The Corner Office Manuals
Practical, honest guides for aspiring, new & experienced leaders and managers. One focused topic per manual, built on real leadership experience.
Written by Emily Ford, founder of The Corner Office and former Senior Manager at Google.
New guides added monthly.
Why Download a Manual?
What they are
A growing library of practical guides for managers and leaders, each one focused on a single skill or situation most people never get formal training on. Written by Emily Ford, drawing on 26 years in B2B tech sales including four as a Senior Manager at Google, and her work as a qualified Co-Active Coach.
Say it Anyway
A practical guide to giving honest, effective feedback in a culture where we tend to either soften to the point of loss of the message, or overdo it and sound too harsh. Includes the CLEAR framework, real worked examples, and a self-coaching exercise to plan your next hard conversation.
How to Have the Conversations you have been Avoiding
Most managers know they're avoiding difficult conversations. Without trial and error, few know how to actually have those conversations well.
Say It Anyway is a practical guide for new & experienced managers and leaders who keep putting off the feedback conversation, the performance issue, or the boundary that needs setting. Written by Emily Ford — 26 years in B2B tech sales, the last four as a Senior Manager at Google, and now a qualified Co-Active Coach — this guide draws on real situations from her own career, including the ones she got wrong.
Inside, you'll find:
Why we avoid difficult conversations — and why the opposite problem (over-correcting, micromanaging, harshness) causes just as much damage
The CLEAR Framework — a five-step structure (Context, Label, Effect, Acknowledge, Reset) that replaces the outdated "feedback sandwich" with something more honest and more effective
Three worked examples taken from real management situations, showing CLEAR in action
Common pitfalls and how to handle them — what to do when someone goes silent, gets defensive, turns it back on you, or when your own organisation makes it harder than it should be
A self-coaching exercise to help you identify and plan the exact conversation you've been avoiding, with space to apply CLEAR to your own situation
This isn't a script to memorise. It's a framework you can hold in your head when things get uncomfortable — so you walk in prepared, say what needs to be said, and come out the other side with the relationship, and your integrity, intact.
Who they’re for
New and experienced managers, team leads, and anyone responsible for leading people or working towards a role in leadership. Especially useful when you have found yourself in situations you don’t know how to navigate or you know you want to improve in.
What you’ll get
Each manual gives you a clear framework, real examples drawn from Emily’s career and the leadership situations she finds herself in, with space to apply it to your own. Not just the theory but also practical tools you can use the next time it matters. New manuals are added monthly, each tackling a different leadership challenge.
Turn Down the Volume
A practical guide teaching you how to recognise and work with your inner critic, instead of letting it control you and your choices.
Meet the NOISE framework — five steps to name it, question it, and act anyway.
Real examples based on Emily’s experience, with common pitfalls and an exercise plan to practice it yourself.
A Practical Guide to working with your Inner Critic - Not Against It
Every leader has an inner critic. This guide teaches you to work with yours, not against it.
Meet the NOISE framework. Five steps to name it, question it, and act anyway.
Real examples. Common pitfalls. A guided reflection to really make it stick in your mind.
Take control by turning down the volume rather than waiting for it to go quiet.