How to make Friends & Influence People
Chapter Summary
Part 1
1. In
1931 “Two Gun” Crowley one of the most dangerous criminals in the history of
New York was captured, he was sentenced to death by electric chair, when he
arrived at the death house he said “This is what I get for defending myself”.
The point behind this story is that Crowley didn’t blame himself for what
happened to him instead he blamed others. By pointing finger at someone we are
putting this person in a defense position and that person will do his best to
justify himself and most probably will condemn you in return. Condemn &
Criticism is dangerous because it touches the person’s pride and criticism
doesn’t do any good to anybody, and the most important fact here to remember is
that criticism doesn’t correct the situation it just makes people justify
themselves to us and condemn us in return. Abraham Lincoln used to criticize
people by writing letters. In 1842 he ridicule a politician named James
Shields, but Shields wasn’t like anyone, he was very sensitive. Shields found
out it was Lincoln, there was a duel, they stopped them and Lincoln learned his
lesson. After this he started saying, “Don’t criticize them; they are just what
we would be under similar circumstances.” Every time you feel that you want to
criticize someone, remember that 99.9% of people don’t criticize themselves for
nothing, so try to understand the person first instead of pointing fingers and
let people understand you too. Carnegie finish this chapter by these great
words “As Dr. Johnson said: God himself sir, does nt propose to judge man until
the end of his days. Why should you and I?”
2. Those
who master the art of dealing with people, becomes able to get anyone to want
to do anything for them. You can punish your kids if they didn’t cleanup their
room, threat anyone with weapon to make them want to give you their
wallets...etc, this might work on the short term or when you are only around
them but these methods have tough consequences; always remember “what goes around
always comes around”. The only way to get you to do something for me is by
giving you something special, and this lead to another question ,what do we as
humans want most? Food, health, money, but most of these wants are gratified
and not longing all except one, the desire to be important. John Dewey said
“The deepest urge in human nature is the desire to be important.” The deep
desire to be important and appreciated by others is what differentiates between
humans and animals; take those who enter their pets into competitions for example,
their pets don’t really care about the winning, it mean nothing to them, but
for their owners winning is everything. It’s different from one person to
another; some people get their feeling of importance by helping others, on the
other hand some get their feeling out of vice versa, by harming etc. Charles
Schwab was one of the first American business men who get paid more than $ 1
mil a year; Schwab was hired by Andrew Carnegie as president of united state
steel company. Schwab wasn’t genius nor he knew more about the steel industry
more than any other people, The author asked him the a question and his answer:
“I consider my ability to arouse enthusiasm among my people,” said Schwab, the
greatest asset I possess, and the way to develop the best that is in a person
is by appreciation and encouragement…” Appreciation is important but don’t mix
between appreciation and flatter, appreciation is sincere comes out of heart,
but flatter is used to manipulate each other. Most of the time if we don’t have
any definite problems to think about we spend 95% of our times thinking about
ourselves but if we can spend some time to think about other people’s good
point we will not need flatter anymore. Appreciation is something we neglect in
our daily life so we have to try figuring out other people’s good points and
give them sincere appreciation and they will remember your words and repeat it
over and over even after you have forgotten them.
3. In
order to get the fish I have to give it what IT want not what I want. If common
sense works with fish why don’t we try it with people? Remember, to be able to
influence other people and leave impact on them, you get to talk about what THEY
want NOT what YOU want and show them how to get it. Harry A. Overstreet in his book Influencing Human Behavior said: “Action
springs out of what we fundamentally desire...and the best piece of advice
which can be given to would-be persuaders, whether in business, in the home, in
the school, in politics is: First, arouse in the other person an eager want. He
who can do this has the whole world with him. He who cannot walks a lonely
way.” Henry ford mentioned the art of dealing with people: “If there is any one
secret of success, it lies in the ability to get the other person's point of
view and see things from that person's angle as well as from your own. “Focusing
only on your interest is purely selfish and it’s not going to get you something
back, remember we don’t live alone in this world and to succeed in your life
you get to be able to deal with others. Owen D.Young said: “People who can put
themselves in the place of other people, who can understand the workings of
their minds, never need worry about what the future has in store for them.” “Thinking
always in term of other people’s point of view”, is the only lesson you get out
of this book, it will be a major building block in your career. Always remember
to find and understand the other person is eager want and show them how you can
help them to get it, by doing this you will have the whole world with you.
