James Manktelow is founder and CEO of MindTools.com, an award-winning online learning and development company that helps tens of millions of people each year improve their management, leadership, and personal effectiveness skills.

His first career was in software development, during which time he served in a variety of development, business analysis, project management, and leadership roles, culminating with serving on the board of CQ Systems Ltd. He earned his executive MBA at London Business School in 1999 and 2000.

In 1996, his passion for excellence in the workplace led him to establish a blog he called MindTools.com, where he shared the management and personal effectiveness skills he was learning as he developed his career. By 2003, MindTools.com was receiving a million visitors per year, forming the basis of the thriving company it is today.

Mind Tools now reaches more than 20 million users each year in 160 countries, providing high-quality management, leadership, and career skills training to individual and corporate clients worldwide.

In recognition of this success, Mind Tools has won Queen's Awards for Enterprise twice – in 2012 and 2017. The company also received the prestigious Investors in People Gold standard in 2017, reflecting its commitment to developing and supporting its people.

In his time at Mind Tools, James has written, edited, or contributed to more than 1,000 articles, more than 60 workbooks, and 7 books and e-books on management and leadership, published through MindTools.com, Dorling Kindersley, and now John Wiley & Sons.

Julian Birkinshaw is professor of strategy and entrepreneurship, deputy dean for programs, and academic director of the Institute of Innovation and Entrepreneurship at the London Business School.

After a brief career in the IT world, Julian went back to school, gaining MBA and PhD degrees from the Richard Ivey School of Business at Western University in Canada. He worked briefly at the Stockholm School of Economics before moving to London Business School in 1999, where he has been ever since. He is a fellow of the British Academy, the Academy of Social Scientists, and the Academy of International Business.

He has researched and consulted extensively in the areas of business strategy, corporate change, organization design, management, and leadership. He is the author of 14 books, including Fast/Forward (2017), Becoming a Better Boss (2013), Reinventing Management (2010), Giant Steps in Management (2007), Inventuring: Why Big Companies Must Think Small (2003), and Entrepreneurship in the Global Firm (2001), and more than 90 articles in journals such as Harvard Business Review. He was ranked forty-third in the 2015 “Thinkers 50” list of the top global thinkers in the field of management and is regularly quoted in international media outlets, including CNN, BBC, The Economist, The Wall Street Journal, the Huffington Post, Bloomberg Business Week, and The Times.