Marc Koehler

Keeping Your Team Steady When The World Is Anything But

Expert on

  • Leadership
  • Military
  • Teamwork
  • Communications
  • Safety
  • Workplace Culture

Fee Range

$10,000–$15,000

Travels from

CA, US

Biography

In 1988, Marc joined the U.S. Nuclear Submarine Force. The U.S. Navy invested $1 million dollars teaching him how to be a leader. Marc put that into use by leading 110 men, average age of 23, to operate a $1 billion dollar nuclear submarine on a variety of missions critical to national security.

The Elite Leadership culture and environment that he was exposed to showed him exactly what it takes to build a high-performance team that can operate in a dynamically changing environment. After 6 years of being out at sea for 80% of the year, Marc made the choice to leave the U.S. Navy.

Marc went to work for Honeywell where he learned how to read a profit and loss statement, put together big company strategic plans, and became a master black belt in Lean Six Sigma.

When his daughters were 6, 4, and 2, he could either climb Honeywell’s corporate ladder or be at every back to school night, choir performance, and soccer practice. He chose the latter and started his own one-man management consulting firm.

Over the course of ten years, Marc was brought into numerous distressed companies as an interim CEO/COO. He developed a reputation as someone who could tackle the worst business situations. Marc has led many companies on the verge of going under back to profitability. It was during this time that Marc witnessed the power of the human spirit and the role of a leader to inspire and help everyone reach their full potential.

Koehler realized that what the world needs isn’t more management systems – it needs more leadership. 

Speaker Videos

Fast Attack Leadership

The 5 Step Framework Nuclear Submarine Officers Use to Develop Elite Teams.

Operating 600 feet beneath the surface of the ocean on missions critical to national security, hesitation is not an option and decisions must be made without perfect information. In this powerful keynote, former U.S. Navy Nuclear Submarine Officer Marc Koehler shares the 5-Step Framework submarine officers use to stay aligned, act decisively, and execute with confidence in environments defined by pressure, uncertainty, and constant disruption. Audiences leave with practical tools they can apply immediately to strengthen trust, ownership, communication, and execution across their teams.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

  1. A Proven 5-Step Framework for Leading Under Pressure
    A clear, actionable system to align teams, drive ownership, and execute with confidence—even in uncertainty.
  2. Agility in Adversity
    How to adapt quickly, make faster decisions, and maintain momentum when conditions are constantly changing.
  3. Building a High-Performance Culture
    Create an environment of trust, accountability, and teamwork where people step up, not back, under pressure.
  4. Decision-Making Without Perfect Information
    Equip leaders at every level to take the shot—even when the path isn’t fully clear.
  5. Practical Tools for Immediate Impact
    Simple, actionable strategies that can be implemented right away to improve communication, alignment, and execution.

Safety From the Silent Depths

Navigating the Seas of Safety in High-Stakes Environments

Ingrain a culture of Purpose-Driven Safety in the fabric of your organization and its people.

On a nuclear submarine, safety is not a department. It is a mindset embedded into every decision and every system. Marc shares how the Navy transformed tragedy into one of the most rigorous safety cultures in the world and how those principles translate directly to modern organizations operating in high-risk environments. This keynote shows leaders how to create personal accountability, vigilance, and ownership in every person so safety becomes a shared mission across the entire workforce.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

  • Purposeful Leadership: Learn how purpose-driven leaders can instill a sense of meaning and commitment, elevating safety practices from obligatory routines to passionate endeavors.
  • Human Connection: Learn how fulfilling the three things humans crave can create a supportive environment where safety is a shared responsibility.
  • Swift Decision-Making: Understand the critical role of decisive actions in mitigating risks and ensuring the safety of every team member.
  • QA and PM Programs: Compelling case study of how the U.S. Submarine Force has successfully ensured the safety, reliability, and effectiveness of these extraordinary vessels.
  • Transformative Safety Culture: Explore practical methods to empower employees, encouraging them to become ambassadors for safety.

Lead with Purpose

The 3-Step Process to Communicating and Connecting Your Employees to Your Company’s Inspiring Story

Implement a brand purpose to boost your team’s productivity and performance.

People want to belong to something meaningful. In this keynote, Marc shows leaders how to define and communicate a compelling organizational purpose that aligns employees, strengthens culture, and fuels engagement. By connecting strategy, values, and daily work into a simple and memorable narrative, leaders can transform disengaged teams into mission-driven organizations that move forward together and collectively lead under pressure.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

  • Understanding the Importance of Purpose: Comprehend the critical role of purpose-driven leadership in today’s disruptive environment.
  • Exploring the Fast Attack Framework: Gain an in-depth understanding of the Fast Attack framework and grasp how each step contributes to fostering employee engagement and alignment.
  • Simplifying Complex Concepts: Learn effective strategies to distill complex organizational concepts into simple, memorable formats.
  • Measuring and Addressing Disengagement: Acquire the skills to identify signs of disengagement and understand its implications for productivity and performance.
  • Applying Purpose-Driven Leadership: Leave with practical insights on leveraging the Fast Attack framework.

