About

I’ve spent more than 35 years in boardrooms. This book is drawn from what I learned there.

I trained as an engineer, moved into management, then spent most of my career at board level as director, MD, CEO, chair, NED, and investor across fifteen businesses in manufacturing, food, retail, and engineering.

The largest business I ran had nearly 800 employees. The smallest I have chaired had four.

After my first retirement from full-time operating roles in 2014, I acquired a manufacturing and retail business and ran it as Group CEO through seven years of restructuring and modernisation. I completed the transition to a new MD and exited in 2023.

I now work as a chair, NED, mentor, and adviser to business owners, boards, MDs, and CEOs. I’ve mentored more than thirty owners and CEOs through extended engagements, presented for Invest NI’s Leaders Programme, and spoken at multiple IoD Directors Masterclass events.

The winged foot mhl winged foot icon 32

The small winged foot mark is a nod to Hermes, the messenger.

For me, it represents the purpose of the book: passing on what experience has taught me while it may still be useful to someone else. It also suggests movement, guidance and finding a way through complexity, which fits the maze theme running through the design.

Feedback from Experienced Readers

“Having worked with Paul, I can honestly say this book is exactly him. Honest, direct, hard-hitting, thought provoking and hugely practical. He has a way of cutting through the bs and getting to the conversations boards actually need to have. As I was reading it, I could genuinely hear him saying the words. There’s no fluff, no theory for the sake of it, just real insight, challenge and experience from years spent helping businesses and boards become better.”
– Cathy Booth, Consultant – Strategy, Change and Board Development

“I love the book! It is an exceptional reflection of Paul’s 35 years, that combines practical wisdom and real-world insights presented in his typically engaging and entertaining manner.  This will no doubt be a highly valuable read for all of those directors and CEO’s out there.”

– Programme Manager, Leadership and Capability Development

“Many of us find ourselves in boardrooms with no real idea of what is expected or what good looks like. This book doesn’t pretend that mistakes won’t happen, some punches are worth taking because that’s how you learn. But it gives you 35 years of someone else taking the punches so that you can hopefully avoid some of them. I wish I had read this five years ago. You only know what you know and this book gives you the head start you did not know you needed.”

– Karen Maguire, Chair, Mentor and former MD – EOT exit

“I really enjoyed reading this! You can tell that this book comes from experience and as I have seen Paul deliver a lot of the content in person it certainly didn’t lose impact when written down. There are so many gems of wisdom, and I love that he has added the questions at the end of the chapters and the templates that will make it very practical for people to use. I will certainly be directing people to it in the future!”

– Leadership Development Programme Manager

“The book reads like a conversation rather than a textbook — which is exactly what this kind of book needs to be. The analogies are brilliant. The Iceland tour guide story alone is worth the read.
The ‘three not thirty’ concept, the board scoring tool, the culture chapter — these are the kinds of things people will highlight, return to, and quote to others. It’s honest, it’s readable, and it’s clear it was written by someone who has actually lived it rather than observed it from a distance.”

– Gareth Hanna, Founder, G1 Search and Boardroom Network