David Cottrell Speaker Biography
Best-Selling Author, Award-Winning Leadership Expert,
and Professional Speaker
“Leadership is about influence. It exists throughout the organization –not just in executives, managers and supervisors.”
Leadership Expert
Speaker and author David Cottrell has created a legacy of leadership excellence. During his three decades of leadership experience in corporate America, David lived the obstacles, frustrations and issues today’s leaders face. The best-selling business author of more than 30 highly acclaimed books, David has been a featured expert on television and has shared his leadership philosophy and lessons with more than half a million managers and leaders worldwide. He is currently President & CEO of CornerStone Leadership Institute, one of the nation’s largest publishers of management and leadership resources.
Unprecedented Awards
David has walked in leaders’ shoes. David started his career as one of the youngest sales managers in the history of Xerox Corporation. After a decade with Xerox, David joined FedEx where he was elected multiple times to the President’s Club. To this day, David is the only person to have been chosen District Manager of the Year for two consecutive years. In sales and executive management positions with FedEx and Xerox and the successful turnaround of a Chapter 11 company, David created a legacy of leadership excellence. David’s tremendous leadership achievements were the result of his deep belief that he could expect the best from people by investing in them. His wisdom and sincerity come from one who has “been there.” David’s depth of knowledge and experience make for content-rich learning experiences that few other speakers can match.
Cornerstone Leadership Institute
David now puts his proven leadership skills into practice at CornerStone Leadership Institute. CornerStone’s mission is to provide affordable people-development tools to anyone aspiring to be a leader in their field. Their reach has extended globally to more than 15,000 businesses, associations, government agencies and educational institutions.
Professional Speaker, Trainer and Facilitator
A speaker, trainer and facilitator for many of today’s most successful organizations, the impact of David’s presentations is immediate and long-lasting. His leadership philosophy and lessons have become the guiding force for some of the top companies in existence today. Laced with energy, humor and audience engagement, his presentations provide practical tips that attendees can use in their everyday lives. Past clients include Walmart, Southwest Airlines, ExxonMobil, Macy’s, Yum! Brands, ClubCorp, Cigna Healthcare, Duke Energy, Land’s End, Aflac, Raytheon and the Social Security Administration. These groups will tell you that David changed not only their perspectives, their energy levels and their attitudes, but he changed their lives.
Best-Selling Author
With more than three million copies of his books in print, David is most well-known for authoring the ground-breaking, best-selling books Monday Morning Leadership, Monday Morning Mentoring, Tuesday Morning Coaching, and LeaderShift: Making Leadership Everyone’s Business. His books have been adopted by organizations in numerous countries as trusted leadership training tools. In addition to a wealth of information on leadership, his book and presentation topics include: success principles; coaching; accountability; communication; sales; customer service; presentation skills; and time management.
David Cottrell Speaking Topics
Monday Morning Leadership 10 Principles to Becoming a Great Leader
“Today's leaders must be partners with their people...they no longer can lead solely based on positional power.” What would be the impact on your organization and your business if every one of your leaders spent dedicated time with a mentor? Now they can. In this program based on his best-selling book, Monday Morning Mentoring and Monday Morning Leadership, David delivers up to 10 key success principles that equip leaders to confront and overcome their daily “people” challenges. Veteran and novice leaders alike will: • Accept responsibility and maintain focus in order to positively influence the organization. • Discover the need to escape from "management land" to get in touch with and motivate their teams. • Learn how to “hire tough” and retain your good employees. • Expand their learning zones to make continuous improvement a priority. • Reinforce that integrity is the most important leadership quality. • Gain workable strategies to improve communication and get the results needed.
The First Two Rules of Leadership: Don’t Be Stupid. Don’t Be A Jerk
Do your leaders want to do great things, but are overwhelmed with the complexities of leading? Don't Be Stupid. Don't Be a Jerk are the two greatest rules for leaders to achieve extraordinary results with class. Based on his latest book, David Cottrell’s keynote is direct and simple: think your decisions through and take care of your team. It is grounded on solid principles that apply to businesses in every industry. If you are searching for a speaker who will provide your team with tried and proven techniques that improve employee morale, decrease turnover, improve results plus help them have a whole lot more fun leading, this is for you. This keynote provides a clear path to increased results and higher job satisfaction for the leader and the people he/she is leading. After attending this presentation, your leadership team will: • Make smarter decisions and treat people with dignity at the same time. • Develop synchronization on your team to get everyone moving toward your goal. • Coach smart, deal with poor performers, and focus on what's really important • Attack complacency, lead with confidence and encourage positive performance The First Two Rules of Leadership: Don't be Stupid, Don't be a Jerk gives you the expert tips and techniques you need to treat your team with dignity and respect—so you can all enjoy the benefits of winning with class.
David Cottrell Books
The War At Work: A Tale of Navigating the Unwritten Rules of the Hierarchy in a Half Changed World
Purchase Book
The First Two Rules of Leadership: Don’t be Stupid, Don’t be a Jerk
Purchase Book
Second Quarter … Get the most out of life’s toughest times
Purchase Book
Monday Morning Leadership
Purchase Book
Listen-Up, Leader!
Purchase BookDavid Cottrell Videos
David Cottrell Speaker Testimonials
You wildly exceeded all of our expectations. We can honestly say that our company is stronger because of you.
- Melissa Reiff, President | The Container Store
Everyone walked away from our meeting energized – not only with motivational thoughts, but also with practical tips that we can use in our everyday lives. Thanks for delivering more than what we were hoping for!
- Linda Rutherford, Senior VP | Southwest Airlines
[David is] are a gifted speaker with a unique ability to take leadership principles which can be utilized on a daily basis and communicate them clearly and in a common sense manner.
- David T. Vandewater, President & CIO | Ardent Health Services
David is an amazing speaker. He has the perfect way of saying what needs to be said, and making it stick.
- Rhonda Thomas | Bridgestone Commercial
