Stephen Drum

Stephen Drum is a retired Navy SEAL Master Chief who brings combat-tested leadership and performance strategies to audiences worldwide.

Request price and availability Request price and availability

USA

Top rated!

31 Client reviews

Non-binding request for Stephen Drum

Call us

+1 347 223 5128 +44 20 3744 5675

“If you are looking for an impactful and ridiculously inspiring keynote speaker, I highly recommend Steve Drum. I have attended many sales conferences and have had the pleasure of listening to a variety of keynote speakers, but Steve's was different. He left a lasting impression. It has been three weeks since listening to Steve's talk and by this time, I would expect his message to be drifting away amidst the bustle of daily life. However, instead I find myself regularly reflecting on the stories Steve told whether I am preparing to walk into a high stakes client meeting or helping my daughter with her homework. One doesn't have to be a Navy Seal to recognize the importance of mindfulness, emotional regulation and discipline and the role that plays in every area of life. Steve articulated the importance of having a high-performance mindset and how to get there through planning and visualization. Steve shared personal stories on and off the field with authenticity and compassion. He has a wonderful sense of storytelling combined with humor and sentiment. I highly recommend Steve to any organization that wants to inspire their people through a meaningful, effective and inspirational speaker.”

Co-Host of the Leadership Podcast

Executive Coach

Read all reviews

Book Stephen

Non-binding request for Stephen Drum

Call us

+1 347 223 5128 +44 20 3744 5675

Why book Stephen Drum for your next event

Brings 27 years of Navy SEAL leadership experience, translating real-world combat lessons into practical strategies for leaders and teams.
Delivers clear frameworks for planning, preparation, and execution under pressure, drawn from high-risk global operations.
Known for authentic presence and credibility, shaped by training thousands of elite operators and future leaders.

Non-binding request for Stephen Drum

Combat-tested leadership for high performance when it matters most

Stephen Drum is a combat-tested retired Navy SEAL Master Chief with 27 years of experience leading, training, and developing high-performance teams. Throughout his Navy career from 1992 to 2019, he operated at the sharp end of leadership, where preparation, clarity, and trust determine outcomes. Today, Stephen is an in-demand speaker and consultant who helps individuals and organizations build leadership and performance strategies that hold up under pressure. His work equips leaders to plan, prepare, and execute at the highest levels when it truly counts.

Stephen Drum – Combat-Tested Leadership Experience

Stephen Drum served in the U.S. Navy for nearly three decades, retiring as a Navy SEAL Master Chief. During this time, he trained and led U.S. and foreign partner special operations forces on high-risk, strategically vital missions across the globe. His operational experience includes combat deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, where decision-making, discipline, and resilience were essential to mission success.
These experiences shaped Stephen’s leadership philosophy: performance is built long before the moment of action. On stage, Stephen Drum shares lessons forged in environments where mistakes carry real consequences, translating them into leadership principles relevant for executives, teams, and organizations facing constant pressure and change.

Leadership Under Pressure: Lessons from Elite Teams

As a speaker, Stephen Drum focuses on how elite teams prepare to perform when conditions are uncertain and stakes are high. He helps audiences understand how leadership behaviors, mindset, and preparation directly influence outcomes. His presentations connect the realities of special operations with everyday leadership challenges, offering tools that leaders can apply immediately.
Stephen’s approach is grounded, direct, and practical. He shows how leaders can build trust, establish standards, and create teams capable of executing under stress. This makes Stephen Drum a strong choice for organizations seeking leadership insights that are proven, disciplined, and experience-driven.

Warrior Toughness and Performance Readiness

One of Stephen Drum’s most influential contributions was co-developing and teaching the “Warrior Toughness” training program for the U.S. Navy. This program fundamentally changed how the Navy trains and prepares young sailors and officers for the acute stress of intense combat operations.
Drawing on this experience, Stephen explains how mental toughness, emotional regulation, and preparation can be trained and sustained over time. He shows how performance readiness is not accidental, but the result of deliberate practice, strong leadership, and a culture that supports growth under pressure.

