Book excerpt: Roy Lilley, creator of the best selling Tool Kit series for the NHS, has produced his personal A-Z of management topics. It covers key issues for today's managers to think about and act upon. The author takes the 26 letters of the alphabet and matches them to practical ideas for managers facing the challenges of change and the pressures of expectations. Each word he has chosen for his 'alphabet' encapsulates and describes a management style or achievement, or perhaps habits or routines, that have impressed him. They are words that describe the extra 'thing' that made a manager stand out, sparkle, seem different from the rest. Each idea is presented with hazard warnings, thinking-issues and exercises, for personal development and organisational improvement. This book is for any manager in healthcare, whether just starting out or a seasoned professional. Clinical directors, general practitioners, practice managers, managers in newly formed Primary Care Trusts and elsewhere in the NHS, and managers in the professions and trades that support and sell to the health service, will all find the book stimulating, informative and practical.