Cordell Bennigson Keynote Speaker

Cordell Bennigson is an inspirational speaker, former U.S. Marine Corps officer, pilot, and forward air controller. Since leaving active duty, he has led, transformed, and sold multiple private equity-owned companies as CEO while also serving as an advisor and leadership instructor with Jocko Willink‘s Echelon Front.

In the Marine Corps, Cordell flew the AV-8B Harrier and achieved the rank of Major. During Operation Iraqi Freedom he was an Air Officer and Forward-Air Controller with the First Marine Division and Task Force Tripoli during the fight to Baghdad and into Tikrit.

Since leaving the Marine Corps, Cordell has led business teams in the United States and around the world in a wide variety of industries, roles, and companies. Within these companies his leadership style, which embraces and implements Extreme Ownership, enabled him to excel and deliver results as he progressed from General Manager to Vice President, and ultimately to multiple roles as CEO.

As a CEO, he has led companies through the challenges of growth, recession, global market shifts, business integration, cultural transformation, M&A transactions, and the wide range of challenges and opportunities encountered by teams in today’s market.

Cordell earned his Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of California at Berkeley, holds a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, and completed the Developing a Leading-Edge Operations Strategy Executive Program at the M.I.T. Sloan School of Business.

As a speaker, Cordell Bennigson brings a blend of Marine Corps, combat, and extensive private-industry leadership to his engagements. He continues to provide leadership within private companies today and has first-hand experience with the power, effectiveness, and challenges of implementing a culture of Extreme Ownership within business teams.