Managing Assertively: How to Improve Your People Skills: A Self-Teaching Guide, 2nd Edition [Paperback]

Madelyn Burley-Allen (Author)

Book Description

Series: Wiley Self-Teaching Guides | Publication Date: April 17, 1995

A proven program for increasing your management skills

Managing Assertively has helped tens of thousands of businesspeople become more effective managers by sharpening their people skills. Leading management trainer Madelyn Burley-Allen shows you how you, too, can learn to resolve conflicts and defuse interpersonal problems that invariably arise at work. Her step-by-step techniques, clear examples, and competence-building exercises will immediately improve your supervisory skills, sharpen your self-awareness, and make you a more confident, assertive manager. You'll learn how to:
* Use eight building blocks to become a more effective manager
* Overcome self-defeating behavior
* Handle criticism to maintain and enhance self-esteem
* State limits and expectations to clarify assignments
* Become a more effective listener
* Receive and give positive feedback to enhance team building
* Handle conflict, stress, personal problems, and a wide range of other difficult on-the-job situations
* By following the user-friendly, interactive, self-teaching format, you can work at your own pace as you master management essentials.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

A completely revised and expanded update of its highly successful predecessor designed to help managers improve interpersonal skills and become more effective at their jobs. Features the latest management trends including quality, team building, self-managed work teams and developing positive work relationships. Every chapter ends with a self-test to check your progress. Contains numerous charts, worksheets and graphs which reinforce the text.

From the Back Cover

A proven program for increasing your management skills

Managing Assertively has helped tens of thousands of businesspeople become more effective managers by sharpening their people skills. Leading management trainer Madelyn Burley-Allen shows you how you, too, can learn to resolve conflicts and defuse interpersonal problems that invariably arise at work. Her step-by-step techniques, clear examples, and competence-building exercises will immediately improve your supervisory skills, sharpen your self-awareness, and make you a more confident, assertive manager. You'll learn how to:

• Use eight building blocks to become a more effective manager
• Overcome self-defeating behavior
• Handle criticism to maintain and enhance self-esteem
• State limits and expectations to clarify assignments
• Become a more effective listener
• Receive and give positive feedback to enhance team building
• Handle conflict, stress, personal problems, and a wide range of other difficult on-the-job situations
• By following the user-friendly, interactive, self-teaching format, you can work at your own pace as you master management essentials.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Wiley; 2 edition (April 17, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0471039713
• ISBN-13: 978-0471039716
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 7.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #586,205 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Getting To Know All About You, March 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Managing Assertively: How to Improve Your People Skills: A Self-Teaching Guide, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

A super self-teaching guide for managers (and others) who want to develop assertiveness skills! This isn't just a book of theories. There are practical exercises and lots of self-assessment tools. It's worth adding to your reference shelf and sharing with others.

Wondering why you're having trouble getting through to someone? Need to turn a personality clash into a more productive relationship? While this book doesn't promise to cure all your woe's, it offers techniques that are simple to apply and they work! It helped me identify the events, thought processes and attitudes that influence the results I get when interacting with others. You'll be surprised at what you learn about yourself. These easy to adopt behaviors can improve your relationships with others. Try it and see.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Managing Assertively" by Madelyn Burley-Allen, November 28, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Managing Assertively: How to Improve Your People Skills: A Self-Teaching Guide, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

Managing Assertively is an excellent teaching quide for improving your people skills. It gives defination to the different types of supervisory styles that exist. The book uses exercises to teach an eight step building block plan for managing assertively. This plan can be used daily to improve your supervisory skills. A great book to build confidence and self awareness.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Be Assertive, Not Aggressive, May 9, 2008

By 

Readalots (South Texas, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Managing Assertively: How to Improve Your People Skills: A Self-Teaching Guide, 2nd Edition (Paperback)

A few months ago, I used Madelyn Burley-Allen's "Managing Assertively" (1995, 224-page paperback) with colleagues in a personal assessment seminar. Our intent was to improve our professional growth while focusing on career talents. The book's study and application, as a people skills improvement self-teaching guide, has proven to be a rewarding experience.

Burley-Allen's pioneering presentation, in a workbook type instrument, assists learning for the workplace novice and veteran. Each of the 11 chapters brings case studies, check lists, and an "assertive statements" section. Her lecture method is very comfortable and informative. The book could be most applicable, and effective, as a department, or workgroup, training program.

Perhaps, the most helpful portions of this book are chapters 5 (on "Listening"), 7 (about "Feedback"), and 8 ("Saying No"). Burley-Allen's advice and direction are poignant: "be persistent", "be specific", "get the facts", "practice regularly", "encourage feedback", "take responsibility", etc. Her most challenging suggestion, and principal point, is "be assertive, not aggressive".

This self-help book will make you a better leader, manager, and person. Burley-Allen may be used at the office, at home, and beyond. It is recommended to everyone wanting to improve his or her everyday interpersonal skills and business acumen.