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Women in finance: develop your soft skills

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Leadership

Leadership
  • Hub page
Books, articles, guides and links on leadership, developing your skills as a leader and leadership styles
Women in business
  • Hub page
A collection of books, articles and guides on topics of interest to women working in business and accountancy.
Women in Leadership (WiL) WIL supports women working across practice, industry and public sectors who are in senior management, partner or board roles. The programme has a strong personal development focus, and seeks to refine and craft your individual leadership style.
Useful links
  • Listing
A selection of links signposting networks and support from ICAEW, caba and other organisations.

Teamwork and people skills

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The mutual benefits of mentoring
  • Article
  • 15 Jul 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Mentoring offers finance professionals at all career stages a strategic advantage that accelerates development, builds networks and reinforces the core values of integrity, collaboration and lifelong learning.
Male wearing headphones working on his laptop
How accountants can develop influencing skills
  • Article
  • 03 Apr 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Influencing should not aim to be an occasional task, but an everyday occurrence that seeks to build trust in a finance professional’s abilities and advice.
Access resources to help you meet ICAEW CPD requirements
Free CPD: essential skills for people managers
  • Article
  • 13 Nov 2024
  • ICAEW Insights
People skills, such as the communication, empathy, flexibility and active listening, are essential for line managers wishing to lead happy, productive teams. Brush up on your soft skills with these free Continuous Professional Development (CPD) resources.
Why Leaders Use Business Coaches
  • Article
  • 12 Sep 2024
  • Richard Gourlay
Having a business coach a few years ago was unusual, the sign that someone was struggling, but today around 20% of small business entrepreneurs use coaches as part of their business team.
Why mentoring matters
  • Article
  • 07 Aug 2024
  • ICAEW Insights
The core value of any firm is the quality of its professionals. Fostering a mentoring culture ensures the soft skills needed for the job are passed to the next generation of new management, says Andy Lopata.
Preventing and navigating burnout: a manager’s guide
  • Article
  • 22 Feb 2024
  • ICAEW Insights
It’s important to role model the behaviour that managers wish to encourage in their teams, says caba, the occupational charity supporting ICAEW accountants.
long bridge road concrete truck international trade economy business ICAEW
International trade: How Ramsden International reinvented its business model after Brexit
  • Article
  • 07 Nov 2023
  • ICAEW
International grocery wholesaler Ramsden International endured a torrid couple of years in the wake of Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic. However, long-term planning investing in people and expert advice have helped it come through the other side.
Why humour is a valuable workplace tool
  • Article
  • 24 Aug 2023
  • ICAEW Insights
From recruitment and retention to team spirit and relieving stress, laughter is a seriously powerful motivator, says communication expert and comedian Neil Mullarkey.

Ways of working - workplace wellbeing

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How to make hybrid working work
  • Article
  • 16 May 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Hybrid working boosts employee productivity and motivation – and yet employers want staff back in the office. Here are some tips on forging a strategy that works for everyone.
A female sitting at her desk with laptop open while writing on a piece of paper
Employment Rights Bill ‘could overburden businesses’
  • Article
  • 24 Apr 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
With SMEs in particular feeling the impact of increased employment costs, elements of the Employment Rights Bill could make hiring untenable, according to ICAEW members.
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The importance of people and culture when scaling up
  • Article
  • 17 Apr 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Understanding how to create and nurture the right company culture is a key element in ensuring the success of a growing business.
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The headhunter’s view: the downside to remote working
  • Article
  • 22 Oct 2024
  • ICAEW Insights
Want to get ahead? Get into the office, says Mark Freebairn.
5 multi racial hands placed down on table
How to be a family-friendly employer
  • Article
  • 11 Oct 2024
  • ICAEW Insights
Making it easy for your staff to juggle family commitment alongside their jobs will reap rewards. In this National Work Life Week, we offer tips on meaningful family-friendly strategies that should be on your radar.
Female in smart attire working on her laptop
Is the opportunity for remote working becoming more…remote?
  • Article
  • 28 Jun 2024
  • ICAEW Insights
New data shows there are fewer opportunities for fully remote roles. But what does this mean for a return to the office in the accountancy profession?
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Skills for Success: 5 tips for managing your time
  • Video
  • 26 Jun 2024
  • ICAEW Insights
Juggling work, studying and exams can sometimes be challenging. Take a new approach and boost your efficiency with our strategies for effective time management.
A great communicator makes for a successful CFO
  • Article
  • 18 Apr 2024
  • Kelly Smith, CFO, Kantar Insights UK & Republic of Ireland
Kelly Smith is CFO, Kantar Insights UK & Republic of Ireland, one of the UK and Ireland’s leading market research companies. Smith talks about why good communication is key to good leadership, worrying about climate change, and challenges her peers to find ways to maintain engagement in a world of hybrid working.

