The behind-the-scenes story of how a headhunting pioneer helped shape an industry Born in Greenwich, Connecticut, the author graduated from Philips Exeter and Yale before joining the US Air Force as a navigator-bombardier in a B-36. After his stint in the military, he returned to JP Morgan as a lending officer.

The behind-the-scenes story of how a headhunting pioneer helped shape an industry On a summer day in 1969, Russell S. Reynolds, Jr., and his friend Lee Getz took a drive from Manhattan to Greenwich, Connecticut, in Reynolds’s Oldsmobile 98. Along the way, they explored the idea of starting their own executive search firm. In October of that year, Reynolds and Getz opened their first office on Park Avenue, and within three years they were opening offices around the world. In Heads, Reynolds recalls the fascinating story of the rise of his first firm and the transformation of the headhunting business from a small circle of well-connected people into the sizable industry that businesses all over the globe depend upon. Whether you’re a head-hunting professional or simply fascinated by how great businesses are conceived, Heads is an entertaining and edifying read that provides a complete perspective from one of the industry’s most important figures. In Heads, Russell S. Reynolds, Jr., tells the remarkable story of how he launched the world-class firm that bears his name. Along the way, he relates the invaluable business lessons he learned as he grew his company from a standalone operation into a global empire.

The behind-the-scenes story of how a headhunting pioneer helped shape an industry Born in Greenwich, Connecticut, Reynolds graduated from Philips Exeter and Yale before joining the U.S. Air Force as a navigator-bombardier in a B-36. After his stint in the military, Reynolds returned to J.P. Morgan as a lending officer, where he learned the lessons and began making the connections that would drive his long and illustrious career. Reynolds’s first foray into the executive recruiting industry he helped influence was with the New York search firm William H. Clark Associates. He quickly displayed his talents as a recruiter, and three short years later, on October 2, 1969, he founded Russell Reynolds Associates (RRA). That’s when the executive search business changed—for the better. Until then, the general feeling among business professionals was that executive search firms simply took advantage of easy access to corporate money without delivering real value to clients. With smart, forward-looking, disciplined marketing, Reynolds helped establish executive search professionals as important elements in the smooth running of American business—all while opening new offices around the world. Filled with cameo appearances by some of the twentieth-century’s greatest business titans, Heads is the fascinating story not only of how RRA became one of the world’s most influential executive search firms but also of how one man transformed an industry.