The focus of this site is on the people side of project management. When I heard that author Dave Kerpen was coming out with a new book “The Art of People”, I was intrigued.

Kerpen, who founded 2 social media marketing firms Likeable Media and Likeable Local, has authored social media books, such as Likeable Social Media and Likeable Business. He has taken many of the principles from those books and applied it to personal relationships, through the experiences of his career and building his businesses. In an increasingly competitive world, where people are trying to be heard and notices, building strong relationships has become even more important than ever.

The book is broken down into 11 parts, covering basic people skills. These skils include Meeting the Right People, Influencing People, Leading People, and Resolving Conflict with People. Each part contains 4 to 6 chapters that delve into each of these 11 skills. At the end of each chapter, there are 2 to 4 bullet points called FAST (First Action Steps to Take), which provides simple steps to take and apply what is learned in each chapter.

The book is helpful in getting to meet the right people, establishing lasting relationships, leading and influencing the people around you, and resoloving conflict with positive results. It is presented in an easy-to-read and easy-to-implement format. The new millenium has presented us with new opportunities and new challenges. “The Art of People” takes many of the principles from Dale Carnegie’s “How to Win Friends and Influence People” and presents it for these new opportunities and challenges. While the book addresses some skills that can be used in on-line communications, many of the skills target traditional interpersonal skills that can get lost these days in our “connected” world.

To learn more about the book, you can go to http://www.artofpeoplebook.com/.