Meet Dan

Dan Freehling is the founder of Contempus Leadership, an ICF-certified coach, and an organizational leadership consultant. He is the author of The Career Design Map, the host of the Forward-Looking Leadership podcast, a Harvard Business Review contributor, and a member of the PRIME Coaching Academy board of advisors.

Dan coaches leaders and jobseekers at the executive, director, and manager levels across industries, with a particular focus on the social sector (non-profits, NGOs, government agencies, foundations, hospitals, schools, social enterprises, and purpose-driven businesses of all kinds).

He also designs and facilitates customized leadership and organizational development interventions and is a sought-after keynote speaker on forward-looking leadership and career strategy.

Dan brings extensive real-world experience and education across leadership, management, and executive coaching, allowing him to seamlessly leverage a variety of traditional and avant-garde methodologies to enable clients to achieve transformational results.

Prior to founding Contempus Leadership, he led highly rated, $25-50M leadership and organizational development portfolios for global clients, managing teams of 8-18 staff members and overseeing a flagship worldwide coaching program.

Dan holds International Coaching Federation (ICF) certification, the “gold standard” for quality and ethics in the coaching profession, and has completed Coach U’s introductory and advanced programs, the Association for Talent Development (ATD) Coaching Certificate program, RESPECT coaching training, and Ubuntu coaching certification.

He has earned an MA in Organizational Leadership and Learning from the George Washington University, an MBA from the University of Massachusetts Amherst, and a BA in International Relations & Political Science from Boston University.

Now residing in Boston’s Jamaica Plain neighborhood, Dan has called Boston, Washington, DC, and New York City home in recent years. In addition to his obsession with all things leadership, he enjoys entertaining friends and family (learning to cook from his Sicilian-American grandmother didn’t hurt), taking long walks with an iced coffee in hand, and exploring Boston’s dining scene with his wife, Heather.

For inspiration on ways to work together (in addition to 1:1 and team coaching), some of Dan’s recent consulting engagements are detailed below.

  • -Presented a job search workshop to Georgetown University Graduate School of Foreign Service students and alumni.

    -Delivered a keynote talk on modern career strategy to talent development leaders at CHRISTUS Health, a major health system.

    -Consulted on application reviews for the Obama Foundation Leaders Program through Devex Talent Solutions.

    -Led an organizational effectiveness benchmarking study for a global operating unit.

    -Facilitated a strategy and communications retreat for a 50-person team.

    -Redeveloped and facilitated a supervisor orientation program for a large consulting firm.

    -Redeveloped a flagship leadership development program for public health leaders.

    -Facilitated a retreat for a 20-person learning & development team.

    -Designed an organization-wide course on managing a hybrid workforce.

    -Facilitated a retreat for a 15-person healthcare team.

    -Presented on modern career mapping to members of a national industry association.