PAUL KEARNS started his career specializing in industrial relations management in 1978. He then moved into human resource management roles in engineering, construction and manufacturing businesses. His last corporate role in 1991 was sitting on the management team of an automotive business where he became acutely aware, for the first time, that managing value and managing profit were two entirely different objectives. He found, in particular, that managing the human aspects of organizations to create value had become probably the biggest management issue of modern times and one that had no easy solution and no single, coherent methodology.

Since then he has been working in this field as a consultant, writer, teacher and business conference speaker. His writing has drawn a great deal of attention from both the business and academic worlds, although he has always regarded himself, first and foremost, as a pragmatic practitioner. As a consequence he regards his work as bridging the divide between academic theory and management practice. He teaches on MBA programmes and trains managers to understand the wealth creating opportunities presented by a more enlightened approach to people management. He has written eight books and is a regular, thought-provoking contributor to both academic and professional journals.

Paul was born in 1955 in Leicester (UK) and has a degree in economics and economic history. He is married to Nuala and they have three grown-up children.