Phillip C. Thomas

For the past decade, Phillip Thomas has served CEOs and other senior executives as a Chair for Vistage International, the world’s leading CEO development organization.  For three years during this time, he was Senior Vice President and Northeast Regional Executive responsible for significant, record-setting membership growth in the eastern half of the United States for Vistage. He joined Vistage in 2012 as an area Chair and Speaker on the topic of building relationships of trust as the foundation of effective leadership.  He is currently the Chair of both a CEO and a Trusted Advisor group in the Boston area and will soon launch a third Vistage group.

With over 25 years of experience as a public/private company CEO, he has experienced many of the challenges inherent in navigating the difficult process of creating, growing, and sustaining a profitable enterprise.  His business experience includes serving as the CEO of several successful high-tech manufacturing firms and CEO leadership roles at several high-tech public companies.  He was twice a finalist in the E&Y Entrepreneur of the Year program during his career.

Currently, he is also involved with improving enterprise value and leadership performance with a number of private company clients.   One of his most successful roles is that of turning around underperforming companies and helping Owners exit at maximum company valuations.

Before his business career, Phillip served ten years as a Naval Intelligence Officer, earning consistent top 1% performance reports, selection for early promotion, and other honors.  His watchwords in life are the “big three” – do good, have fun, and make money – all the while treating people with respect, leading by example, and creating a noble legacy.

He earned his undergraduate degree in Political Science and a minor in Psychology from Brigham Young University.  He also completed the Master of Science Strategic Intelligence program at the Defense Intelligence Agency and continued his executive development at the Harvard and Stanford Business Schools.  He recently enrolled at Harvard Law School, where he will further improve his negotiation, mediation, conflict resolution, and change management skills.

A lifelong learner, Phillip loves business, sports, and family – including his daughter, son, and nine grandchildren while residing with Sherrine, his wife of 40+ years, outside Boston in Belmont, MA.  In his spare time, he relaxes in Wolfeboro on the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire. He locally tends to a dozen honeybee colonies since completing the Master Beekeeper program at Cornell University.  Customers seek his bees’ various honey products – typically regarding them as “the most wonderful taste in nature.”