Practical Management Skills

The author has been a manager for longer than she has been a mother and a wife. Thankfully, no one carries out an annual review on your performance as a wife or a mother, yet you are constantly evaluated when you are a manager. Therefore, it is crucial to understand and focus on the criteria that make you a successful manager. For her, a successful manager is one who is able to gain respect, build a strong team, retain talent, develop people, manage others and work well within a team of other managers. These goals thus make up the backbone of this book.

The genesis of the book came whilst the author was on a maternity leave, when she found herself searching for a hobby that would draw on her strengths and address something that she was personally invested in. After being a manager for a decade, she realised that her passion lay in teaching others how to become better managers and progress their careers, as much as it did with her own ongoing learning and development as a manager.

Although the author's decade of management experience comes from the financial sector, she strongly believes that her teachings are applicable to all industries. English is her third language and writing a book is a new venture for her; however, she thinks that this actually works to the benefit of the book as she uses simple, jargon-free language that helps any readers to easily grasp the managerial concepts raised. The book therefore makes an easy read, whether it is read from beginning to an end, or dipped into to address specific themes that the reader may want to turn to, depending on which part of their managerial experience they currently need help with.

The author hopes the reader finds the book engaging and interesting as well as educational.

The Blue Mist

The science of human factors is often overlooked, yet it is pivotal in the pursuit of safety. Understanding what makes us tick, our behaviours and how we interact with others, and the ability to visualise potential threats and errors has many advantages. Such as developing better interpersonal and communication skills, which can assist in growing your leadership or team working skills. The ability to see threats and errors can improve safety, reduce costs, and increase productivity.

The Blue Mist is a personal guidebook on human factors; through the author’s experiences and research, the reader can explore and learn the basic human factor concepts. Extensive research in well-known disasters such as the Ladbrook Grove rail disaster, The Costa Concordia Grounding, and the Irish Coast Guard helicopter accident, together with the author’s accounts of incidents and accidents, combine to give an informative and fascinating insight.

The field of human factors developed by the aviation industry is becoming recognised as a critical element in many other sectors. Adopted as a safety element in the shipping, rail, and medical sectors, it has increased safety and reduced accidents. This book assists both novice and experienced human factor advocates and is an excellent tool in exploring the human factor concepts and values.

The Naked Negotiator

Would you like a higher salary? Are you nervous and unsure about how to ask? You’re not alone. Research shows that a third of men and more than half of women are uncomfortable asking for a pay rise. This is no trivial matter. Over the course of a typical career, allowing your employer to consistently pay you below the market rate for your role can deprive you of hundreds of thousands of pounds. It doesn’t have to be this way. Engaging and entertaining, The Naked Negotiator will arm you with knowledge and confidence. In what often feels like an unfair struggle between experienced, knowledgeable managers and apparently powerless employees, you need no longer fear this most daunting of career challenges.

The Pocket Guide to a Sales Career

The Pocket Guide to a Sales Career is written to help anyone who wishes to make a career in sales. Tony Yardley is not a regular author who wishes to promote a small part of his job as his inspiration. He has spent over 50 years in sales and he wishes to pass it on to anyone that is seriously considering taking it up as a career. It is aimed at people leaving school or college or anyone changing careers in mid-life.

This book tries to cover as many aspects of sales as possible including interviews with professionals. Some of these might items might seem basic depending on your experience but please persevere, because a reminder of what you already know can be as good as learning it the first time.

A successful career in sales will give you a skill set that you will be able to transfer to many other businesses, whether you’re employed or self-employed, and will always give you an income even into old age.

Selling is not about getting someone to buy what they do not want. In fact, it is about selling something to someone that improves their business or their life.

Success in any business is to identify a market and supply that market.

Unique - the economic life

Connections in life are necessary to proceed with gaining what you want in life and achieving the best for yourself. Avoiding loneliness and being part of life is the way to stay alive: to maintain conversation and get news from around the world. Negotiation is the only way to achieve what you want in life.