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Free CPD: soft skills for leaders

Author: ICAEW Insights

Published: 30 Apr 2024

If you’re in a leadership role, an aspiring CFO, or even a CFO looking to become CEO, having strong people skills is essential for success. ICAEW has a range of resources to boost your Continuing Professional Development (CPD) hours while raising your EQ.

In recent ICAEW article From CFO to CEO: the essential leadership skills, Philip Beddows, executive business coach and mentor and founding partner of The Silk Road Partnership, says that developing your people skills, alongside taking on board positions, is one of the most helpful things CFOs can do to position themselves to move into a CEO role.

Sarah Walker-Smith, ACA and CEO of leading UK law firm Shakespeare Martineau, agrees that making your people a priority is crucial for aspiring CEOs, saying, “If your aspiration is to move into general management, understand the importance of the people and how that leads to the numbers. Not the other way around.”

Luckily, crucial people skills such as communicating effectively and leading with empathy can be learned and developed to help you get ahead.

Hone your leadership skills

ICAEW offers a range of free resources for leaders and aspiring leader, many of which count towards your CPD hours.

Start by heading to our leadership topic area where you’ll find the latest articles, reports, webinars and ebooks on pertinent topics.

Being a great leader requires a broad skillset, so you may also wish to explore our career development topic area, as well as our communication and presentation skills and negotiation skills content.

Verifiable CPD

In case you missed it, here is some recent free ICAEW content on leadership which can be counted towards your verifiable CPD hours:

How to add to your CPD record

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Further resources

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Practical advice and resources on achieving a productive, happy and healthy team.

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Soft skills development

How ICAEW can help you develop your non-technical skills.

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Leadership courses

ICAEW also has a range of paid for CPD courses to support your leadership ambitions, from online courses on resilience to six-month mentoring programmes.

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