Book Stephen Drum for Your Event

Organizations that book Stephen Drum gain access to a speaker who has personally trained thousands of elite military soldiers and Navy SEAL candidates. His insights are shaped by helping individuals succeed in some of the world’s most demanding training pipelines and overseas combat operations.
Key takeaways from Stephen’s talks include:

How to plan and prepare for high-stakes moments before they arrive
Leadership behaviors that build trust and accountability in teams
Strategies for maintaining performance under sustained pressure

Stephen Drum is also the author of Life on the X: A Navy SEAL's Guide to Meeting Any Challenge with Courage, Confidence and Readiness, released in March 2023. The book reflects his core message: success under pressure is built through preparation, mindset, and disciplined leadership.
When you book Stephen Drum for your event, you bring your audience face-to-face with leadership lessons proven in the most demanding environments imaginable, delivered with clarity, credibility, and purpose.

Customer Reviews

Co-Host of the Leadership Podcast Executive Coach

“I’ve had the privilege of hearing Steve Drum present multiple times now, and each time I have walked away with a new valuable lesson. Steve brings a unique vantage point that can’t be duplicated by other corporate speakers, and as a result he garners instant credibility with his audience. Most of us can only sit back and listen in awe when Steve shares stories from his esteemed Navy SEAL career as we’ve never faced anything even remotely similar. However, Steve has a natural ability to translate his experiences for the average listener, and to distill the lesson from each down to an actionable take-away. Steve allows all of us to benefit from his years of training by offering his strategies around preparation and execution, and thereby enabling each of us to learn how to excel in our own pursuits. I highly recommend engaging Steve to come speak with your team! “

Vice President Product and Partner Management CDW

“It gives me great pleasure to highly recommend Stephen Drum as an exceptional speaker. Steve was our lead speaker on the first morning of our 56th Annual Conference in Chicago last week. Steve was prompt, easy to work with and communicative prior to the conference and kept the interest of our delegates with an excellent presentation on Using the Warrior Mindset to Meet All of Life’s Challenges - Performing on the X. While Steve began his talk with stories of his service as a Navy SEAL Master Chief, he was able to connect his experiences to any professional setting. Therefore, both our Veterans and other service members could relate, as well as those who had never served in the military. It was the perfect mix. Steve filled the General Session room with positive energy and a dynamic presence, and he kept the attention of 250 people for 30 minutes with an impressive presentation. Thank you, Stephen, for starting our conference on a very high note! Well done.”

Conference Manager DCUC

“I had the honor of attending a virtual presentation led by Stephen recently for our team and key clients. Many people are getting burned out on webinars, but Stephen brought a unique approach leveraging his background as a Navy Seal which was very inspiring. He leveraged his Navy Seal experience to guide us on how to create high performing teams and shared suggestions on how to be a high performing leader and individual. I highly recommend Stephen if you are looking for someone with a fresh and innovative perspective.”

Director of Enterprise Sales Magenic

“I recently participated in a virtual presentation led by Stephen. His professional background with the Navy Seals is inspiring. And then how he uses that as background to help create high performing teams is very relevant for any business leader. I highly recommend Stephen if you are looking for someone with a fresh and innovative perspective on team building.”

V.P. Application Engineering Waystar

“I first heard Steve speak as he was entering retirement from his 27 year career as a Navy SEAL. Although I was interested in hearing his fascinating experiences and stories, I was doubtful I would see how they related to me. Boy was I wrong! His method of linking each story to his various leadership insights made them both inspiring and practical at the same time. Steve challenged me to strive to be a better leader and gave me the tools to get there.”

Owner Gwen Borner Consulting

“Over the past four years I have interviewed over 300 people on leadership. I just heard Steve speak and he is #1 on my list! He effortlessly taught me to apply what he learned during 27 years in the SEAL teams to my life and organization. His framework of Intentionality, Proficiency, Agility and Accountability is brilliant, simple to apply and Steve provided tools that were immediately actionable.”

CEO Beyond Influence

“I’ve had the pleasure of hearing Steve Drum present his strong message on commitment, preparation, execution and reflection multiple times. Steve’s presentation style and delivery are both engaging and captivating. He will leave you thinking differently about your approach, your mindset and how you deliver on results. Steve’s humility, realistic and proven techniques will help you and your teams perform better.”

Director, Dept. of Defense CDW-G

“Steve’s (virtual) presentation was thought-provoking and tremendously inspiring. From lessons learned over two decades as a Navy Seal, Steve provided our audience with the tools and tactics necessary to achieve and sustain high performance as leaders. Steve is a must-see presenter for those looking for inspiration, motivation, and ideas on how to perform your best and face adversity.”

