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Exhibit 31.1

CERTIFICATION

I, James J. McGonigle, certify that:



|1. |  | I have reviewed this annual report on Form 10-K of The Corporate Executive Board Company;                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
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|2. |  | Based on my knowledge, this report does not contain any untrue statement of a material
fact or omit to state a material fact necessary to make the statements made, in light of the
circumstances under which such statements were made, not misleading with respect to the period
covered by this report;
|  
|3. |  | Based on my knowledge, the financial statements, and other financial information included in
this report, fairly present in all material respects the financial condition, results of
operations and cash flows of the registrant as of, and for, the periods presented in this
report;                   
|  
|4. |  | The registrants other certifying officer and I are responsible for establishing and
maintaining disclosure controls and procedures (as defined in Exchange Act Rules 13a-15(e) and
15d-15(e)) for the registrant and have:                                                                               



| | a) |  | Designed such disclosure controls and
procedures, or caused such disclosure
controls and procedures to be designed under
our supervision, to ensure that material
information relating to the registrant,
including its consolidated subsidiaries, is
made known to us by others within those
entities, particularly during the period in
which this report is being prepared;
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|
| | b) |  | Evaluated the effectiveness of the
registrants disclosure controls and
procedures and presented in this report our
conclusions about the effectiveness of the
disclosure controls and procedures, as of
the end of the period covered by this report
based on such evaluation; and                                                                                           
|
| | c) |  | Disclosed in this report any change in the
registrants internal control over financial
reporting that occurred during the
registrants fourth fiscal quarter that has
materially affected, or is reasonably likely
to materially affect, the registrants
internal control over financial reporting; and                                                                     



|5. |  | The registrants other certifying officer and I have disclosed, based on our most recent
evaluation of internal control over financial reporting, to the registrants auditors and the
audit committee of registrants board of directors (or persons performing the equivalent
functions):
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| | a) |  | All significant deficiencies and material
weaknesses in the design or operation of
internal control over financial reporting which are reasonably
likely to adversely affect the registrants
ability to record, process, summarize and
report financial information; and
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|
| | b) |  | Any fraud, whether or not material, that
involves management or other employees who
have a significant role in the registrants
internal control over financial reporting.                                                                                               



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|Date: February 24, 2004               
|                                      
|/s/ James J. McGonigle                
|                                      
|James J. McGonigle                    
|                                      
|Chairman of the Board of Directors and
|Chief Executive Officer