Vince Clancy, 46, chief executive of Turner & Townsend

A decade ago, Vince Clancy was managing partner of T&T鈥檚 cost management arm; now he鈥檚 running the whole show as chief executive. Moreover, he has achieved his goal of increasing the consultant鈥檚 global reach as the firm now works out of 63 offices in 28 countries. 鈥淚 spend hundreds of hours in airports now,鈥� says Clancy. 鈥淏ut at least I have become a very efficient traveller.鈥�

Ten years ago Clancy鈥檚 hero was Bill Gates, something that hasn鈥檛 changed: 鈥淗e has retired young, which is always a good sign. And he has a charitable foundation. He has gone up in my estimation, not down.鈥� And as for his advice to the new generation of 40 under 40, Clancy advocates calculated risk and a certain amount of non-conformity: 鈥淚f I were to give three pieces of advice, they鈥檇 be to be a leader, not a manager, to do something you are passionate about and don鈥檛 let bureaucracy get in your way. It鈥檚 easy to assume a place in a hierarchy. I鈥檝e never done that.鈥