Self-empowerment training encourages people to take responsibility for their personal and professional lives. It aims to increase individual motivation at work and so lift the overall level of commitment to the employing organization.

Lucy Seifert’s manual contains a rich collection of exercise material to enable course participants to recognize, build and harness their inner power for the benefit of themselves and their employer.

The topics include:

• responsibility and initiative
• asserting your rights
• communicating clearly
• contributing to the team
• confronting difficult behaviour
• resolving conflict and difference
• encouraging and motivating.

Each activity includes detailed guidelines for the trainer and ready-to-copy information and tasksheets for the trainee. Many activities can either be used in groupwork or adapted for one-to-one use. The emphasis throughout is on enhancing personal and organizational strengths in the workplace through training.

The manual aims to meet the training needs of all those concerned to develop a positive, non-blaming organizational culture based on clear communication and shared responsibility.

Reviews
'Another useful addition to the ever-growing collection of available activities of particular use in training programmes involving assertiveness, interpersonal skills, interrelationship skills and personal development.' Training Officer

'...a useful aid for a trainer delegated to run a course at short notice.' Open Learning Today

'...an excellent, fully comprehensive manual for trainers across a number of disciplines.' News and Abstracts

' ... there is such a wealth of activity suggested that it would be difficult not to find many items of real interest and support.' British Journal of Administrative Management

Contents
Introduction; Overview of the activities; Symbols; Time checklist; Index to activities. Part 1 Taking Responsibility: Responsibility; The waiting game; Question time; Content and contentment; Feelings. Part 2 Self-esteem and Personal Power: Celebrity; Balance of power; My mistake; Admissible evidence; Memo. Part 3 Taking Care of Yourself: Excuses, excuses; Boundaries; Liberation; The stress factory; Pressurepoints. Part 4 Working as a Team: Perfect man, perfect woman; Robocop; Generosity; Teamwork. Part 5 Making your Presence Felt: Busy body; Step back; The great escape; 'ello, 'ello. Part 6 Confronting and Challenging Awkward Behaviour: Conflict; Day of judgement?; The silent treatment; Vaguely speaking; Space invaders; Let's be honest; Temper, temper; Carry on regardless. Part 7 Motivating yourself and others: Inspiration; Great expectations; Appraisal; Thank you. Part 8 Opening, Closing, Energizing: Barometer; My favourite things; Dear diary; Then and now; Commitments.

About the Author
Lucy Seifert is an independent training consultant working with organizations in both the public and the private sector. She is the author of the activity manual Training for Assertiveness and co-author, with Mary Stacey, of Troubleshooting for Trainers, also published by Gower.