David Cottrell

David Cottrell has created a legacy of leadership excellence. During his three decades of leadership experience in corporate America, David has lived the obstacles, frustrations and issues today’s leaders face. The best-selling business author of 25 highly acclaimed books, David has been a featured expert on public television and has shared his leadership philosophy and lessons with more than 300,000 managers and leaders worldwide. He is currently CEO and President of CornerStone Leadership Institute, one of the nation’s largest publishers of management and leadership resources.

David has earned awards and achieved levels that continue to stand out as remarkable. Armed with a degree in Marketing from the University of Arkansas, he was 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. David’s tremendous leadership achievements at Xerox and FedEx were the result of his deep belief that he could expect the best from people by investing in them.

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.

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 Wal-Mart, 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.

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 Mentoring," "Monday Morning Leadership" and "Tuesday Morning Coaching." 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’s wisdom and pragmatic insights come not only from his immense professional experience, but also from his rich life-experience. He endeavors daily to “always do the right thing,” one of the many meaningful lessons taught to him by his father. He is known as a man of high integrity, keeping commitments and “walking his talk.” Among his most important accomplishments David cherishes the balance he’s been able to achieve between his personal and professional lives.