Bravo Zulu

Harnessing the Power of Recognitions, Celebrations, and Gratefulness to create an E3 Culture.

Create a culture where people feel seen, valued, and driven to perform at their highest level.

“Bravo Zulu” is a naval signal meaning “well done,” and on a submarine it plays a critical role in reinforcing the behaviors that keep crews performing at elite levels. When pressure rises and conditions shift, recognition isn’t a nice-to-have—it’s what anchors performance, reinforces what matters, and ensures teams stay focused and aligned when it counts. Marc reveals the science behind recognition and why one of the most powerful leadership tools costs nothing but attention and intention. This keynote equips leaders to create a culture where people feel seen, valued, and motivated to step up, stay focused, and deliver when it matters most.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

  • Define Your Company’s Bravo Zulu: Discover the transformative power of recognition and how it connects everyone to the mission.
  • The Science of Recognition: Explore the link between recognition, human needs, and dopamine release in the brain.
  • Impact on Employee Engagement: Gain insights via studies that reveal the direct correlation between recognition frequency and increased engagement levels.
  • ​​Reinforcing the Right Behaviors in High-Pressure Moments:Learn how consistent, timely recognition helps teams stay focused on what matters most, strengthening accountability and reinforcing the behaviors that sustain performance when expectations rise and conditions shift.
  • The Art of Storytelling: Explore a 4-part framework for crafting memorable recognition stories that inspire and resonate.
  • The Power of Public Recognition: Uncover why public recognition enhances the emotional impact, triggers empathy, and multiplies the positive effects of recognition.

Course Correct To Success

Cultivating Agility Within Your Leadership Team

Leading under pressure is no longer a rare moment—it’s the job. Equip your team at every level to make the most smart decisions the fastest when the stakes are highest.

Marc Koehler takes audiences inside the world of nuclear submarines, where teams must navigate chaos, operate with incomplete information, and make critical decisions without hesitation. He reveals how high-performing crews distribute decision-making authority while staying fully aligned to mission and intent. Leaders walk away with the frameworks, confidence, and communication rhythms needed to empower their teams to act decisively, adapt in real time, and continuously course correct in fast-changing conditions.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

  • Agile Decision-Making Empowers Success: Navigate ambiguity, make informed choices, and pivot swiftly to best guide teams toward victory.
  • Decentralized Decision-Making Amplifies Impact: Understand that when decision authority is distributed, teams make more, smart decisions.
  • Overcoming Decision Fatigue and Choice Overload: Embracing the 40-70 principle encourages a shift in mindset, allowing leaders and teams to make informed decisions even when faced with uncertainty.
  • Maintaining Clarity and Control in High-Stakes Environments: Learn how clear intent, shared priorities, and disciplined communication rhythms allow teams to stay aligned and make confident decisions even when information is incomplete and conditions are changing rapidly.
  • Leveraging Technology for Agility: Simple Systems like Fast Attack serve as invaluable tools for keeping everyone connected, informed, and focused on their goals.
  • Embracing Ambiguity and Taking the Shot: Begin accepting that initial decisions are not final and adopting a continuous course correction approach.

Battle E

The Art of Personal and Collective Readiness

Switch from a hierarchical organization to a matrixed organization where employees are empowered and meet high expectations.

In the Navy, the “Battle Efficiency Award” recognizes teams that have built the discipline to perform under pressure without hesitation. Readiness isn’t built in the moment—it’s built long before the moment, so when conditions shift and pressure rises, teams don’t hesitate, they execute. Marc explains how elite teams prepare, train, and communicate so they are ready to perform when the stakes are highest. This keynote gives leaders practical strategies to build resilient teams that continuously learn, adapt, and stay prepared for whatever challenge surfaces next.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

  • Operational Readiness Mindset: Understand the significance of fostering a culture where every individual, team, and department is primed for disruptions and challenges.
  • Empowering Transformation: Transition from traditional hierarchical structures to matrixed organizations where employees are empowered and meet high expectations.
  • Expertise-Driven Matrixed Teams: Explore how the military’s strategy of having the right person take point in their area of expertise.
  • Cultivating Learning-At-Speed: Learn to nurture a learning-focused culture that equips individuals to adapt, innovate, and step up whenever the mission calls.
  • Question-Centric Leadership: Explore how the military’s emphasis on asking impactful questions fuels critical thinking, knowledge sharing, and preparedness.