Why does one management style make employees hate their jobs while a different style inspires them to outperform and commands their respect? Emotionally intelligent people-management skills turn out to be the primary reason. In modern organizations keen to retain their most talented human capital, there may be no more important competency to develop than the skills that motivate people to outperform the competition.9 Powerful Practices of Really Great Bosses features a sensible, easily implemented framework organized into three distinct sets of skillsfoundational, prevention of common pitfalls, and advanced relationship management. Kohn and O'Connell enhance the approaches to effective people management that they presented in their highly praised previous publication 6 Habits of Highly Effective Bosses.

Stephen E. Kohn is president of Work& People Solutions, specializing in executive coaching, management training, and organizational development. He works one-on-one with managers and executives at many leading corporate organizations, including Ernst& Young, DuPont, the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, and BMW USA. He also delivers a variety of specialized training for new managers, focusing on methods for transitioning to a role requiring sound approaches to people empowerment and more senior-level leadership. Kohn works out of White Plains, New York. Vincent D. O’Connell is president of B-SOLID Coaching and Training, a McLean, Virginia–based training and consulting firm focused on improving leadership, account relationship management, and teamwork skills within organizations. O’Connell served in executive positions in marketing at various hospitals, and he was a consultant for the Hay Group and Buck Consultants. A graduate of Brown University, he did his graduate work in human resources management at Cornell University. O’Connell has authored numerous articles for professional journals and coauthored five books with Kohn.