Marc Koehler

Marc Koehler, a former U.S. Navy Nuclear Submarine Officer and turnaround CEO, is a rare blend of expertise, engagement, and 35 years of battle-tested, proven experience in Elite Leadership, evangelizing that what the world needs is not more management systems – it needs more leadership.

After leaving the Navy, Koehler worked for Honeywell where he learned how to read a profit and loss statement, put together comprehensive strategic plans, and became a master black belt in Lean Six Sigma. When his daughters were 6, 4, and 2, he could either climb the corporate ladder or be at every back-to-school night, choir performance, and soccer practice. He chose the latter and started a turnaround consulting firm. He developed a reputation as someone who could tackle the worst business situations after leading many companies back to profitability from being on the precipice of going under.

During this time, Koehler witnessed the power of the human spirit and realized that a new approach to leadership is needed – not more management systems. He founded Lead With Purpose, a leadership development and research firm, where he took the over $1M in leadership training the Navy poured into him, in combination with his civilian turnaround experience, and distilled it into simple concepts and skills to create leaders at every level of an organization. Over 51,000 leaders have been developed through Lead With Purpose’s SHRM-accredited organizational leadership consulting, coaching, courses, and simple systems.

Koehler’s experience in both the nuclear submariner service, including receiving two Battle E’s over the course of his career, as well as the business world has led him to become one of the foremost experts on Elite Leadership – a needed, relevant, and achievable approach to leadership for this new, disruptive world.

Koehler is a keynote speaker addressing audiences of up to 50,000, the best-selling author of Leading With Purpose, and the host of the Surfacing Leaders podcast where he tells the stories of leaders in unlikely places and the human spirit that drives us all.

Residing in Oceanside, California, Koehler is married to his wife Heidi of 28 years and Dad to their three grown daughters, Anja, Liesel, and Sophie.