Communicate with confidence

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Closing the communication gap in your finance team
  • Article
  • 23 Apr 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Whether it’s building trust, navigating tough conversations or inspiring colleagues, strong communication is the cornerstone to building stronger teams, says Nick Elston.
Male wearing headphones working on his laptop
How accountants can develop influencing skills
  • Article
  • 03 Apr 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Influencing should not aim to be an occasional task, but an everyday occurrence that seeks to build trust in a finance professional’s abilities and advice.
Male wearing headphones working on his laptop
Five leadership lessons for a growth mindset
  • Article
  • 31 Mar 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
Rachel Nutt, a senior partner at MHA, advises some of the UK’s leading entrepreneurs and has also overseen rapid growth at her firm. She tells us some of the leadership lessons garnered from those experiences.
Access resources to help you meet ICAEW CPD requirements
Free CPD: communication and influencing skills
  • Article
  • 13 Nov 2024
  • ICAEW Insights
A recent survey revealed that nine out of 10 global executives believe soft skills to be more important than ever, with communication topping the list of sought-after skills for 2024. Use your Continued Professional Development (CPD) hours to build your communication confidence.
A great communicator makes for a successful CFO
  • Article
  • 18 Apr 2024
  • Kelly Smith, CFO, Kantar Insights UK & Republic of Ireland
Kelly Smith is CFO, Kantar Insights UK & Republic of Ireland, one of the UK and Ireland’s leading market research companies. Smith talks about why good communication is key to good leadership, worrying about climate change, and challenges her peers to find ways to maintain engagement in a world of hybrid working.
How to tell a good ESG story
  • Article
  • 30 May 2023
  • ICAEW Insights
Effective communication of ESG progress is an increasingly vital part of companies’ efforts to secure investment. Experts discuss the hallmarks of a robust narrative.
How to maximise your virtual impact
  • Article
  • 24 Aug 2022
  • ICAEW Insights
Virtual meetings are here to stay, but this can be a more challenging environment in which to communicate and connect.
What does it mean to be authentic in the workplace?
  • Article
  • 24 Jan 2022
  • ICAEW
During the Global Skills Conference, we spoke to representatives from EY Malaysia, PwC and RSM UK on their experiences of navigating how to fit in whilst also staying true to themselves.