Part 2
1. The
animal with the sole purpose of giving you love is a dog. You can make more
friends in 2 months by becoming interested in other people than you can in 2
years by trying to get other people interested in you. People
are not interested in you they are interested in themselves if we merely try to
impress people and get people interested in us we will never have many true
since your friends Alfred Alder wrote a book entitled what life should mean to
you in the book he says it is the individual who is not interested in his
fellow man who has the greatest difficulties in life and provides the greatest
injury to others it is from among sense individuals that all human failures
spring and it's horrible Eating magazine could tell if the author like people
or not. Howard Thurston he had the ability to put his personality across the
Footlights he also had a genuine interest in people he never stepped in front
of the Footlights without repeating himself I love my audience a show of
Interest as with every other principle of human relations must be sincere if
you want others to like you if you want to develop real friendships if you want
to help others at the state and time as you can help yourself keep this
principle in mind become genuinely interested in other people.
2. Charles
Schwab charm and captivating smile. Just from a baby smile the boredom in the
reception-room became an enjoyable experience there's far more information than
they smile than they frown that's why in encouragement is a much more effective
teaching divides than punishment Robert Cryer manager of computer department
for a Cincinnati Ohio company talked about how he was recruiting a PhD in
computer science and how the young man shows his company over larger and better
ones just because he sounded as if he was glad to hear from the young man all
in all there are more examples but the main point to get across is to smile and
let your voice project through that smile
3. Jim
Farley was raised by a single mother around the turn of the 19th century,
starting work as a bricklayer when he was 10 years old and never getting much
education. He ended up as the Postmaster General of the United States, the
chairman of the Democratic National Committee, and the man responsible for
putting F.D.R. into the White House. Farley’s secret was that he could call
50,000 people by their first name. Each time he met someone, he would ask about
the person’s name, family size, profession, and political leanings, and created
a mental picture of these things. Use and remember a
person’s name, and you have instant likeability. Names set individuals apart,
it makes them feel unique among all others. Remember that a person’s name is to
that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
4. To
put it simply, quickly find what interests the other person, encourage them to
talk about themselves, and shut up. People are usually far more interested in
what they are already interested in than they are in listening to you. Most
people approach a conversation by trying to find a commonality, but if you
focus instead on the other person’s greatest interest and simply pay active and
close attention while they discuss it, they will find you to be a great
conversationalist. You don’t need to even say much at all. It is remarkably
easy to defuse an angry conversation; again, just shut up. All you have to do
is listen to the other person until they have told their whole story and are
satisfied that they have expressed themselves. By that time, you should be able
to address the problem from their viewpoint, which often results in a change of
subject and a quick resolution to the actual problem at hand. If you aspire to
be a good conversationalist, be an attentive listener.
5. When
Teddy Roosevelt had it on his schedule to meet someone the next day, he would
stay up late to read on a subject in which the person was interested. Spend
your energy to find the other person’s passion, not to prepare your own
elevator speech, and begin the conversation with that subject instead of
charging headlong into what you need out of the meeting. Those from Western
cultures especially make this mistake, fooling themselves into thinking they
are results-oriented, or efficient, or some other nonsense. You will be much
more effective with this approach. Talking in terms of the other person’s
interests pays off for both parties. Each time Howard Z. Herzing talked to someone,
it was an enlargement of his life.
6. Whenever
you meet someone, however briefly in passing, ask yourself, “What is there
about him that I can honestly admire?” Everyone wants approval, recognition,
and a feeling of importance, and it doesn’t take much for you to deliver all of
those things. If we are so contemptibly selfish that we can’t radiate a little
happiness and pass on a bit of honest appreciation without trying, then we
shall meet with the failure we so richly deserve. Let the other person feel
noticed and important. Practice doing this with everyone you meet – clerks at
the post office as well as your business associates, classmates, etc. Make it a
habit, and together with the other practices listed above, it will greatly
improve your results and relationships.
