Executive coaching
Executive and leadership coaching for senior leaders, emerging executives and ambitious professionals navigating greater responsibility, change or opportunity.
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David is back on the TEDx stage at TEDx Abuja this September, talking about mentorship and the ceilings people set for themselves.
Speaking enquiriesCapability gets you the job. Confidence and influence decide what you do with it.
Executive and leadership coaching, plus development programmes for the organisations that employ them. The work is confidence, influence, and building people who can go further.
Founded by David Villa-Clarke BEM, MBA. Executive coach, TEDx speaker, author, and Chief Executive of the Aleto Foundation.
David Villa-Clarke BEM, MBAExecutive coach, speaker and mentor
Leadership Excellence AwardFinalist, The Power of a Man Awards 2026
British Empire MedalNew Year Honours 2017, for services to charity
TEDx speakerTEDxSquareMile, and TEDx Abuja this September
Executive MBACass Business School
AuthorThe Power of Mentorship, Bristol University Press, 2027
Organisations David has worked with
Our philosophy
Talent is everywhere. Confidence, access and opportunity are not.
Most people don’t stall for lack of capability. They stall because nobody showed them how the room works, or because the opportunity was never visible to them in the first place.
David has worked across financial services, media, education, healthcare, energy and elite sport. He has also been on the other side of it: university wasn’t an option for him, and he worked his way up without the network that usually comes with the job.
Read David’s story
How we help
Coaching, programmes and speaking
Every engagement starts with a conversation about what is actually in the way. Not with a package.
Leadership & talent development
Bespoke programmes, workshops and facilitated experiences designed to develop stronger leaders and higher-performing teams.
Explore leadership developmentMentoring & diverse talent
Helping organisations design mentoring programmes that create access, opportunity and measurable talent outcomes.
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Before you enquire
Is this the right fit?
Coaching only works when the fit is right. Rather than leave you to guess, here is who this tends to suit, and who it does not.
Likely a fit if
- You hold real accountability for a team, a P&L or a transformation, or you are about to
- You are technically strong and under-recognised for it
- Your organisation is serious about developing leaders, with a budget attached
- You want to be challenged rather than agreed with
- You can commit to the work between sessions, not just the sessions
Probably not a fit if
- You are looking for a one-off motivational session
- You want a coach who will validate decisions already made
- You want a standard training course at the lowest available price
- Coaching is being used in place of a performance conversation nobody has had
- You need CV writing, recruitment or outplacement support
Enquiring on behalf of a son or daughter?
Next-generation mentoring is a separate pathway, and the question is a different one. It suits young adults who already have ability and ambition, and who would benefit from someone experienced helping them navigate university, early careers and the move into professional life. It is not tutoring, and it is not for a young person who has been signed up without wanting it.
How next-generation mentoring worksHow engagements are usually shaped
Executive coachingOne to one
Usually six months, with sessions spaced far enough apart that real situations happen in between. In person or remote. Where an employer is paying, progress reporting is agreed up front, and it never breaks the confidentiality of the coaching itself.
Leadership & mentoring programmesOrganisations
Built from discovery. Cohort workshops, facilitation, one-to-one coaching and mentoring, combined to suit the objective and measured against it.
Speaking & facilitationEvents
Keynote, conference hosting, panel facilitation or a leadership workshop, written for the audience in the room.
Next-generation mentoringPrivate
A small number of places each year for ambitious young adults. David handles family enquiries himself, and they start with a conversation about the young person.
There is no rate card. Every engagement is scoped against what you actually need. The first conversation is free, and you will have an indicative figure within a week of it.
Speaking & facilitation
From TEDx stages to boardrooms, classrooms and leadership teams
Keynotes, conference hosting and panel facilitation for corporate events, universities and foundations. Each one is written for the audience in the room.
TEDxSquareMile · Do we have the power to make a difference?
Why this work exists
Opportunity should be designed, not left to who you happen to know
As Chief Executive of the Aleto Foundation, David has spent years building leadership and mentoring programmes for young people with high potential and limited access, working alongside senior leaders, corporate partners and universities.
He also founded Project Volunteer, which supports orphaned children in Botswana. He was awarded the British Empire Medal for services to charity.
It is why Think DVC treats mentoring as infrastructure. Programmes get structure, preparation and measurement. Goodwill on its own is not a method.
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In their words
What people say after working with David
DVC has made a remarkable difference in my son’s life. Using NLP techniques, discipline and a strong focus on mindset and personal responsibility, he helped him turn academic failure into ambition and achievement. Today my son is at university, a transformation I genuinely believe DVC played a significant part in.
He taught me clarity of purpose when operating at C-level, which helped me communicate with greater authority, manage key stakeholders more effectively and bring greater focus to decision-making. I could not recommend David any more highly.
David’s mentorship has transformed the trajectory of my life. He turned me from rock into diamond. He taught me the importance of believing in others, investing in their potential, and offering support when it matters most.
Next step
Start with a conversation
Thirty minutes, no preparation needed. The first thing we work out is whether this is a good fit.