Education Committee, and a former member of the Writers Guild of Great Britain.