Once I joined RPC, David was a mentor throughout. David then helped me through the partnership promotion process. Particularly in the early stages of partnership, I had a number of concerns about client management. He has always been able to cut through to the heart of the matter with empathy and then to help in creating an active strategy, including decisive action where appropriate. On top of all of this, David is extremely engaging and always interested, so that receiving coaching and advice from him is not just of great help but also a pleasure.
David’s leadership has been understanding, patient but also direct. It is an effective style to learn from. When building my own team and moving into management myself, David has mentored me towards patience and positivity, while also not shying from difficult decisions and actions. He has an excellent strategic sense. He is able to see how teams fit together as well as the detail of what makes individuals fire at their best. He is also able to coach this ability through listening skills and building a quick sense of what is important in a team situation.
David’s mentorship on client management has been extremely valuable. His main lesson is in understanding what client’s concerns really are. This is through experience, active listening, sound judgment and also kindness. When helping to formulate the strategy that follows, David coaches an approach which is appropriate, delicate, but also bold. David sells by example. His approach is in reading what people need and then making sure that what is being sold actually meets those needs properly. This is hard to do in practice and David is an expert at it.
