John Rau is a Forbes columnist, writing on successful leadership cultures, patterns, and practices. He currently serves as the Poling Chair of Business and Government Leadership at the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University, where he previously served as Dean. The Poling Chair is a visiting endowed chair that brings leading government officials and corporate executives to campus for weeklong, interactive sessions with students and faculty every semester.

A longtime corporate executive, Rau was President and CEO of the private investment and holding company Miami Corporation for over two decades. Prior to joining Miami Corporation, Rau served as President and CEO of Chicago Title Corporation, and of the LaSalle and Exchange National Banks—the first at age 35. An 11-time corporate director (six as lead or chair), Rau also held leadership positions at numerous business, civic, and philanthropic organizations.

Rau’s book, Secrets from The Search Firm Files: What It Really Takes to Get Ahead in the Corporate Jungle, explained how to climb the career ladder and stay on top. Many of its lessons, based on hundreds of external searches, remain true today. In addition to Rau’s writing, he became well-known for his “C-suite” teaching modules at Kelley and Northwestern University's Kellogg School of Management, including but not limited to:

• So you want to be a CEO?

• In search of the magic bullet: 100 years of myths and magical thinking about successful leaders

• What the research says about high-performing cultures

• What to do when the search firms come calling

• A handbook for new corporate directors