James Bird Guess
Homeless after high school, James built a quarter million dollar business from the trunk of his car, and is now a world-renowned management consultant and keynote speaker. James is a highly sought-after authority and subject matter expert on diversity, equity and inclusion, employee engagement, strategic leadership, culture change, and talent retention.
James currently serves as CEO of International Success Academy, a management consulting firm that provides advisory services to public and private sector organizations and Fortune 100 Best Companies to Work For, including Texas Instruments, QuikTrip, United States Army, Tenet Health Care and others. His areas of expertise include advising executive teams on creating equity and inclusion, facilitating change management, coaching strategic leaders, employee engagement strategies, as well as customizing and facilitating on-site leadership training, and high-energy team building experiences.
Honored as an African American Leader Under 40 by the Texas Legislative Black Caucus, James is also a former member of historic Super Bowl XLV Slant Executive Committee, and was recently voted “Best Speaker” at the University of Texas at Dallas. He is the best-selling author of Lead Like Water: Many Can Manage, Few Can Lead and How I Made a Quarter Million Dollar$ from the Trunk of My Car.