Part 3.
1. :
You Can’t Win an Argument.
Even
if you shoot down your opponent with your incredible wit and knowledge, he will
still leave the conversation feeling resentment – so you lose either way. It’s
simply not worth the time to argue. Abraham Lincoln said, “No man who is
resolved to make the most of himself can spare the time for personal contention.
“The author again sees things through the lens of making people feel important
– if you argue with someone, they may be getting their feeling of importance by
exercising their authority to block you. If you acknowledge their importance
instead, their ego has room to breathe, and you may then find they become
sympathetic to your cause.
2. A Sure Way of Making Enemies – and How to
Avoid It.
In a similar vein, you should never waste your
time trying to prove someone wrong. First of all, have some humility – we are
all influenced by our own cognitive biases, and even the most fervent student
of psychology falls prey to the shortcomings of the human mind on a daily
basis. Mr. Carnegie suggests this script when you believe another person is in
error: “Well, now, look! I thought otherwise, but I may be wrong. I frequently
am. And if I am wrong, I want to be put right. Let’s examine the facts. “The
author also recommends The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin, Franklin is
known by history for his incredibly adroit dealings with other people, and his
biography is filled with gems like this, “I made it a rule to forbear all
direct contradiction to the sentiments of others, and all positive assertion of
my own. I even forbade myself the use of every word… that imported a fix’d
opinion, such as “certainly,” “undoubtedly,” etc… I began by observing that in
certain cases or circumstances his opinion would be right, but in the present
case there appeared… some difference… And to this habit… I think it principally
owing that I had early so much weight with my fellow citizens when I proposed
new institutions…”
3. If you’re Wrong, Admit It.
And
do it “quickly, openly, and with enthusiasm.” Yet again, the author ties in the
concept of people’s need for importance. When you condemn yourself, the only
option for the other party to nourish their own self-esteem is to defend you.
Even when the other party’s interests are clearly contrary to your own, it is a
powerful weapon to admit your faults. A newspaper reader once wrote in to
criticize one of Elbert Hubbard’s articles. Here is the brilliant response:
“Come to think it over, I don’t think I completely agree with it myself. Not
everything I wrote yesterday appeals to me today. I am glad to learn what you
think on the subject. The next time you are in the neighborhood you must visit
us and we’ll get this subject threshed out for all time. So here is a handclasp
over the miles, and I am, yours sincerely…”
4. The High Road to a Man’s Reason.
If we respond to anger with anger, we are
never going to convince the other party or engage his reason. If we instead
respond to anger with friendliness, sympathy, and appreciation, we can turn an
angry situation into a productive one. Woodrow Wilson put it this way: “If you
come at me with your fists doubled, I think I can promise you that mine will
double as fast as yours; but if you come to me and say, ‘Let us sit down and
take counsel together, and, if we differ from one another, understand why it is
that we differ from one another, just what the points at issue are,’ we will
presently find that we are not so far apart after all, that the points on which
we differ are few and the points on which we agree are many, and that if we
only have the patience and the candor and the desire to get together, we will
get together.”
5. The
Secret of Socrates.
Never
begin a conversation by immediately addressing the ways in which your opinion
differs from the other person. Instead, try by seeing the things you both agree.
Keep reminding all parties involved that while we have different methods we all
strive for the same purpose. A skilled influencer of people will be able to
identify that common purpose. The result is that the other party begins to give
his point, in whatever small ways it might be. A person’s “pride of
personality” demands that he remain consistent with himself, so whether you
begin with him saying “yes” or “no,” the same response will carry on, naturally
directed from the outset. A “yes” or “no” is more than a word; it is a
response, and if you want to change the answer, you are going to have to change
the whole response. This can be an impossible task, so it is best to get things
on track before you begin. Get the other person saying, “Yes,” immediately.
6. The
Safety Valve in Handling Complaints.
