David Peterson
- Former Head of Executive Coaching and Development at Google
Biography
David has been recognized as a world-class executive coach and thought leader for over 25 years. In 2019, he was selected as the No.1 Corporate Coach in the World. In 2020, he received a Lifetime Achievement Award for his significant contributions to the field of Executive Coaching.
Prior to co-founding 7 Paths Forward, David led Google’s Executive Coaching & Development team for 10 years, where he built one of the world’s most innovative and high-impact coaching programs. During his tenure at Google, he coached over 400 senior leaders, including half of the company’s VPs and SVPs. He also provided onboarding coaching to all newly hired VPs, led the agile organization design team for Google’s future needs, and designed and facilitated workshops on organizational design, coaching skills, scaling your leadership, and decision-making in complexity.
David is a popular and highly-regarded speaker at leadership and coaching conferences worldwide. He is cited in a high-profile book on the history of coaching as one of the primary influencers on the field for decades, stating that he is “on the cutting edge of the profession, doing and saying surprising and thought-provoking things”.
Before joining Google, David was SVP of worldwide Executive Coaching Services at PDI Ninth House (now part of Korn Ferry), where he coached senior executives at leading organizations, including:
- Microsoft
- Intel
- Hewlett-Packard
- Walmart
- Target
- Shell
- Mayo Clinic
- Stanford University
- Harvard University
- Genentech
David has also provided his services to a number of tech-based startups.
David lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with his wife, Alexis Shoemate, and an adorable Tibetan Terrier named Cab (as in Cabernet).
