Global managing partner, Heidrick & Struggles Intl.

Company Info: Heidrick & Struggles Intl.

Web site: www.heidrick.com

Address: 1750 Tysons Blvd., Suite 300, McLean, Va. 22102

Phone: 703-848-2500

E-mail: krajagopalan@heidrick.com

Advice: Stick with it: Demonstrate results. Pursue your passion: You have a higher probability of being excellent. Know what you are good at and play to it. Don't be too proud to get good internal and external mentors/coaches.

Qualities sought in emerging leaders: Integrity, demonstrated leadership—examples of overcoming difficult situations, vision/strategy they set for the team; people development—do they have a tribe/following? Evidence? Passion—what do they really love to do? Tolerance for ambiguity yet clarity of decision making: It is not all black and white, there are many shades of gray that leaders have to deal with.

Sector specialization: Professional services, IT services and outsourcing, business services

Job function specialization: CEOs, COOs, practice leaders, chief strategy officers, partners

Geographical Focus: Global

Companies I often recruit for: Confidential

Favorite historical figure: Albert Einstein. He never stopped asking why.

Education: Univ. of Chicago, MBA, 1988; The Johns Hopkins Univ., MS, Electrical Engineering, 1983; BES, Electrical Engineering, 1982

Languages: English, Tamil, French

Employment history: Heidrick & Struggles, Managing Partner, 2001 to present; A.T. Kearney, Vice-President/Partner, 1994-2001; Price Waterhouse, Strategic Consulting Group, Senior Manager, 1988-94; Harris Corp., Satellite Communications Div., Engineer, 1983-86

Other interests: Tennis

Professional/Membership Affiliations: NR

Experience in executive search consulting: 7 years

High Profile Placement: Confidential

Other paths I might have pursued: Teaching

The global business trend that will most influence corporate performance in the future: True globalization of talent will even the playing field: Talent at all levels and in the future particularly executive leadership will no longer be restricted to traditional high-GDP countries. Diversity of talent will increase significantly. High-performing companies will embrace this trend and those that fail to recognize it will falter.