Book Sips #58— ‘How to Win Friends and Influence People’ by Dale Carnegie
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‘Ask questions instead of giving direct orders’, principle four of Carnegie’s classic and well-known book: How to Win Friends & Influence People. The book was first published in 1936 and where some wordings or suggestions may not be 100 percent used nowadays anymore, the overall ideas remain relevant when dealing with people. He described nine principles that shall help everyone in their business lives to be more successful and strive in your doing. Dale Carnegie focuses on the positive side of things and explains how with such an approach, people are more open to listen to you and help you with your suggestions and needs.
A sip:
‘… and talked for hours to the botanist. Mightnight came. I said good night to everyone and departed. The botanist then turned to our host and paid me several flattering compliments. […], he ended by saying I was a ‘most interesting conversationalist. An interesting conversationalist? Why, I had said hardly anything at all. I couldn’t have said anything if I wanted to without changing the subject, for I didn’t know any more about botany than I knew about the anatomy of a penguin. But I had done this: I had listened intently. I had listened because I was genuinely interested. And he felt it. Naturally that pleased him. That kind of listening is one of the highest compliments we can pay anyone.’
Beyond the book
There is the official Dale Carnegie website that offers training around the subject which can be found here.
The methodology is nowadays used in many sales teams, but also outside of this function, the principle can be very useful. As with every framework, not every single part of it will fit you. As for this book, we can find written parodies about it. Nevertheless, remember the publishing year and how this can be adapted to the current times.
How to Win Friends and Influence People
by Dale Carnegie
Why read?
This book gives a great summary of the main motivators for people and what is important for them when working with others. The tips from the book can be applied in various job functions, and will mostly be helpful when working in a customer-facing environment. The book is built around nine principles and certainly helps to get new ideas on how to communicate better with others and make sure you can connect with others while keeping your goals in mind.
328 pages, Bibliotheka 2021
Get this book here on Amazon!
