A Manager's Guide to Self-development

Mike Pedler, John Burgoyne, Tom Boydell, Joan Keevill, Kevin Roe, Jean-Anne Stewart

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781040660959
• Topic: Personal Development
• Subtopic: Human Resource Management

This book is an indispensable guide to building your management and leadership skills and abilities. It includes activities which can be undertaken alone, in a group or as part of a programme.

In its seventh edition, the book is a carefully designed self-development programme aimed at helping leaders improve their performance, advance their careers and achieve their full potential. You are invited to complete a diagnostic career and life-planning activity first, before making a self-diagnosis of learning goals and priorities. Choose from 56 self-development activities covering a range of skills and competencies, including change management, coaching, collaborative working and emotional resilience. New activities include environmental scanning, using artificial intelligence, mindfulness and working effectively with groups. This new, updated edition reflects key changes in management and leadership practices over the last decade and is aligned to relevant professional frameworks.

This book encourages people to believe in themselves and their abilities. It aims to empower you to reflect on your experiences of tackling challenges in the workplace and shows you how to move to the next level in your career, to become the best leader and manager that you can be.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Endorsements
• Half-Title Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Table of Contents
• Part 1 Introduction
• 1 The Philosophy of This Book
• 2 How This Book Works
• Part 2 Planning Your Self-development
• 3 Career and Life Planning
• 4 The Qualities of Successful Managers and Leaders
• 5 Where to Start? Choosing Your Learning Priorities
• 6 How to Select and Use the Activities
• Part 3 Activities for Leadership and Management Self-development
• Activity 1 Know Your Facts: Qualities: Local Knowledge, Sensitivity to Events
• Activity 2 Networking: Qualities: Local Knowledge, People Skills, Initiative
• Activity 3 Managing Your Time: Qualities: Professional Knowledge, Local Knowledge, Critical Thinking Skills
• Activity 4 Keeping Up to Date: Qualities: Professional Knowledge, Learning to Learn
• Activity 5 Find a Mentor: Qualities: Local Knowledge, Initiative, Learning to Learn
• Activity 6 Communication Tools: Qualities: Local Knowledge, People skills, Initiative
• Activity 7 Facts and Assumptions: Qualities: Sensitivity to Events, People Skills, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 8 Reflective Practice: Qualities: Sensitivity to Events, Critical Thinking Skills, Emotional Resilience, Mental Agility, Learning to Learn, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 9 Use Your Power: Qualities: Sensitivity to Events, People Skills, Initiative
• Activity 10 Action Learning: Qualities: People Skills, Sensitivity to Events, Initiative, Creativity, Learning to Learn
• Activity 11 Political Awareness: Qualities: Sensitivity to Events, People Skills, Initiative
• Activity 12 Active Listening: Qualities: Sensitivity to Events, People Skills, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 13 Decision Making: Qualities: Critical Thinking Skills
• Activity 14 Environmental Scanning: Qualities: Critical Thinking Skills, Local Knowledge
• Activity 15 Role Set Analysis: Qualities: Critical Thinking Skills, Local Knowledge
• Activity 16 Planning Change: Qualities: Critical Thinking Skills, Initiative
• Activity 17 Crisis Management: Qualities: Critical Thinking Skills, Emotional Resilience, Initiative, Creativity, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 18 Critical Thinking: Qualities: Critical Thinking Skills, Professional Knowledge, Emotional Resilience, Mental Agility
• Activity 19 Risk Management: Qualities: Critical Thinking Skills, Initiative
• Activity 20 Asserting Yourself: Qualities: Critical Thinking Skills, People Skills, Emotional Resilience, Initiative
• Activity 21 Handling Conflict: Qualities: People Skills, Sensitivity to Events, Emotional Resilience
• Activity 22 Working Effectively with Groups: Qualities: People Skills, Critical Thinking Skills, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 23 Exploring Your Core Values: Qualities: Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 24 Getting to Know You: Qualities: People skills, Awareness of self and others
• Activity 25 Getting to Yes: Qualities: People Skills, Sensitivity to Events, Emotional Resilience
• Activity 26 Collaborative Working: Qualities: People Skills, Emotional Resilience
• Activity 27 Be a Coach!: Qualities: People Skills, Professional Knowledge, Learning to Learn
• Activity 28 Virtual Leadership: Qualities: People Skills, Professional Knowledge, Learning to Learn
• Activity 29 The Saturated Life: Qualities: Emotional Resilience, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 30 Dealing with Difficult Situations: Qualities: Emotional Resilience, Critical Thinking Skills
• Activity 31 Are You Stressed?: Qualities: Emotional Resilience, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 32 Managing Stress in Your Team: Qualities: Emotional Resilience, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 33 Meditation: Qualities: Emotional Resilience, Creativity, Mental Agility, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 34 Mindfulness: Qualities: Emotional Resilience, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 35 Manage Your Feelings: Qualities: Emotional Resilience, People Skills, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 36 Stability Zones: Qualities: Emotional Resilience
• Activity 37 The Virtual Revolution: Qualities: Emotional Resilience, Sensitivity to Events, Critical Thinking Skills, People Skills
• Activity 38 Using Artificial Intelligence Tools: Qualities: Professional Knowledge, Local Knowledge
• Activity 39 Who’s the Boss?: Qualities: Initiative, Critical Thinking Skills, People Skills
• Activity 40 Practising Change: Qualities: Initiative, Sensitivity to Events, Emotional Resilience
• Activity 41 Action Planning: Qualities: Initiative, Critical Thinking Skills
• Activity 42 Imaging: Qualities: Initiative, Sensitivity to Events, Creativity
• Activity 43 Managing Upwards: Qualities: Initiative, People Skills
• Activity 44 Beyond “Yes … But …”: Qualities: Creativity, Critical Thinking Skills, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 45 Generating New Ideas: Qualities: Creativity, Critical Thinking Skills
• Activity 46 Approaches to Creativity: Qualities: Creativity
• Activity 47 A Helicopter Mind: Qualities: Critical Thinking Skills, Mental Agility, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 48 Your Multiple Intelligences: Qualities: Mental Agility, Creativity, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 49 Coping with Complexity: Qualities: Mental Agility, Emotional Resilience
• Activity 50 Just a Minute: Qualities: Mental Agility, People Skills
• Activity 51 Where to Next?: Qualities: Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 52 Managing Your Dependency: Qualities: Learning to Learn, Initiative, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 53 Learning to Learn: Qualities: Learning to Learn, Sensitivity to Events, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 54 Study Skills: Qualities: Learning to Learn, Professional Knowledge, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 55 Your Learning Cycle: Qualities: Learning to Learn, Sensitivity to Events, Awareness of Self and Others
• Activity 56 Backwards Review: Qualities: Awareness of Self and Others, Sensitivity to Events
• Part 4 Notes for Facilitators
• Notes for Facilitators
• Appendix