Regional Vice President Hartford Funds

“I recently had Steve speak at our annual Sales kick-off. Steve’s presentation was engaging, spoke to the focus areas for Accertify and really resonated with our organization. I was really impressed with the time that Steve took to get to know me and the context for which I was asking him to present. On the day of his presentation he turned-up several hours ahead of his presentation and stayed to mingle and answer questions afterwards. Steve is a powerful speaker who imparted meaningful and well thought-out messages to my team. A class act in all respects!”

V.P. Global Sales and Partnership Accertify

“Steve Drum’s energetic and motivating presentation on his experience as a Navy SEAL and “Warrior Toughness” trainer demonstrated how preparedness, collaboration, mindfulness and execution are skills needed to achieve your personal best in high stakes situations – a mindset that is increasingly important as companies look to deliver innovative solutions for their customers.”

Head of Programs Zurich North America

“Your talk was much needed and truly motivating. Thank you again for sharing your story and your insights on how to stay motivated & productive. Your content was easy to follow, and the prompts in the chat helped people actively reflect.”

Global Sales Training Specialist Spotify

“Stephen is a phenomenal keynote speaker! His experience with the Navy SEALs and his ability to relate that to civilian life through stories and insights is one of a kind. He’s also a pleasure to work with and a great guy.”

Head of Sales Wealth Management Solutions, Schroders

“Just want to reiterate how pleased we were with Stephen. High energy and great message that can adapt to most audiences, even one as diverse (by job function) as ours.”

CEO Industrial Supply Association

“Thank you (for the deep dive workshop) the team I think responded with the best compliment possible: ‘Stephen exceeded our expectations’ ! Thanks again for the Challenge coin!”

Sales Director Mid America Sales

“Steve’s presentation was entertaining, riveting and inspiring. His speech left a lasting impression with our entire audience. We look forward to partnering again in the future.”

V.P. Fuel Sales & Marketing Parent Petroleum, Inc.

“Our elite warriors train to respond with success when the stakes are high. I had the pleasure of Steve presenting to my leaders and discussing how our best, do what they do. It was an outstanding talk. If you’re looking for a top quality speaker to train your team how to perform when the stakes are high, I highly recommend that you give Steve a call!”

V.P. Organ Health Natera

“Steve did a great job presenting relevant, implementable and practical information to our group in an engaging presentation. WE look forward to working with him again.”

President & Founder Carver Financial Services, Inc. Raymond James Financial Services Registered Principal

“Steve’s 2 hour workshop for our annual UPS Franchise Leadership Conference for our franchises was very Impactful! The workshop had great structure and we loved his mission statement and message on work life balance and how to manage the stress. His employee engagement message and tips for meditation and reflections were audience favorites. His interactive workshop allowed for audience involvement which allowed for the attendees to share and network which was greatly appreciated and we were so happy he hung around for our happy hour so the attendees could have more time to chat with him!”

Franchisee Brand Leaders in The UPS Store

"I can say with all confidence and on behalf of our leadership team, that your session was impactful. In fact, I'm still hearing buzz about it! Likewise, I hope to have the opportunity to work with you, and Kelly, again as well!"

CMP, Sr. Manager Business Strategy Charles Schwab

“Outstanding talk! Incredibly motivational. Took tons of notes. Thank YOU!”

Chadwick Carter Area Business Director/Regional Sales Director

“Stephen- loved your storytelling skills and captivating the entire room. Thank you for your service and your concepts- I will definitely be putting them to use!!!”

Wendy Chin 9X Presidents Club Winner-Rare Disease

“WOW - truly amazing! You kept us entertained and made it so relevant to our industry. Thank you for making the trip and speaking to our group.”

Lisa Ducote Associate Director of Strategic Development & Advocacy at ANI

“Was very inspiring and motivational. Thanks Stephen we all appreciated it. One of the best I have heard in all my years of being in sales/pharma.”

Jeff Fisher Rare Disease, Clinical Account Executive

“He is incredible!!! Truly the best I have heard and I have heard a lot.”

Kelsey James Area Business Director ANI Pharmaceuticals

“Stephen’s session was wonderfully received! It was a great session to kick off our day!

Marketing Manager Baker Tilly

“The event was a success - Stephen absolutely nailed it! We are a tough crowd and he hit on all the points that were most valuable to the group. We were all honored to have gotten the chance to meet Stephen.”

Meeting planner ATLAS SP

"Stephen Drum did a great job with his engagement with our group. His message was clear and molded into our direction and message that we needed delivered to our group. I would recommend Stephen to others."

