ABOUT THUNDERBIRD
We believe organizations become stronger when leadership becomes a shared capability. Trusted partnerships make that possible.
Thunderbird partners with organizations to strengthen and energize leadership, team, and organizational capabilities that sustain performance. Our work begins with understanding the organization, honoring its current conditions, and prioritizing what matters most now.
WHY THUNDERBIRD EXISTS
Stronger organizations are built by strengthening how people lead and work together.
Leadership challenges rarely exist in isolation. They are shaped by organizational conditions, relationships, decisions, systems, and the ways people work together every day.
Thunderbird was built around a different premise: sustainable performance does not come from adding another program. It grows when leadership becomes a shared organizational capability and when people are supported in turning insight into consistent practice.
Our Enduring Purpose
Building the organizational capabilities that sustain performance.
Every engagement is designed to leave leaders, teams, and organizations more capable than before.
OUR STORY
Built with intention. Carried forward with care.
Thunderbird Leadership Consulting began in 2006 with an idea that was both practical and ambitious: build a leadership consulting firm that could make a meaningful difference for organizations and create something that would endure beyond its founders. Over nearly two decades, the work has expanded across industries, relationships, and generations of leaders while remaining grounded in research, practical application, and the belief that leadership is deeply human work.
That original intention is now becoming reality. As Thunderbird enters its next chapter, the work continues to evolve while preserving what matters most: trusted relationships, a whole-organization perspective, practical usefulness, and the willingness to tell the truth with care.
OUR DIRECTION
Why we exist. Where we’re going.
Our mission defines the work we are here to do. Our vision reflects the future we are working to help create.
MISSION
We partner with organizations to translate purpose into performance, powered by the strength of their people, to enhance leadership alignment, organizational culture, and the systems that enable teams to thrive in a changing world.
VISION
Intentional, self-aware leadership champions the human element and cultures are built on profound trust, leading to sustained, measurable impact across organizations.
OUR PHILOSOPHY
We call it Relationshipping™
At Thunderbird, we believe meaningful and sustainable transformation happens through intentionally cultivated relationships.
Relationshipping™ is our intentional practice of building trusted, collaborative relationships that deepen understanding, create shared commitment, and strengthen the conditions for meaningful change.
It is more than how we serve clients. It is how we choose to work.
Every interaction should strengthen trust.
Every conversation should deepen understanding.
Every engagement should leave the relationship stronger than before.
That philosophy shapes how we listen, learn, collaborate, challenge assumptions, design solutions, and work alongside the people and organizations we serve.
WHAT GUIDES US
Principles that shape how we lead, work, and contribute.
Our guiding principles influence how we make decisions, work with one another, partner with clients, and approach the responsibility of strengthening organizations.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 01 OF 15
Abundance
Address all that we do through a lens of plenty
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 02 OF 15
Community
Embrace the uniqueness of each individual/group, their perspectives, beliefs, and experiences, making us more adept at navigating our ever-changing world, creating a shared sense of purpose and harmony.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 03 OF 15
Convergence
Bring people, relationships, and ideas together in bold, sustainable ways, turning ideas and intentions into action.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 04 OF 15
Courage
Choose clarity and principled action, even when they challenge comfort or established patterns.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 05 OF 15
Curiosity
Lead with inquiry, engaging diverse perspectives to uncover insights that enable wiser decisions.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 06 OF 15
Duality
Live, manage, and lead in the present while simultaneously preparing and setting the future course.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 07 OF 15
Emergence
Commit to disciplined practice, reflection, and iterative learning to cultivate the conditions that unlock sustainable transformation.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 08 OF 15
Empowering
Create safe spaces for people to reach their fullest potential. We provide the tools, skills, and opportunities leaders need to take initiative and excel. We coach and support leaders to be catalysts for change.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 09 OF 15
Excellence
Address all aspects of work by striving toward the best possible process and outcome.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 10 OF 15
Interconnectedness
Recognize that leadership, culture, systems, and results are connected and most effective when they are aligned.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 11 OF 15
Learning
Foster growth and development through evidence-based methodology. We create impactful, practical, applicable experiences for our clients to learn, grow, and reflect in a loving, safe environment.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 12 OF 15
Maximizing
Help organizations and individuals realize their full potential by transforming the good into the exceptional.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 13 OF 15
Partnership
Recognize the other as an equal contributor; work toward consensus and demonstrate colleagueship.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 14 OF 15
Reimagining
See possibilities and apply disciplined creativity to move ideas into action.
GUIDING PRINCIPLE 15 OF 15
Teaming
Intentionally shift from thinking as separate and distinct individuals/departments, to seeing ourselves as members of a high performing team.
These principles are interconnected. Together, they help shape the way Thunderbird works, learns, partners, and grows.
WHAT WE BELIEVE
The beliefs that shape every Thunderbird partnership.
They keep the work human, evidence-informed, and focused on the capabilities that matter most.
01
Organizations are systems, not collections of individuals.
02
Leadership is a shared organizational capability.
03
Better evidence supports better decisions.
04
Sustainable performance is built, not installed.
05
Every experience should leave people more capable.
OUR TEAM
Meet the team behind every Thunderbird experience.
Every Thunderbird experience is shaped by experienced executive leaders, coaches, facilitators, and trusted organizational advisors. Together, they bring the perspectives, expertise, and commitment that strengthen every client partnership.
WHY ORGANIZATIONS TRUST THUNDERBIRD
Experienced people. Thoughtful partnership. Disciplined practice.
01
Executive perspective
Leaders and coaches who understand the realities of executive responsibility, organizational complexity, and sustained change.
02
A deep bench of expertise
A national network of experienced coaches, facilitators, and organizational development professionals.
03
Evidence-informed practice
Discovery, assessment, coaching, teaming, and facilitation shaped by evidence rather than predetermined answers.
04
Human-centered experience
Work that honors current conditions, builds trust, and helps people move forward with greater clarity and capability.
THUNDERBIRD CLIENT EXPERIENCE
“I have been to many leadership trainings, but this experience embodied the humanity of it all. No matter your title or position, we are people first.”
Healthcare emerging leader
BEGIN WITH A CONVERSATION
Trusted partnership begins with understanding.
Tell us what your organization is experiencing, what matters most now, and what you hope can become stronger next.
Organizational capability is how sustainable performance is built.
Thunderbird was founded on the belief that stronger organizations are created by strengthening the capabilities that shape leadership practice every day. That belief continues to guide every conversation, every engagement, and every partnership.
Thunderbird was founded on the belief that stronger organizations are created by strengthening the capabilities that shape leadership practice every day. That belief continues to guide every conversation, every engagement, and every partnership.
