Although much has changed since then, this skills shortfall remains, and has the potential to hold back the economic recovery.

As Chartered Management Institute (CMI) data show, only one in five managers currently has a management qualification.

In this important book, Ruth Spellman highlights ways that this can be tackled, and how managers and leaders can develop their professional skills.

The practical insights from business leaders and many distinguished companions of the CMI provide an excellent guide to managers from any profession. They show how leadership roles are expanding and changing, and how issues like risk management, carbon emissions and, above all, ethics and values are becoming more and more important.