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Anthony Bourke

Decorated Fighter Pilot | Award-Winning Business Leader

Anthony Bourke Headshot Oct 2023
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The Feedback Loop
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Debrief to Improve Performance
Anthony
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Tony Bourke Thumb 2
Anthony Bourke Headshot Oct 2023
Speaker Reel
Tony Bourke Thumb 1
The Feedback Loop
Tony Bourke Thumb 2
Debrief to Improve Performance

Anthony Bourke is a highly experienced F-16 fighter pilot who has flown tactical missions around the world, accumulating more than 3000 hours of flight time. He was one of the first pilots to fly an F-16 in homeland defense efforts over New York City post-9/11. Following his impressive military career, Bourke applied the tools and techniques that made him a premier fighter pilot to the competitive world of business. Today, he delivers custom, high-impact keynote presentations that tackle some of today’s most pertinent business issues.

In addition to rising to the top of the aviation community, Bourke has built a business career on sales excellence. He was a top producing mortgage banker for a prominent lending institution, before joining a California-based startup company where he led a team of 40 professionals, growing revenue from $500,000 to $65 million in just three years.

Following this, Bourke partnered with two other fighter pilots to form Afterburner Inc., a global management training company. He served as Afterburner’s CEO and president for over a decade, combining is love of business with his passion for tactical aviation. Under Bourke’s leadership, Afterburner grew into a best-in-class training company that was twice named one of Inc. Magazine’s 500 fastest growing companies.

Today, as the founder and CEO of Mach 2 Consulting, Bourke brings his tactical knowledge and business acumen to the forefront of the management training world. He has traveled the globe sharing his message of peak performance with over 100,000 people in 12 different countries. His wealth of experience and ability to connect with audiences landed him on Inc. magazine’s list of “100 Great Leadership Speakers for Your Next Conference”.

Speaking topics

Presentations listed below include in-person and virtual keynotes, as well as workshops, fireside chats, and other presentation formats.

  • Executing at Mach 2

    There are many companies with great people and great strategies in the business world today.  Ultimately the difference between the winners and the “also rans” comes down to execution.

    During this interactive, multimedia keynote speech, Anthony Bourke will share the tools that fighter squadrons use to make sure that they are aligned, flying in formation, and executing at the highest level every single time they fly. This highly motivating and inspirational keynote will equip your team with simple, actionable tools that they can apply the very next day to improve execution and drive better results as individuals and as a team.

    If your company is pursuing a path of executional excellence, this session will reinforce your messaging and provide a fresh perspective on why execution truly matters in every business.

  • Communicating at Mach 2

    A high impact keynote focusing on how the world’s most successful enterprises — where results truly matter — achieve peak performance by creating a culture of honest and open feedback.

    At the conclusion of this multimedia presentation, your team will walk out the door with a clear understanding of the potential power of open feedback. They will also learn how a “feedback gap” can cripple an organization. Finally, they will see a clear path on how to make open feedback an integral part of your culture.

  • Leading at Mach 2

    All great leaders have a system for driving peak performance. This hard-charging, high-impact keynote offers leaders the straightforward, critical tools that US fighter pilots employ to lead their wingmen into the demanding environment of aerial combat.

    Learn how the best fighter squadrons and the best businesses in the world hire future leaders, how they properly train those individuals and continually promote a process of continuous improvement to stay one step ahead of the competition.

  • Selling at Mach 2

    In addition to rising to the top of the aviation community, Anthony Bourke has built a business career on sales excellence. After achieving accolades as a “Top Producer in the Western US” for a prominent lending institution, Bourke led a team of 40 professionals to grow revenue at a California-based startup company from $500,000 to $65M in just three years.

    A quintessential sales professional, Bourke will teach your people that just like fighter pilots, “great salespeople are made… not born.” He draws comprehensive parallels between what makes great fighter pilots and what makes great salespeople. For organizations looking to develop a sales team of “Top Guns,” this dynamic, interactive speech is a must!

  • Innovating at Mach 2

    In today’s rapidly changing world, companies and their people must constantly innovate to stay ahead of the competition. While many people in business think only of tech entrepreneurs as the leading innovators of our day, there is no doubt that fighter pilots are constantly innovating to survive and thrive in the world of aerial combat.

