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ross cooney speaker

talks on performance, pressure and leading at work and at home

Former Royal Marines Commando, TEDx speaker and leadership coach. Real stories, practical tools, and a standard your audience will remember long after the applause.

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Most conference talks are forgotten by the coffee break

Your audience gets an hour of inspiration. They clap. They go back to their desks. By Monday, nothing has changed.

I don’t do motivation for its own sake. I’ve stood in front of Royal Marines recruits, boardrooms, classrooms and the TEDx stage, and the talks that land are the ones people can act on the same day.

Every talk I give is built on three things:

  • Stories with real stakes, from commando training to running a business and raising a family
  • One simple tool your audience can use before they leave the room
  • A higher standard, delivered straight, without the corporate fluff

Here’s what I speak on.

THE TALKS

Four keynotes, each tailored to your audience and event.

1. RETHINKING EMPLOYEE MOTIVATION — a fresh approach to managing people. Moving beyond traditional management methods to build trust, encourage ownership and recognise individual contribution. Includes the Royal Marines principle of commander’s intent: give people the why, not just the orders, and ownership follows. The result is a culture that lifts engagement, performance and retention.

2. REDEFINING SUCCESS: THE 1% DAILY APPROACH — what happens when you hit the big visible goal and realise it was the wrong measure. How to define success on your own terms, then build it through small, relentless daily standards. The idea behind my TEDx talk.

3. THE EXHAUSTED MANAGER — leading others when you’re running on empty. Managers carry the most pressure in any organisation and get the least support. Practical tools to command time, control energy and lead with presence, at work and at home.

4. RESPOND, DON’T REACT — performance under pressure. Lessons from Royal Marines training and elite sport on staying calm, making good decisions and recovering fast when things go wrong.

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formats

Every talk can be delivered as:

  • A keynote (30 to 60 minutes)
  • An interactive workshop (half day)
  • A fireside chat or panel
  • A keynote followed by a leadership programme for your team, so the message turns into lasting change
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the outcome

Your audience will leave with:

  • A practical tool they can use the same day
  • A clearer picture of what sustainable high performance really looks like
  • Stories they’ll still be talking about next week
  • A higher standard for how they lead, at work and at home

No fluff. No recycled quotes. Just straight talk that changes how people show up.

as heard at

Stages and audiences

TEDx · British Olympic boxing and shooting coaches · UK Anti-Doping · Lloyds · Local council events · OWL North (2026 keynote and previous events)

Also trusted by Premier Education (built their national Fitness in Schools programme) and leaders at Greencore, Linbrooke, Rokar and Barr Waste Management.

Send me your event date, audience and theme, and I’ll come back to you within 24 hours.

ross cooney

I’m Ross Cooney, founder of Ascend360.

I served in the Royal Marines as a regular and reservist, and I’ve spent 16 years coaching and consulting with business owners, leaders and organisations including Lloyds, Greencore and Linbrooke. I’ve lectured, I race triathlons, and I’ve spoken on the TEDx stage.

I’m also a husband and a father. Everything I teach, I’m living right now: the discipline, the pressure, and the daily choice between ambition and the people at home.

On stage, that means honest stories and practical tools, not theory.

Based in Yorkshire. Speaking at events across the UK.