Be Assertive to be Successful say UK Managers

A survey among 300 managers across the UK has shown that two thirds of them believe they would be more successful in their careers if they were more assertive and that a mere 5.5% of respondents consider themselves as 'very assertive' in the workplace.

The survey, which was carried out by PTP Training & Marketing - one of the UK's fastest growing training organisations - also reveals that more women put themselves into the 'very assertive' category - 7.5% compared to just 1.5% of men. However, despite this small band of very assertive women, the majority of female managers taking part in the survey still see themselves as only 'fairly assertive' while the majority of men award themselves the stronger 'assertive' tag.

Both male and female managers say they are aware of the importance of assertiveness as a management skill with only 2% of the female vote believing this not to be the case. Despite this consensus, the reasons for seeing it as a key management tool differed significantly between the sexes. Women see the benefits of being assertive in terms of 'inspiring confidence', 'conveying clear messages' and 'gaining respect' while men are more likely to equate it with 'being in control', 'strong leadership' and 'not being taken advantage of'.

As 62% of the sample acknowledge that they think they would have been more successful professionally if they had been more assertive it suggests that a good proportion of managers see their lack of assertiveness as a key influencing factor in not reaching their true potential. Marc Holland, managing director of PTP believes this is true of many people today who are stuck in mid management rather than senior management roles:

"Many managers often have a fear of refusing demands from staff and are uncomfortable dealing with confrontations or difficult issues such as under-performing staff. This is likely to be because they don't understand that they can deal effectively with these kinds of situations using negotiation and influence, which is how a good assertive manager should be operating to achieve results. You don't need to be aggressive to be assertive and this is a common misapprehension which non assertive managers should understand."

The survey went on to ask the respondents - representing managers across all disciplines in the UK - which public figure they most admire for being assertive. Politicians were the group most frequently recognised for their assertiveness with Margaret Thatcher and Tony Blair coming out equally on top by both male and female respondents. Other politicians to make the grade included Bill Clinton, Nelson Mandela, Churchill and Mo Mowlem.

Business people were the next most assertive group with Richard Branson and Alan Sugar sharing the most votes. Sports and TV personalities also appeared in joint third place. Among these two groups Jose Mourinho and Martin Johnson and Jamie Oliver and Bob Geldof topped their groups. Miscellaneous choices included Bugs Bunny, Carol Vorderman, Hitler and Geri Halliwell!