Let people talk. When someone has a complaint,
let him talk himself out. When you go for an interview, don’t talk about
yourself; ask the interviewer about his early years, and get him talking about
himself. La Rochefoucauld said, “If you want enemies, excel your friends; but
if you want friends, let your friends excel you.” It doesn’t win you any
friends to talk of your accomplishments. Let the other person do most of the
talking.
7. How
to Get Cooperation.
There
should never be any need for you to claim credit for an idea; let the other
party claim the idea as their own, and you will have a much easier time of
getting their cooperation. When you need something, don’t talk about what you
need. Present the other person with the info, and ask them to tell you. As Lao
Tsze said, “The reason why rivers and seas receive the homage of a hundred
mountain streams is that they keep below them. Thus they are able to reign over
all the mountain streams. So the sage, wishing to be above men, putteth himself
below them; wishing to be before them, he putteth himself behind them. Thus,
though his place be above men, they do not feel his weight; though his place be
before them, they do not count it an injury.”
8. A Formula That Will Work Wonders for You.
There
is always a reason that a person thinks and acts the way he does. Leave behind
the mindset of judging a person’s rightness or wrongness, and instead seek out
that reason. You will then have the key to their actions and even their personality.
The author asks that if you take away nothing else from this book, you begin to
make a practice of honestly trying to see other people’s points of view – not
opinions, but why those opinions are held.
9. What
Everybody Wants.
Mr.
Carnegie then gives us a magic phrase: “I don’t blame you one iota for feeling
as you do. If I were you, I should undoubtedly feel just as you do.” Feel free
to update the phrase for the 21st century, but the point is to acknowledge that
you truly would have the same perspective as the other person if you had their
temperament, environment, and experiences. While we might argue the role of
environmental forces vs. personal choice, it is nevertheless important to notice
the other person’s emotions and opinions by declaring them reasonable given
their circumstances.
10. An Appeal That Everybody Likes.
J.P. Morgan once asserted that people usually
have two reasons for anything they do: one that sounds good, and the real one.
Appeal to people’s nobler motives by providing them with that good reason. Speak
and act in a way that sounds the best for them.
11. The Movies Do It. The Radio Does It. Why Don’t
You Do It?
Merely
stating a truth isn’t enough. The truth has to be made “vivid, interesting,
dramatic.” Demonstration is far more striking and memorable than words, so show
people your ideas rather than telling them.
12. When
Nothing Else Works, Try This.
Charles
Schwab once had a mill manager whose workers weren’t meeting their production
quotas. The mill manager had tried everything, with no success. Schwab simply
asked how many heats the mill’s day shift had made, and wrote the number in
chalk on the mill floor. When the night shift came into work they asked what
the number meant, then proceeded to make one more than the day shift had
managed and write that number on the floor. Not wanting to be shown up, the day
shift came back with even more, and so on until that mill was the most
productive in the entire plant. The principle here is not to set people against
each other; it is to issue a challenge to excel. The love of the game and the
chance to prove self-worth is one of the most powerful motivators – so
introduce some competition when you need to inspire others.
Part 4
1. Before
finding fault with a person, begin with a sincere compliment to soften the
sting of the criticism. Point out what the person has done well or correctly
before discussing what needs improvement or is unacceptable. Offer genuine
praise to show you have confidence in the other person—it can boost
self-confidence and help the person do a better job. Principle: "Begin
with praise and honest appreciation."
2. Although
people may begin with praise before they criticize someone, they soon follow
with a “but” statement. The word “but” immediately sounds negative. The person
then gets defensive. Use “and” statements instead, rephrasing the criticism
from sounding negative, to a positive statement. The criticism is still there
but feelings were spared and the person will try to comply more likely. Indirect,
criticism can be effective with “sensitive people who may resent bitterly any
direct criticism.” If you are critical of
someone and want that person to change, state your case in an indirect way, and
leave the choice up to the person. They may be more inclined to do as you wish
than if you tried to apply more direct pressure. Lead by example—show you are
willing to do the same thing you are asking someone else to do. Call attention
to people’s mistakes indirectly.
