Designing Leaders started out in 2010, providing consulting services to small and medium enterprises in the United States. It was “rebooted” in 2014 to provide the coaching and training that help companies in the Asia-Pacific region develop their leadership talent.
Having been based in Bangkok and Manila over the years, the company shifted its offices to Singapore in 2019. We continue to help clients create a leadership culture based on sustainable growth, focusing for now on virtual programs while looking forward to the day we can resume in-person sessions.
FOUNDER
Dr William Thomas
Dr Thomas founded Designing Leaders in the US in 2010 while teaching as a professor at Georgetown University in Washington DC. He moved the business to Southeast Asia in 2014, and established Designing Leaders Pte Ltd in Singapore in 2019. In November 2020 he moved on to a new opportunity, but his foundational work continues to inspire the company today.
He served over 21 years as a strategic planner and international affairs specialist in the United States Air Force, retiring in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel. In the 1990s he created many of the US military’s strategies for peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, and he developed a leadership training and education framework to address the Air Force’s changing missions. During his career he deployed to hotspots around the world to lead US and coalition forces in complex operations.
In addition to teaching at Georgetown, Dr Thomas also taught as Associate Professor of Political Science at the US Air Force Academy and as a Fulbright Scholar at Singapore’s Nanyang Technological University. He holds a PhD focusing on organizational change as well as an MBA. A runner in his spare time, he is one of the few people in the world to complete The Marathon Grand Slam, consisting of a marathon on all 7 continents and at the North Pole. His book, CROSS THE LINES: A Journey to Complete The Marathon Grand Slam, shares the lessons from that experience.