Networking

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Student societies: your questions answered
  • Article
  • 06 Aug 2025
  • ICAEW Insights
If you haven’t joined your local student society yet, then find out more about the events, learning and networking.
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How to shine in your first 3 months
  • Article
  • 30 Aug 2024
  • ICAEW Insights
Starting out as an accounting trainee can be both exciting and daunting. Our top 10 tips will help you lay a strong foundation as you begin your career.
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Skills for Success: 5 ways to be a confident networker
  • Video
  • 04 Mar 2024
  • ICAEW Insights
Our new Skills for Success series shares quick tips to build your professional skills. First, we learn how to network, whether online or in-person, with confidence.
Julia Penny former ICAEW President Why Audit? video career
Why audit? It’s a career with many opportunities
  • Article
  • 12 Jan 2024
  • Debra Stottor
Networking, networking, networking: that’s the secret of a fulfilling career, says former ICAEW President Julia Penny as she talks about her work in the audit profession.
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Meeting expectations: your guide to networking
  • Article
  • 01 Sep 2022
  • ICAEW Insights
A room full of fresh faces doesn’t need to fill you with fear. With just a few top tips, you can be prepared to enter any event (real or virtual) with confidence.
Exclusive Networking through the screen – How to stay on people’s radar
  • Article
  • 06 Oct 2021
  • Heather White
For more years than I care to admit, I’ve been training and coaching a wide range of professionals, from senior executives to MBA graduates in the subtle art of networking – and of course, since March 2020, this has all been virtual! The most frequent question I’ve been asked is how to network remotely, implying that networking in the ‘new normal’ is somehow materially different to life pre-COVID 19.
From our Vital archive: The Business Social Network - a new normal
  • Article
  • 09 Sep 2020
August 2020: It sounds obvious but attend something, even virtually which sounds fun, says April Warrier, audit manager at RSM UK, and you’ll feel more engaged immediately.
Exclusive How to network your way to success
  • Webinar
  • 13 May 2020
  • Paul Ryan
Key insights and techniques to aid those who want to thrive and grow through the simple art of talking to people.

Articles and books in the ICAEW Library collection

The collection of the ICAEW Library & Information Service includes a range of articles, books and reports on leadership skills. Use the links below to see what we have available to request in our Library catalogue (Libcat).
Game of thrones on business: strategy, morality and leadership lessons from the world's most talked about TV show
  • Library book
  • 2015
  • Tim Phillips, Rebecca Clare
  • Oxford: Infinite Ideas Limited
Encouraging their readers to learn through stories, the authors have drawn parallels between Game of Thrones and today's business world. The authors also use examples from the series to breathe life into management theory.
Why should anyone be led by you? What it takes to be an authentic leader
  • Library book
  • 2015
  • R.Goffee, G.Jones
  • Harvard Business Review Press
The authors show how great leaders essentially act as 'authentic chameleons', consistently displaying their true selves throughout the changes of context that require them to play a variety of roles. They illustrate authentic leadership in action and provide practical advice on how both experienced and aspiring leaders can become more authentic - and more successful.
Act like a leader, think like a leader
  • Library book
  • 2015
  • H.Ibarra
  • Harvard Business Review Press
This book "offers advice to help you: redefine your job in order to make more strategic contributions; diversify your network so that you connect to, and learn from, a bigger range of stakeholders; and become more playful with your self-concept, allowing your familiar- and possibly outdated- leadership style to evolve."
Lean in: women, work and the will to lead
  • Library book
  • 2013
  • S.Sandberg
  • W H Allen
Examines why women's progress in achieving leadership roles has stalled, explains the root causes, and offers solutions that can empower women to achieve their full potential. Sheryl Sandberg is a former Chief Operating Officer of Facebook/Meta.
The essential manager: 30 core elements of leadership
  • Library book
  • 2013
  • E.Larkin
  • Dublin : Chartered Accountants Ireland
Aims to encourage the reader to reflect upon, and perhaps consider changing, how they currently respond to some common trials and tribulations of managerial life. Divides "the 30 essential building blocks for management success" into three parts: about you; about employees; and about business.
Management in 10 words
  • Library book
  • 2012
  • Terry Leahy
  • Random House Business
Written by the former CEO of Tesco, this book draws on the author's experience and expertise to pinpoint the ten vital attributes that make successful managers and underlie great organisations. Chapters are headed: truth; loyalty; courage; values; act; balance; simple; lean; compete; and trust.

To find out how you can borrow books from the Library please see our guide to borrowing books.

You can obtain copies of articles or extracts of books and reports through our document supply service.

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caba

caba is the charity for Chartered Accountants, supporting past and present ICAEW members, ACA students and their close families from across the globe through everyday situations to exceptional life-changing circumstances.

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