About the Author

James M. Citrin is one of the world’s leading executive search consultants and an expert on leadership and success. He is a senior director and member of the Worldwide Board of Directors of Spencer Stuart. Since joining Spencer Stuart in January 1994, Citrin has completed more than 350 executive and board director search assignments. Notable placements include:

• CEOs of Yahoo!, AOL, Nielsen (formerly VNU), Univision Communications, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Eastman Kodak, Hertz, Motorola, Motion Picture Association of America, BSkyB, Reader’s Digest, Primedia, Gartner, L.L. Bean, Ziff-Davis, Kinko’s, Holiday Inn Worldwide, Westin Hotels & Resorts, UPromise, Panavision, Sirius Radio, and the Markle Foundation.
• Board directors for Microsoft, Yahoo!, Gap, Eastman Kodak, Ingram Micro, Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide, Rodale, Blockbuster Entertainment, Akamai Technologies, Corporate Executive Board, Priceline, and Harrah’s Entertainment.
• CFOs of Microsoft, Viacom, Yahoo!, Activision, Expedia, Discovery Communications, Akamai Technologies, BBN Technologies, and the National Football League among many others.

Citrin’s previous books are You’re in Charge, Now What? (Crown Business, 2005); The 5 Patterns of Extraordinary Careers (Crown Business, 2003); Zoom: Navigating the Road to the Next Economy (Doubleday, 2002); and Lessons from the Top: The 50 Most Successful Business Leaders in America--and What You Can Learn From Them (Doubleday, 1999).

Citrin has co-produced and hosted a special series based on the books for CNN’s Lou Dobbs Tonight (September 2003) and CNBC’s Squawk Box (January 2005). Citrin has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America and CBS’s The Early Show and has been interviewed by all major national print, television, and radio outlets. In addition, he writes the popular biweekly column Leadership by Example for Yahoo! Finance.

Prior to joining Spencer Stuart in 1994, Citrin was director of corporate planning at The Reader’s Digest Association. Before that, he spent five years with McKinsey & Company in the United States and France, serving as a senior engagement manager. Earlier, he was an associate with Goldman, Sachs & Company, and spent three years as a financial analyst with Morgan Stanley.

A 1981 Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Vassar College with a BA in economics, Citrin has served as a member of the Vassar Board of Trustees since 1999. He earned an MBA from the Harvard Business School, graduating with distinction in 1986.

Thanks to The Dynamic Path, Citrin was honored to receive an invitation from the United States Olympic Committee to become an adjunct professor at their newly created Olympic University, a groundbreaking program of leadership development based on the principles of the Olympic Movement. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Gail, and their three children, Teddy, Oliver and Lily.