Promoted to a new sales job, an Irishman takes off on a motorcycle trip to sort and file his thoughts when a chance encounter with a hard-bitten American provides him the opportunity to gain a new perspective and, most importantly, acquire a new sales toolbox. A serious business book written as a narrative, Paul Lanigan delivers a tutorial on the importance of business storytelling and the impact it can have on your career. Sebastian was recently promoted to sales in his company, and while he enjoys the challenge, he is also stuck. He's playing with the big boys now, and in a competitive shootout with some serious big guns, he is poorly armed. The techniques that worked in his old job don't work here, and if he's going to stay alive, he better figure out something quick. So to clear his mind and get himself together, he climbs on his Harley and hits the open road, never knowing the answer to his dilemma is just around the next corner. Jack is a resolute American visiting Ireland. But what Jack has to offer Sebastian is something that is part of the Irish soul: the art of storytelling. Their chance encounter gives Sebastian a new outlook, a new confidence, and most importantly, a new sales tool. Taking baby steps into his newfound skill, he soon discovers the power of storytelling and realizes that if there were ever a time to test just how far it can take him, that time is now. The perfect companion for salespeople and business owners, Lanigan's debut captures his love of storytelling as it imparts the wisdom this skill has brought him over many years of success both in sales and in training. Written as a story itself, it eschews dry, worn out, overly academic rhetoric and uses the very concept he is teaching to demonstrate its effectiveness. A must-have for anyone involved in business, Soft Tales and Hard Asses will change the way you look at your job as it gives you the tools you need to not only excel but inspire and truly enjoy your process.