Gardner Heidrick and John Struggles sent a printed card to businesses

For almost 60 years, we have focused on quality service and built strong leadership teams through our relationships with clients and individuals worldwide. Today, Heidrick & Struggles leadership experts operate from principal business centers in North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific.

Our beginning
In 1953, Gardner Heidrick and John Struggles sent a printed card to businesses in the Midwest announcing the organization of Heidrick & Struggles in Chicago, Illinois.

This announcement heralded the beginning of one of the first executive search firms in the United States, a firm that would grow to have global representation and presence in every major industry.

Shaping the organization
After a mutual friend introduced them, Gardner and John realized they were in full agreement on the values and principles by which they would run their business. From the beginning, the partners agreed they would be guided by a commitment to quality, client service, teamwork, integrity and a drive for excellence.

A global force
By 1957, the firm signed its first clients outside of the Midwest and soon expanded its US office locations coast to coast, into Los Angeles and San Francisco, and east into New York. In 1968 Heidrick & Struggles established its first international presence with an office in the United Kingdom.

The firm continued its expansion during the subsequent decades into the principal cities of North America and Europe and, later, in Asia Pacific and Latin America. Along with this growth came the development of specialized industry and functional practices to allow for intense focus and expertise.

Executive search became accepted by companies all over the world and our assignments were increasingly global in nature. As new kinds of businesses arose, changing the needs of markets and clients, Heidrick & Struggles evolved its geographic structure and practice categories to reflect the new environment.

In 1983, Heidrick & Struggles International was established as a separate entity, encompassing all European operations. The two corporations reunited in 1999 to form the integrated global firm of today. That same year, Heidrick & Struggles International, Inc. (HSII) became a publicly traded company on the NASDAQ stock market.

In recent years, Heidrick & Struggles has developed services to complement the core executive search business and to serve the broader leadership needs of clients. Uniting these services with a greater focus on major account development has enabled us to build deeper, lasting relationships and evolve into the world's first leadership advisory firm.

Enduring values
Today our global network of search professionals and leadership consultants maintains the enduring values with which Heidrick & Struggles was established—quality, client service, teamwork, integrity and the drive for excellence. They have led us to success, earning us the respect of both our peers and the leaders of industries we serve.

These values will continue to be at the core of everything we do to help our clients build the best leadership teams in the world.