Clive Wilson

Take Yorkshireman Clive Wilson, managing director of Primeast, www.primeast.com, the growing £1.4 million turnover Harrogate-based venture which specialises in working with business through change management.

Offering services in leadership change is his bread and butter - and anyone who ever heard his dynamic motivational speeches at events like the CBI conference, or meetings with the Institute of Directors or the Chartered Management Institute will know why he has grown Primeast by 80 per cent in 2007 alone.

His own teamwork with his ten staff at Cardale Park, means cooperating with 200 consultants and 70 international associates to cover 40 countries, quadrupling his business since 2002.

If anyone knows how to advise firms to cut through the rough and tumble of change and take the quickest route to the line of success it is 52-year-old Clive, who for 27 years was a rugby union player - and was once a centre for Roundhay long before it ultimately got swallowed up and became Leeds Carnegie. "I still support them", he says.

His grounding in leadership and change came in the 1990s when he was in the electricity industry, leading a number of programmes to ease the nationalised industry into a free market.

As co-founder of the Global Leadership Alliance, created by three best-in-class consulting firms strategically located around the world, bringing global solutions to vital business challenges, Clive gets around.

Over the past year, he has worked in Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Singapore, Nigeria, Ghana and Malawi.

He says: "Working overseas satisfies my thirst for adventure, especially in developing countries where Primeast is a catalyst for positive change, developing raw talent and helping companies to prosper and provide economic growth."

But Malawi is his favourite. "What it lacks in material wealth, it makes up for with energy, welcome and warmth.

"When we worked with the Malawi Standard Bank last year, I was massively impressed by the enthusiasm of the senior team. Also, a wonderful spin-off from this work was being able to speak to the Institute of People Management conference in Malawi who kindly made a significant donation to the Open Arms Infant Home in Malawi in recognition of what we did."

He sees travel as a great opportunity to learn. "When I am away, I often spend my journey-time listening to condensed versions of business books, which I download on to my mobile phone."

So his life is full-time and frenetic but his goal is to work four days a week before he is 60. He values family life highly - as you would expect from a man with five children, ranging from aged 13 to 28.

Many of them share his strong musical streak. Christopher, 13, is a keen trumpeter, footballer "and all round good egg", Helen, 18, is a talented flautist, attending the Royal Northern College of Music (and once a semi-finalist in the BBC Young Musician of the Year contest); David, 20, is a songwriter attending Paul McCartney's Institute for Performing Arts in Liverpool; Paul, 26, is a sales and marketing manager and keen footballer; and Jenny, 28, is an employment lawyer with Pinsents in Leeds.

Any day now, Clive will be publishing two books, titled Liberating Corporate Talent and PrimeFocus on lulu.com and he is co-authoring a third publication - a careers guide aimed at young people - with his wife, Frances, a careers adviser.

At the same time he is working through his latest goal - to double the size of Primeast by 2012... A four-day week seems a long way off.

Which job (other than your own) would you like to have and why?

An author on how people successfully navigate through life.

Greatest achievement?

Taking on Primeast in 2002, agreeing a 2008 vision with the directors and delivering it with the team in full by September 2007.

Biggest mistake?

Not spending enough time with my children.

What makes you most angry?

Seeing talent wasted.

What makes you laugh?

Human nature combined with Theakstons Old Peculier.

What fools do you suffer least?

Telesales people when they call me at home.

Who do you most admire and why?

Satish Kumar, editor of Resurgence Magazine, for his wisdom, articulation and commitment to non-violence.

What do you need to make life complete?

Nothing - it already is.

How do you relax?

Meals with my family and friends, meditation, walks in the hills and listening to rock music in a candle-lit bath.

Why do you make a difference?

Because I am in touch with my personal purpose in life (connecting people to their talent) and have found a way of playing it out through my work.

Name the organisation you see as the perfect one (not your own! ) and why

The UK Housing Ombudsman Service, because it is committed to a philosophy of recognising, valuing, developing and using the unique talents of its people in the delivery of its objectives. There is far, far more to this than meets the eye.

Favourite record?

Clear White Light by Lindisfarne.The power of the line "Do you believe a clear white light will lead us on our way?" is a mantra to everything I do.

Favourite holiday destination?

Africa or the Isle of Mull. I'm afraid I cannot choose between them.

Your epitaph

Gone to see what's next!