3. Remember
your roots and your short upcoming mistakes, before criticizing someone else.
Make acceptations for the person’s age and experience level. You can’t expect
beginners to automatically become experts. When you must criticize someone,
admitting your own mistakes humbly can help the person feel more comfortable
and less judged. It shows you are human, too, and make mistakes like anyone
else. Offer honest praise as well: "Humility and praise ... rightfully
used ... will work veritable miracles in human relations." Talk about you
own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
4. Rather
than telling people what to do, let them figure it out their own way. Doing
this provides "a feeling of importance" and helps people learn from
their own errors. It also keeps their pride intact, as nobody likes to be
bossed around. Use phrases such as "You might consider this" and
"Do you think that would work?" to offer your opinion less directly. Giving
orders causes resentment. "Asking questions ... makes an order more
palatable" and can spark the person's creativity. When asked for their
opinion and their cooperation on a task, people are more likely to participate
willingly. Ask questions instead of giving direct order.
5. Rather
than trample "the feelings of others, getting our own way," think
about how the other person feels and check if your words might hurt the
person's pride. Instead "a few minutes thought, a considerate word or two,
a genuine understanding of the other person's attitude" can make the
situation easier for both. Use "tact and consideration" during
difficult conversations such as those when "discharging or reprimanding an
employee." By being tactful you can spare another's feelings and help
ensure good will for the future.
Don't put people on the spot,
especially in front of others. There is no good reason to hurt a person's dignity.
When someone makes a mistake, remember and praise the good work they've done.
Be understanding and show you have faith in the person to do the job well. Let
the other person save face.
6. Praising
improvement "inspires the other person to keep on improving. People are
often quick to criticize yet stubborn to praise. Praise can change the course
of a person's life. Psychologist B.F. Skinner showed, by offering praise and
minimizing criticism that "the good things people do will be reinforced
and the poorer things will atrophy." For example, yelling at children will
often cause worse behavior rather than improvement, whereas reinforcing good
behavior will encourage more of the same. In giving praise, cite a
"specific accomplishment, rather than just making general flattering
remarks." The praise will be more meaningful this way and won't come
across simply as flattery. You can "literally transform" people with
praise. Showing your acknowledgment of someone's good qualities can spark the
person to change: "Abilities wither under criticism; they blossom under
encouragement." Praise the slightest improvement and praise every
improvement. Be hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.
7. It
is easier to lead people and change their attitude or behavior when you earn
their respect and show you respect them and their abilities. If you want
someone to show more of a certain trait, "act as though that particular
trait were already" shown. Doing this gives people a reputation to live up
to. Reinforce good behavior and accomplishments with regular praise. Showing
you believe in people can help them believe in themselves. Even the smallest
word of encouragement can change a person's life. Give the other person a fine
reputation to live up to.
8. If
you emphasize a person's mistakes, even if you are being truthful and accurate,
the person may become discouraged and give up. On the other hand, if you praise
the things a person does correctly, while downplaying any errors, the person
will be encouraged to keep going. Encouragement offers hope and makes the
person "want to improve." You may suggest they have a natural talent or
"undeveloped flair" for the work. Your faith in their ability is
another strong incentive for people to try new things or correct their faults. To
motivate people, help them see the personal benefits they will gain by
improving a skill or correcting a fault. Use encouragement. Make
the fault seem easy to correct.
9. Make
people feel important when asking them to do something for you. Be tactful in
your words and actions, even with your opponents; they could make life difficult
for you if you insult them. Use incentives to motivate people to do as you
wish. By striking bargains that benefit you and the other person, both people
gain something. If you must turn down a request for your time or help, consider
suggesting another person who might willingly meet the request. Consider giving
a person an official-sounding title and increased responsibility for overseeing
a task to motivate the person to give their best effort. People like to feel
they have some authority in their work. When trying to change someone's
"attitudes or behaviors," be sincere and clear. Think about what the
other person wants and play into that. Despite these suggestions, people won't
always react well to your requests. Even so, you'll get better results and be a
better leader by following these guidelines than not. Make the other person
happy about doing the thing you suggest.