Dan is the best-selling author of four books: LEAD. CARE. WIN. How to Become a Leader Who Matters (2020), OPEN TO THINK: Slow Down, Think Creatively, and Make Better Decisions (2018), THE PURPOSE EFFECT: Building Meaning in Yourself, Your Role and Your Organization (2016) and FLAT ARMY: Creating a Connected and Engaged Organization (2013). Dan is also an Adjunct Professor at the University of Victoria, Gustavson School of Business.

He is the founder and CEO of The Pontefract Group a firm that improves the state of leadership and organizational culture.

His third book, OPEN TO THINK, won the 2019 getAbstract International Book of the Year award and is the 2019 Axiom Business Book Award Silver Medal winner in the leadership category.

Previously, as Chief Envisioner of TELUS, he founded the Transformation Office in 2014 to help organizations enhance their corporate culture, leadership, learning, work styles & collaboration practices. As Chief Learning Officer at TELUS, Dan was responsible for the overarching leadership, collaboration & learning strategy for the company. Dan championed the introduction of the TELUS Leadership Philosophy (TLP), a collaborative-based leadership framework for 50,000+ team members. In parallel to these actions, he drove a philosophical and cultural shift in the way TELUS views and experiences learning called “Pervasive Learning” the shift to a social, informal and formal learning model. He further championed the use and deployment of collaborative technologies to complement both the leadership and learning frameworks. Between 2008 and 2018, employee engagement at TELUS soared from 53% to nearly 90%. Dan’s innovation also led to the introduction of the TELUS MBA—run in partnership with the University of Victoria—which allows TELUS team members the opportunity to garner an MBA over a two-year period. The program has won three international awards and delivered new revenues and savings in excess of $300 million.

Dan is also a renowned speaker and has been invited to deliver over 300 external keynotes and presentations, including four TED Talks.

Dan also writes for Forbes, Harvard Business Review and The Huffington Post.

Previous to his ten years at TELUS he held senior positions over twelve years with SAP, Business Objects, Crystal Decisions and the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT).