For those, who don’t know Dale Carnegie it’s worth
mentioning that he was not only selling beacon and soups in beginning of 20th
century for Armour & Company in Chicago, but also wrote couple of books. And one of them has been read by 50 million people and was translated to almost
40 languages. “How to Win Friends and Influence People” written in 1936 is one
of these self-improvement books you’ll find very actual today and want to get
back often.
The core concept of the book bases on changing people’s
behavior by first changing yours behavior toward them.
This is a book particularly for those, who want to
develop deep, driving desire to master principles of human relations. It is
written in great story-telling style, with plenty of case studies, allegories
and metaphors rolling summing up so called “principles”, incl. the fundamental
ones, which make other people to like you, e.g.:
1) Become genuinely interested in other people
2) Smile
3) Remember that a person’s name is that person the sweetest and most important
sound in any language
4) Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves
5) Talk in terms of other persons interests
6) Make the other person feel important and do it sincerely
Sounds easy, but can take years to discipline oneself,
practice, and apply.
One of the most important messages I understood thanks to
studying D. Carnegie is that you can make more friends in 2 months by becoming
interested in other people than you could do in 2 years by trying to get other interested
in you.
Other principles elaborated by D. Carnegie refer to
thinking new thoughts, discovering new ambitions and winning people to your way
of thinking of course. Carnegie gives tips on how to avoid arguments and to
handle complaints, be entertaining conversationalist, or simply arouse
enthusiasm among people.
I like this book, not only because of principles it
teaches, but also for great deal of history of doing business. You’ll find there
story of one of the most profitable companies in the US in the past - Bethlehem Steel Company, or many examples referring to undertakings of A. Carnegie, J.P.Morgan or J.D. Rockefeller and industrialization of the United States.
