Srikumar Rao

Srikumar S. Rao, PhD, is a speaker, a former business school professor, and the head of The Rao Institute, based out of New York. He created the singularly powerful course Creativity and Personal Mastery, which he has taught at a number of leading institutions, including Columbia and the London Business School.

Hundreds of professionals across the corporate world have been altered by CPM; alumni include executives from Google, Microsoft, Merrill Lynch, McDonald's, Chubb, IBM, United Airlines, Allstate, Johnson & Johnson, and others. CPM has had a thriving alumni association since Dr. Rao taught the course at Columbia.

Dr. Rao has authored two books, Are You Ready to Succeed? and Happiness at Work, both of which are bestsellers and have been translated into a number of languages. He has received wide media coverage and acclaim, including features in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the London Times, the Independent, Time, Financial Times, Fortune, Business Week, the Guardian, and Forbes; he has also been a speaker for TED and Leading@Google. Dr. Rao has been a contributing editor for Forbes and a featured author for many other publications.

Dr. Rao received his PhD in marketing from Columbia University, and worked as an executive for Warner Communications, Continental Group, Data Resources, and McGraw Hill.