Karen Jackson Taylor is a widow, whose husband drowned. She is trained in bereavement counselling and was active, until the death of her husband. She has a DPhil in the management of teams. Her thesis formed the basis of her book, The Power of Difference, published in 2008 (Management Books, 2000), which she wrote under her professional name of Karen Jackson. For many years she ran the boutique consultancy, The Deva Partnership Ltd, with her husband, Ian Taylor, working for organisations in the UK, Europe and America, such as the oil majors and the Post Office. She was motivated to write this book because so many of her friends were being bereaved and she realised that what was needed was a reference point for all the questions that invariably need to be answered.