    As a former fighter pilot and serial entrepreneur, Anthony Bourke has applied the tools that fighter pilots use to stay ahead of the competition to the world of business.  In this speech, he will share these secrets and show your audience what it takes to be the best innovators both in combat and in their industry.

  • Staying Safe at Mach 2

    Safety is the key to every successful mission for a fighter pilot. No matter how fast they fly, or how accurate their bombing runs, none of it matters if they don’t come home. Learn how the best fighter squadrons in the world train their people to execute the mission at the highest level every day, while keeping “safety first” top of mind.

    In this high-impact keynote, Anthony Bourke explains how to build a culture of safety without compromising the mission.  He will also paint a vivid picture of how to identify the series of events that can lead to an accident while offering attendees the critical tools that US fighter pilots employ every day to keep their wingmen safe in the high stakes environment of aerial combat.

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Client reviews

  • Charles Schwab

    I was blown away by the excellent presentation. As we are combing through the evaluations, I am not alone in saying that the experience was awesome.

  • ADT

    Once again, please accept my thanks for participating in the ADT National Account Sales Kickoff Meeting. As you know we tend to be a high energy group and it’s not often a speaker or a program really lights a fire under us, but you did just that. Your high energy, fact-filled program resonated in a very positive way with the ADT National Account sales organization.

  • Young Presidents’ Organization

    Interactive presentations are the top educational events and Anthony’s was one of the best I have seen — a “10” definitely! His experience as a fighter pilot and the ability to transfer the same skills to leaders is fantastic! They came away understanding the importance of making the right split-second decisions as a leader and the resulting impact on their teams. Chapters should sign Anthony up now for an exciting and dynamic flight lesson!

  • Prudential Group Insurance

    Thank you for your work over the last several months. Finally seeing your session come to fruition was terrific. The early anecdotal feedback is very positive, as is the feedback for the overall meeting. So, my immediate reaction is SUCCESS!

  • Grocery Outlet Inc.

    Just a quick note to tell you that you were a very BIG hit at the meeting yesterday. Your approach in understanding our business was thoughtful and the continued parallels that you were able to draw between your experience as a fighter pilot and our company were relevant and resonated clearly with the audience. I anticipate that the concept of “debrief” will be widely adopted throughout Grocery Outlet. I think I mentioned to you before that we hold this meeting twice a year, and it is very rare for a speaker to receive a standing ovation. You had every one of our 300 operators on their feet at the end of your presentation, which is a testament to you and your subject matter.

  • Syncrude Canada Ltd.

    Most noticeable for the audience was the professional care and attention to detail that you put into the frontend planning for the presentations and the customization of the slide program to reflect our business focus and needs.

  • Sara Lee

    Anthony, we have contracted many consultants and dynamic presenters over the years, but let me say, your work, with the “mission objective” assigned, was the best I’ve ever personally experienced. While I could go on and an, let me close by simply saying “great job,” and we are looking forward to pursuing some additional special project work with you shortly, in some of our more challenging markets.

  • EQT Partners

    Your speech and brief/debrief were extremely well received by the partner team and fit in perfectly with our conference theme. I’m hoping many partners adopt this approach with their teams so that they become more engaged, aligned, and continue to learn and develop.

  • Russell Investments

    Thanks again for providing us a world-class speech at our PCS Annual Conference. Your message was a perfect fit for our group and our theme. Most importantly the term “debrief” is the new buzzword at Russell as we continue to “come together” and focus on always doing the right thing for our clients, our associates, and our investors. I commend you on your hard work up front, learning our business and our language. You seamlessly wove our themes and verbiage into your presentation, and this was noted by all who attended.

  • Asurion Corporation

    Your program was extremely dynamic and entertaining, and your message created immediate value-add for our company. Your concept of providing regular feedback to insure we continue to get better is something that we are implementing throughout the firm.

    I held my first debrief last week following a client presentation, and I have heard similar comments from others. Please keep me up to date on your company and best practices from others so we can continue striving for “peak performance” at Asurion.

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