Curiosity
Ask better questions, challenge assumptions and stay open to new perspectives.
Core Thinking
Capabilities that strengthen how people work, learn and perform together.
Communication
Create shared understanding through clear, meaningful conversations.
Relationships
Build the trust and connection that help people perform together.
Diversity of Thought
Bring different perspectives together to create stronger thinking and better decisions.
Continuous Learning
Keep people and organisations learning, adapting and moving forward.
Purpose
Connect everyday work to a clear sense of meaning and direction.
The Book
Ideas for building better performance through better human connection.
David’s book brings together the thinking behind Essential Skills and explores the human capabilities that support meaningful, sustainable performance.
All royalties from David’s Essential Skills book and proceeds from Essential Skills gatherings and events support children’s health charities and organisations, including Down Syndrome Ireland and Children’s Health Ireland.
Events
Conversations that bring people, ideas and experience together.
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Essential Skills 3 · Dublin, Ireland · Q2 2027
Building on the first gathering at Tate Modern, London, and the connection nurtured at IMMA, Dublin, Essential Skills 3 returns to Dublin in Q2 2027. Leading voices from sport, business and human performance will come together for a day of ideas, conversation and meaningful connection, exploring how we become better leaders, teammates and people.
Future Event
Essential Skills 4 · Wild Atlantic Way, Western Ireland · Q4 2027
The fourth edition takes the experience into the landscape of Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way. Combining world-class thought leadership with movement, nature, shared challenge and reflection, it will explore energy, flow, attention, intention and joy. An immersive gathering designed to create deeper relationships, memorable experiences and lasting personal and professional growth.
Future Event
Workshops and Facilitation
Create the space for better thinking, stronger connection and meaningful action.
Essential Skills Workshops
Build the human capabilities that help people communicate, learn and perform together.
Team Alignment
Help teams build shared understanding, strengthen relationships and move forward with greater clarity.
Facilitated Conversations
Bring different perspectives into the room and create the conditions for useful, honest conversation.
Leadership Offsites
Create focused space for leaders to step back, think differently and align around what matters.
Speaking
Thoughtful perspectives on people, performance and organisational change.
David speaks to audiences across sport, leadership and complex organisations, bringing practical experience and a systems-aware perspective to the human side of performance.
Ideas into practice
Essential Skills in action
A closer look at the ideas, people and conversations behind Essential Skills.
The story behind Essential Skills II
Discover why David brings people from different disciplines together to explore the human side of performance.
Essential Skills II teaser – highlights from Tate Modern leading to IMMA
A taste of the ideas, energy and connections that inspired the next gathering in Dublin.
Highlights from the first Essential Skills event at Tate Modern
Step inside a day of shared experiences and fresh perspectives on how we work, learn and lead.
Selected Thinking
Ideas worth continuing the conversation about.
Shared goals need shared meaning
A team can agree on the goal and still mean very different things by success. Making those assumptions visible gives medical, performance and leadership teams a stronger basis for decisions.
Insight has to change something
The test of a good idea is what someone does differently because of it. Every learning session should leave a team with one practical change to try and a clear way to judge it.
Learning belongs in the working week
When learning depends on finding spare time, it rarely happens. A regular space to examine real challenges, question decisions and share what worked makes development part of the work itself.