James Strock

James Strock is a best-selling author and acclaimed speaker on leadership. He speaks across the U.S. and around the world.

Jim is the author of Reagan on Leadership, which has been released in an updated, Reagan Centennial edition. It includes a powerful introduction by legendary management authority Tom Peters, who declares it to be a “brilliant analysis of what made Reagan tick.” T. Boone Pickens declared that Reagan on Leadership: Executive Lessons from the Great Communicator, “should be required reading in business schools across America.”

He is also the author of Serve to Lead: Your Transformational 21^st Century Leadership System. This book presents a new, 21^st century take on leadership, management, and communications—and is full of actionable information for people working at all levels, in all sectors. Marti Barletta, noted expert on marketing to women, sums it up as “the essential guidebook to 21^st century leadership.”

Serve to Lead was chosen as a “best book of the year” both by Tom Peters and by LeadershipNow.com. Home Depot CEO Frank Blake says it’s “a book of far-ranging insight, as much about life as it is about business.” Daniel Murphy of Books2Wealth.com declares: “It will be one of the greatest leadership books of the decade.” Daniel H. Pink, author of A Whole New Mind and Drive, urges, “Pick up a copy now and use Strock’s insights to turn the raw material of your life into a masterpiece of service.”

In Serve to Lead, Strock identifies the essential elements of 21^st century leadership. Most importantly, he concludes that doing the right thing—by your customers, your employees, and other stakeholders—is becoming a competitive advantage as we move from a “transaction-based world to a relationship-based world.”

Business case studies, psychological research, biography, history, and literature inform this remarkable guide—ready for you to put to use in any position, in any field, from day one.

Serve to Lead taps the practical wisdom of an extraordinary array of sources, including: Jack Welch and Winston Churchill, Amazon.com and Starbucks, The Beatles and Bob Dylan, Madonna and George Patton, Ronald Reagan and Martin Luther King Jr., Marianne Williamson, and Ralph Waldo Emerson.

Jim has extensive experience speaking to companies, associations, government agencies, the military, and not-for-profit organizations. He customizes each presentation to further the specific goals of the client, both strategically and for the event. He believes that smart, collaborative preparation is the key to an event that effectively engages your audience as participants rather than merely as spectators.

Strock is also the author of Theodore Roosevelt on Leadership: Executive Lessons from the Bully Pulpit, which has been called a “masterpiece.”.

Strock’s speaking is informed by extensive real-world experience in leadership roles in the private, public, and not-for profit sectors. In addition to extensive business experience, he served as the founding secretary of the California Environmental Protection Agency, and as the chief law enforcement officer of the U.S. EPA. 

Jim holds degrees from Harvard College and Harvard Law School. He served in the U.S. Army Reserve JAGC, and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.