Phrasal verbs: Leadership and management

This Business English worksheet is about 12 phrasal verbs often used when talking about leadership and management. Students will learn the phrasal verbs and use them to discuss management styles, qualities of a leader, and their own experiences with good and bad management. You can combine it with other Business English worksheets, such as “Phrasal verbs: job performance”, “Idioms: workplace ethics”, “Phrasal verbs: teamwork”, “Phrasal verbs: project management”, “Idioms: entrepreneurship”, and “Phrasal verbs: Human resources“.

The first 6 phrasal verbs (bring out, take on, build on, bring together, etc.) are introduced through an interview with a manager. Students match the phrasal verbs to their definitions and then complete 2 practice activities. First, they complete 6 sentences with the correct phrasal verbs and then make their own sentences about how a leader should behave.

The rest of the phrasal verbs (step down, take over, hand over, carry through, etc.) are introduced through a dialogue with 2 employees, discussing their new manager. To practise these phrasal verbs, students paraphrase 4 sentences. 

The last 2 activities are focused on speaking. First, students choose the correct phrasal verb to complete 5 questions and they discuss the questions in pairs or small groups. Finally, 4 debate topics are given for students to choose 1 or more of them and provide their arguments.

You can use the conversation cards to review the phrasal verbs and for more speaking practice.