Helena Agri

“It is with great enthusiasm that I recommend Stephen Drum as an exceptional motivational speaker. Having witnessed his incredible ability to inspire an audience, I can confidently say he embodies the essence of resilience and thoughtful preparation. Stephen has a remarkable talent for weaving powerful stories, relatable experiences, and actionable strategies into his presentation. Stephen created a lasting impact with our sales team. The feedback from the attendees was overwhelmingly positive! I wholeheartedly endorse Stephen. He will leave any audience energized and inspired.”

Associate Director-Commercial Training ANI

“Stephen’s presentation to our sales and medical team was a true highlight that set the stage for a successful meeting and year. He took the time to understand our challenges and meet our people, which led to a customized presentation about how to successfully perform in critical situations-which for a sales team is every time they are in front of a customer. Importantly, he provided relatable stories while giving us proven effective techniques and strategies that applied to everyone in the room. Simply put it was a home run.”

Mark Booth EVP TerSera Therapeutics

“We had the pleasure of booking Stephen Drum to kick off our recent company event, attended by approximately 200 employees. The theme of our event focused on teamwork, communication, and navigating challenges both in the workplace and in everyday life. Stephen not only met our expectations—he exceeded them. His high-energy, engaging personality immediately set the tone for the day. Stephen has a remarkable ability to connect with the audience, sharing real-life experiences that are both relatable and impactful. He effectively tied his message back to our goals, emphasizing the power of preparation and mindset when facing difficult situations. Stephen’s session left our team feeling inspired and equipped with practical tools to tackle adversity—whether at work or at home. His message was clear, his delivery was powerful, and his presence truly elevated our event. We highly recommend Stephen Drum for any organization looking to motivate, challenge, and empower their employees.

Shan Jaescke Agronomy Manager, NEW Cooperative

Keynotes

Keynote by Stephen Drum:

Perform on the X - Learn how to meet any challenge with Courage, Confidence, and Readiness!

Work, family, relationships, life is demanding. A high-stress situation, or being on the X where all the pressures converge, could be right around the corner. How will you confront it? Your ability to succeed in stressful and challenging situations and seize opportunities depends on how you show up to face these moments. When you’re up against obstacles, you may find yourself feeling overwhelmed and underprepared. But the battles you face are won when you prepare for life on the X.

Life on the X shares strategies used by the world’s highest performers. In this guide, you will discover tactics that elite athletes, military special operators, and successful business leaders use to thrive under pressure and deliver world-class results.

You can triumph when you are deliberate in how you prepare for, execute, and assess your actions in the most important moments in your life. By learning the skills and methods of top-performers, you can meet the X with courage and confidence.

Are you ready to bring your A game to life?

In the SEAL Teams, the X refers to the most critical and dangerous point of the operation; fast roping from a helicopter onto the rooftop of an enemy building, a coordinated attack on an enemy compound, or operating deep behind enemy lines. This is the point of NO RETURN where a SEAL must be at their best.

No matter where and no matter the circumstance, it’s critical that SEALs perform at their best “on the X” in each of these moments.

While in the boardroom instead of the battlefield it may not be life or death, but there are still critical moments where the pressure is on, and we absolutely need to bring our A-game.

Request a quote

Keynote by Stephen Drum:

When the stakes are this high, we must be focused, resilient, and well prepared.

As the Co-Creator of The U.S. Navy Warrior Toughness program, Stephen teaches how the same techniques used by the Navy & SEALs, elite athletes, and top-performing CEOs operators can be applied to leading & developing high-performance teams in business as well as by individuals in their personal and professional lives.

In this presentation, Stephen shares proven performance psychology techniques and training methods used by the world’s most elite performers and shows how it can easily be applied to any high-pressure business situation or personal event. Each presentation will be customized around the audience’s specific goals and challenges

After you learn to perform on the X, you and your teams will not only learn to face challenge and adversity with courage and resilience, but you’ll also learn concrete methods that will allow for: Increased Employee Engagement, Stronger Collaboration, High-Performance Under Pressure, Agility, Stress Management, Increased EQ, Proven Preparation and Rehearsal Methods for Important Events, Proven Team and Individual Lessons Learned Framework, Adaptability & Change Management

Takeaways

Learn how to develop to true resilience in the face of adversity and set-back
Face the most pressing life and business challenges head on
Execute with agility and flexibility when everything is on the line
Develop a deliberate process to study lessons learned in preparation for what’s next
Implement effective strategies for leading teams through dynamic change