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Bare Knuckle People Management

Creating Success with the Team You Have - Winners, Losers, Misfits, and All

Published by BenBella Books
Distributed by Simon & Schuster

About The Book

One of the biggest challenges for new managers is how to get the best out of each of their team members so they achieve superior results—and make you, the new manager, look good! In Bare Knuckle People Management authors Sean O'Neil and John Kulisek cut through the crap to show managers how to push their teams to success, not by following fluffy leadership training but by using the skills that got them promoted in the first place.

Forget kumbayas or one-minute managing. The best people managers know that approaches that work great with one employee will be lost on the next. With the same irreverent and straightforward style they use in their management training workshops, O'Neil and Kulisek describe the 16 basic worker types you must learn to recognize, from The Badass to The Burnout, and how to customize your leadership style for each type.

The authors encourage the readers to take pieces of what works from each of the sections and they also remind them to follow the gut instinct that got them to their new management position in the first place. Written in short, easily digestible sections, and both entertaining and insightful throughout, Bare Knuckle People Management is perfect for any manager pressed for time and in need of some straightforward advice.

About The Authors

Sean O'Neil is principal owner and CEO of One to One Leadership, a sales and management training and recruitment company. He presents regularly on sales management, leadership, sales and workplace dynamics, career development and communication issues at national and regional conferences. O'Neil has published or been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Selling Power Magazine, Executive Decision Magazine, Incentive Magazine and many others. His clients include the National Basketball Association, Major League Soccer, Royal Bank of Scotland, News Corp., ADP, Shearman & Sterling LLP and First Data.

Prior to starting One to One Leadership, O'Neil worked as a child and family therapist in the psychiatry department of Boston's Children Hospital. It was there that O'Neil developed his keen observation of the inherent power of interpersonal dynamics. He subsequently worked as a real estate lawyer at the law firm of Gibson Dunn & Crutcher, LLP in New York City.

O'Neil received a B.A. from the College of the Holy Cross, a MSW from Boston College Graduate School of Social Work, his J.D. from Duke University School of Law and his MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

O'Neil, his wife, Erin, and four children, Matt, Ryan, Julia and Olivia, live in Pelham Manor, N.Y.

John Kulisek is President of The Norben Group, a sales and marketing firm specializing in the production, import and distribution of fine permanent botanicals that operates in the United States, China, and Hong Kong. Some of the many places his quotes and managerial philosophies have appeared in and on include The Wall Street Journal, Microsoft.com, and ABC News.

He lives in Tenafly, N.J

Product Details

  • Publisher: BenBella Books (May 3, 2011)
  • Length: 256 pages
  • ISBN13: 9781935618805

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Raves and Reviews

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""Intriguing new book…O'Neil and Kulisek take a refreshingly candid look at handling employees….It's a welcome change from the pie-in-the sky ‘engagement' and ‘empowerment' blather we're always hearing from the so-called management experts.""

—HR Morning

""Tired of the beat-around-the-bush, wishy-washy, walk-on-eggs approach to management that prevails in our politically-correct workplace? Replace it with common-sense, straightforward communication tailored to the personality types on your team.""

——Dallas Morning News

""Great premise. Treat everyone differently.""

—Tom Peters, leadership and business expert, author of In Search of Excellence

""Bare Knuckle People Management is a clever, straight-forward, practical guide to understanding and managing each of your people to get the most out of them. A refreshing break from 'leadership books' that insist the key to management success is a one-size-fits-all formula. Finally a book that speaks directly to the manager for the real world.""

—Christopher Heck, Senior Vice President of the National Basketball Association

""The authors of Bare Knuckle People Management know successful people management is easier than a lot of managers make it. Kulisek and O'Neil's no-nonsense insights are not only amusing but on the mark. If you are a manager looking to improve the performance of your team, someone who just became a manager or think you would like to become a manager, you will be glad you read this book.""

—Paul Mott, Head of Club Services, Major League Soccer

""Coaching a professional basketball team is not different from managing a team of corporate employees. You have stars, utility players and bench warmers, all of whom thrive when their coach tailors his approach to their unique talents, weaknesses and contributions to the team. Bare Knuckle People Management speaks directly to managers who have been frustrated by the notion that all employees need to be treated equally and with kids' gloves.""

—Mike D'Antoni, Head Coach of the New York Knicks
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