Josh Davis, PhD

Josh Davis, PhD is the author of the international bestseller, Two Awesome Hours, which is available in 10 languages. 

He did his undergraduate work at Brown University, in Engineering, and his PhD at Columbia University, studying Psychology and Neuroscience. 

Josh has been teaching neurolinguistic programming (NLP) for over a decade, as a certified Trainer and Master Practitioner with one of NLP’s first and most respected centers, the NLP Center of New York. 

His coaching is based on the practical tools of NLP, combined with his understanding of the science of behavior change. He loves to coach individuals and has been coaching executives and professionals since 2011.

Josh also has been an influential figure in the field of leadership development, through his writing, in his current role as Director of the Science-Based Leadership Institute, and in his former roles as Chief Scientist and Senior Faculty with the Mentora Institute, and Director of Research and Lead Professor with the NeuroLeadership Institute.  He helped guide the NeuroLeadership Institute through their period of 5X growth, developed and taught many of the programs for both Mentora and the NeuroLeadership Institute, and regularly Emceed the NeuroLeadership Summit, which attracted over 40,000 attendees virtually and in-person annually. 

His writing has appeared in Harvard Business Review, Fast Company, Psychology Today, Inc., strategy + business, Business Insider, Huffington Post, Training + Development, and People & Strategy, among others.  He twice wrote pieces that were among the top 10 for the year for strategy + business.  His work has been reported on by major news sources globally, including The Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, and The Times of London, CNN, CBS, MSNBC, USAToday, The Telegraph, Bloomberg, and others.  He is also frequently a guest on podcasts and radio, and has been referenced in Scientific American and The New York Times.  His academic research has often been cited and is published in leading journals, such as Emotion, NeuroImage, and Topics in Cognitive Science. 

Josh loves to teach and brings that passion to making what he teaches accessible.  He has experience connecting with learners across a broad range of backgrounds and on topics that are often difficult – from teaching physics and math in a last chance Brooklyn public high school to teaching neuroscience, psychology, and statistics as a professor in the Psychology Department at Barnard College of Columbia University.  He has guided adult learners to breakthroughs in many areas, including his specialties of public speaking, leadership, and time management. In that work, Josh has trained people in all levels of organizations across many of the Fortune 1000 organizations, including directly to the senior leaders of Fortune 50 organizations.  He has also trained and coached people outside of organizations across many walks of life on their personal and professional development – lawyers, health professionals, educators, entrepreneurs, parents, students, and so on.  Josh also consults to heads of learning in organizations about how to make learning most effective.  He is regularly thanked by students, and recommended, for his dedication and ability as a gifted teacher and communicator.  As one student put it “Josh […] has an uncanny ability to guide people out of their comfort zones to a place where they can really learn a lot about themselves.” 

In all of this work, Josh combines the practical wisdom of NLP with the scientific lessons that come from neuroscience and psychology.  He then applies it towards helping people change.