A PRACTICAL WAY TO GET BETTER AT MANAGING PEOPLE
Created from over 30 years of real management experience
12 months of practical development
A manageable rhythm that helps new habits build over time.
Tools you can use at work
Templates, questions and frameworks designed for real management situations.
Learning that turns into action
Workplace challenges help you use what you learn rather than simply consume more content.
About the Course: Being good at your job did not automatically teach you how to manage people
Many managers are promoted because they are capable, reliable and experienced. Then the job changes. Suddenly, success depends on knowing how to delegate without micromanaging, give feedback without making things worse, deal with underperformance, motivate different people and handle conversations you would rather not have. Most managers want to do a good job. They care about their people and they care about results. They have simply never been given a clear, practical way to handle the people side of management. That is what The Confident Manager Academy is designed to provide. It helps you move from overwhelmed doer to confident manager, with practical tools and support you can use as you work.
What will become easier?
By working through the Academy, you will build greater confidence in how to: - Understand what your role as a manager really requires - Set clearer expectations and create accountability - Work out what is really sitting behind a performance problem - Understand what motivates different people - Delegate in ways that develop others without constantly taking work back - Give useful feedback earlier - Approach difficult conversations with greater clarity - Support people through pressure and change - Work more effectively with your own manager - Take greater ownership of your development The aim is not to turn you into a textbook manager - it is to help you become a more capable, calm and consistent version of yourself.
Created from real management experience
My name is Susannah Brade-Waring, I am the founder of Aspirin Business Solutions and the author of The Confident Manager. Before founding Aspirin Business in 2007, I helped grow a technology business for over a decade from start-up to more than £10 million turnover and through a successful Management Buyout. My Director responsibilities spanned HR, Finance and Commercial work. Now, I work with leaders and managers all over Dorset and the South-West to help build confidence, capability, and motivation. That experience included the same questions many managers carry today: - How do you help people perform well? - How do you know what motivates them? - When should you step in, and when should you let go? - How do you deal with a problem without making it worse? The Confident Manager Academy has been created to help managers learn those lessons faster, with practical support they can use in the middle of real work.
Your 12-Month Learning Pathway
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Welcome to The Confident Manager Academy Free preview
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How the Academy Works
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The 12-Month Pathway
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How Graduation Works
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The Confident Manager Diagnostic - Start of Programme
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How to Use Your Academy Workbooks
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Community, Confidentiality and Ground Rules Free preview
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Introduce Yourself
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It's time to begin....
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Welcome to Month 1
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Getting the Most from Your Month 1 Workbook
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Video 1: Who’s Rowing Your Boat?
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Video 2: Leadership and Management
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Video 3: Can I Let People Just Get On With It?
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Video 4: The Motivation to Manage
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Submit Your Workbook
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Welcome to Month 2
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Video 1: Understand yourself and choose your response
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Video 2: Understand the person in front of you
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Video 3: Build influence through everyday behaviour
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Video 4: Choose where to put your effort
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Video 5: When being liked or being the boss gets in the way
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Video 6: Lead with personal power
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Complete the challenges and submit your workbook
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The Confident Manager Check-In: End of Programme
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What Managers Are Saying
See how our programmes like The Confident Manager Academy are transforming how first-time managers lead their teams.
I’ve been working with Susannah for the past few months, and she has genuinely helped me grow and improve as a leader. The course has been insightful, refreshing, and full of practical takeaways that I’ll continue to use both personally and professionally. Great people, a great course, and an experience I’d highly recommend. Thank you again, Susannah!
Social Housing Association, Cornwall
I have undertaken the Liberating Leadership Training Course with Susannah, alongside managers from my organisation and I have truly enjoyed the experience. Susannah is a highly charismatic and knowledgeable professional, she is also warm, kind and fun. We have had very in depth talks, mixed with jokes and good times. I have felt free to discuss situations I am encountering at work with my team and got helpful feedback and innovative ideas about how to improve my relationship with them. Not only I have learned new concepts and validated existing knowledge, I also feel the course has brought me closer to the other managers of the organisation, as we have been able to support each other. The course is very professionally designed and loads of tested knowledge, based in good evidence. I am really thankful to Susannah for sharing her knowledge and great energy with us!
Citizens Advice, Dorset
What an incredible course that has helped me build my confidence in my approach to leading a team. Giving me valuable tools to aid me with progression. The course content was excellent, and Susannah was a wealth of knowledge and so kind throughout the course. Thank you for helping me build my self-esteem through this platform. Highly recommend this course to anyone wishing to help broaden their leadership skills.
Housing Association, Dorset
An amazing course. Susannah is a brilliant teacher and you can see she genuinely loves sharing her knowledge and wants to see people grow in confidence. Everyone leaves the course feeling empowered and with the necessary skills to become a great leader and manager. I will be recommending that my company continue to use this course to further develop the senior staff team.
Justice System, Merseyside
As Head of People, we invested in the Liberating Leadership development training for our entire management team and it was worth every penny. Even our seasoned managers/leaders found it useful and learned something. It also doubled up as a wonderful team building experience. I cannot recommend Susannah and this course enough.
Community Charity, Dorset
I have undertaken the Liberating Leadership sessions for the last five weeks and it has been a hugely eye-opening experience. Susannah is a phenomenal course leader and puts everyone at ease throughout each session. I've always enjoyed Aspirin's sessions and it has certainly made me more confident in the management decisions I make on a daily basis. I would recommend to anyone looking to develop themselves.
Solicitors, Dorset
You should not have to work everything out by trial and error
Good management gets easier when expectations are clearer, conversations happen earlier and you have practical tools to help you respond to the situation in front of you. The Confident Manager Academy gives you a structured way to build those skills over time.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who is the Academy for? The Academy is designed for people who manage others and want practical help with the everyday people side of the role. That includes new managers, team leaders, supervisors, operational and middle managers, accidental managers and experienced managers who want to refresh their approach. Is this a senior leadership programme? No. The Academy focuses on practical management confidence and capability. For leaders who need deeper leadership development, Aspirin Business Solutions also provides programmes such as Liberating Leadership. Is it self-paced? Most of the Academy can be worked through around your role, with a structured monthly development rhythm and workplace challenges. Live sessions are used to reinforce learning, answer questions and help you keep moving. How much time will it take? The Academy is designed to fit alongside a busy management role rather than become another major project. The learning is deliberately broken into manageable monthly activities, with the most important work happening when you apply the tools in your normal working day. Do I have to complete every challenge? The challenges are there to help turn ideas into changed behaviour. Progressive levels of recognition allow you to build towards Foundation, Graduate and Graduate with Distinction based on the learning and challenges you complete. Will I receive a certificate? Qualifying participants can receive digital recognition on completion, including Graduate and Graduate with Distinction certificates and LinkedIn recognition. Can my organisation enrol a group of managers? Yes. Organisational and volume options are available for employers who want to use the Academy with a group of managers. Get in touch at [email protected].