PARTNERING WITH PEOPLE
IN PURSUIT OF CONSISTENTLY
SHOWING UP AS THEIR
truest selves.
David Polmer Coaching

Hi, I’m David

I’m a Leadership & Career Coach invested in helping people consistently show up as their truest selves so that they can confidently apply who they are to how they lead, communicate, engage with others and make decisions.

Well before I put coach in my professional title, I was honing my coaching skills through a combination of educational experiences, formal and informal leadership positions, professional roles and opportunities, and personal discoveries.

Through my experiences, I’ve observed patterns that illuminate who I am, what matters to me, how I aim to show up in the world and how I think about my future. What I’ve uncovered is that, at my core, I am deeply invested in people and intrigued by what gives us energy, shapes our perspectives, influences our stories and informs what we believe we are capable of.

While never explicitly aiming for the title of leader, I’ve consistently found myself in positions of leadership. Whether as captain of my college tennis team, fraternity president, mentor in a youth boys’ program, or strategic communications advisor for senior leaders and the C-suite, I’ve created environments built on trust, respect, honesty and integrity. I’ve counted on my curiosity to guide me, learned the importance of partnering without judgment, and recognized the value of investing in the process more than the outcomes.

My coaching practice and my work with leaders are reflections of these principles. We uncover the true leaders within us when we let go of who we think we need to be and lean into who we truly are. It’s through that lens that I’ve uncovered myself, my voice, my purpose and my passions. In turn, I’ve learned how to live my life in alignment with who I am.

What energizes me each day—in addition to my family—is the opportunity to help people explore who they are and how to apply their sense of self to how they lead, communicate, engage with others and make decisions. There is nothing else I’d rather be doing than partnering with people on their journeys and creating space for personal exploration.

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A FEW OTHER TIDBITS ABOUT ME:

  • Married and father of two girls
  • BA in English literature from Washington University in St. Louis
  • Member of the International Coaching Federation (ICF)
  • A native of Washington D.C., and a Chicagoan for more than two decades
  • Attended a Quaker school growing up
  • Two-plus decades of senior leader coaching and consulting for Fortune 100 and mid-sized organizations, and small businesses
  • One-time ghost writer for Olympian Jackie Joyner-Kersee
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Perspectives on Coaching Full Transcript

My role as a coach is to be a partner for my clients. They want someone to help them think through their deep thoughts and get clarity on the challenges they face today, the opportunities they have for tomorrow, and the actions they can take to bridge the gap between the two.

I work with two types of clients. I work with leaders – people in senior leadership roles who are established leaders. I also work with emerging leaders and ascending leaders. The second group of people I often work with are people in career transition; folks who are in the midst of a career transition or who are thinking about a career transition.

For leaders the themes often revolve around finding your authentic self and, by way of your authentic self, finding your authentic voice. For people in career transition, the topic often revolves around the notion of personal branding. 

I think people have an unbelievable amount of potential within them and coaching is important because it helps untap that potential. 

There's always a moment in coaching where people have an aha, where there's an energy shift and a new way of thinking emerges. I love being on that journey with people and giving them that space to have that moment. 

What differentiates me as a coach is my focus on helping people uncover their authentic selves. There are so many times in our lives where so many of us have different versions of ourselves depending on what environment we’re in – whether we’re at work or at home, with our spouse our friends, what have you…we’re different people, and my focus is on bringing into alignment that true version of yourself, leaning into that version of yourself, and then allowing that version of yourself to guide you in all aspects of your life.