Assertiveness at work: A practical guide to handling awkward situations

by Ken Back, Kate Back

A self-training book designed to meet managers' needs for work situation applications. The authors introduce ideas of assertiveness and provide practical suggestions for developing assertiveness in a range of familiar situations, in a way that minimises conflict and stress.

Genres: Leadership, Self Help, Business, Nonfiction

150 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1982

Reviews

[Vicii · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first few chapters were useful to me but the rest was common sense stuff that I was already aware of. I was looking for "new" stuff but this generally told me what I already knew.

I borrowed this from a friend so useful for the new bits of knowledge that I gained

[Christina Helen Birch · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for professional development, a genre in which I expect to read a lot to find a few gems of wisdom. By those standards, this book was great: very practical for putting into practice in a work setting. My only complaint is that like many many self-development books about work, it doesn't show any awareness of the existence of non-corporate workplace environments.

[Virginprune · Rating 3 out of 5]

not rocket science, but it helps you frame your thoughts etc. - inevitably, this is stuff which works best in a workshop not in a book.

still, by the 3rd edition, you'd think they'd have fixed their (many) typos and spelling mistakes.

[Simon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was recommended as additional material on a course I’m taking. I found the book very useful at definitions and action plans to work through. Seems a little dated but a lot of it still valid.

[Antonio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good one to learn and practicing assertiveness..

[Levent Mollamustafaoglu · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is an interesting book looking into behaviours individuals engage when interacting with other people and classifies the behaviour as assertive, non-assertive and aggressive. The goal is to use assertive behaviour as much as possible in order to protect our own rights and advance our preferences, without being aggressive. Most people become non-assertive since they think any assertion might have consequences or they would not want to be seen as aggressive. Some others think the only way to achieve results is to be aggressive, but this is old thinking and it is no longer correct.

The authors show different ways to act assertively in our relations, mostly in the workplace. There are exercises and techniques to accomplish this.

Although this is not rocket science, I found it quite instructive and it led me to think about the engagements I have in my daily work and how I could improve this to accomplish the results I would like to have.