David Metcalf is highly trusted by clients to address their most challenging human capital priorities, including CEO succession, the onboarding of new leaders, large-scale organizational transformations and critical team-effectiveness issues. He cultivates long-term relationships with his clients to help shape organizational culture and ensure team effectiveness in a multi-workstream environment.
Clients appreciate David for his ability to synthesize complicated business and interpersonal situations and apply studied insight. He is known as an excellent communicator, able to read the room and adapt in high-stakes communication scenarios. He excels when faced with thorny, talent-driven problems including transformations, carve-outs, and large-scale M&A, and is sought out for his ability to recognize nuanced potential in leaders, bringing it to life with empathetic, mission-focused coaching.
Solving complex human capital challenges with rich insight and broad experience
- David has successfully advised multiple Fortune 500 boards on CEO succession and is well-practiced in CEO performance acceleration.
- He has assessed more than 400 C-suite leaders, and leaders he has worked with appreciate his ability to coach them through important team and life transitions.
- He brings a cross-disciplinary background spanning law, corporate strategy, financial services and education. Prior to joining the firm, he was a senior vice president of an Atlanta-based bank, engagement manager at McKinsey & Co., a clerk in the U.S. District Court and a teacher.
David graduated with distinction from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in political and social thought and religious studies. He holds a master’s degree from St. John’s College and a law degree from Georgetown University. He is a frequent guest speaker at conferences and other events, but his favorite way to spend non-work time is coaching his two daughters in more than a dozen seasons of soccer games so far. He is an enthusiastic but mediocre golfer.