Business Book Review: How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie
Nearly a century on, the lessons in How to Win Friends and Influence People are as relevant as ever. Paving the way for future leaders.
My Rating: ★★★★
Length: 305 Pages
Publisher: Harper Collins
Released: First published 1936
Key Takeaway for Personal Branding
Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People is the 1936 bestselling classic. With millions of copies sold since, it’s still highly regarded in the development sphere.
The underlining theme is to personalise your relationships. Showing a sincere interest in other people. And their innate need to feel important. With a couple of stand-out, practical applications for your personal brand.
Remember people’s names
“Remember that a person’s name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language.”
Carnegie describes the recall of someone's name as a subtle and very effective compliment.
While this deliberate technique may appear to lack sincerity, it is far from the case. As Carnegie repeatedly reminds you:
“The principles taught in this book will work only when they come from the heart. I am not advocating a bag of tricks. I am talking about a new way of life."
Carnegie calls for you to become genuinely interested in other people.
Keep a birthday book
Being interested in others is demonstrated through Carnegie’s birthday book. Which he uses to show his interest and appreciation for others on their most special day.
Favourite Quotes
Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.
The deepest urge in human nature is “the desire to be important.” Remember that phrase: “the desire to be important”. It is significant.
Try leaving a friendly trail of little sparks of gratitude on your daily trips.
Why talk about what we want? That is childish. Absurd. Of course, you are interested in what you want. You are eternally interested in it. But no one else is. The only way on earth to influence other people is to talk about what they want and show them how to get it.
You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.
No one likes to feel that he or she is being sold something or told to do a thing. We much prefer to feel that we are buying of our own accord or acting on our own ideas.
The name sets the individual apart; it makes him or her unique among all others. The information we are imparting or the request we are making takes on a special importance when we approach the situation with the name of the individual.
Nearly a century on, the principles first shared in this Carnegie classic still ring true. Storytelling is our opportunity to learn from those who have gone before us and our duty to pave the way for those who come. From the experience of history’s most respected heavyweights How to Win Friends and Influence People is the bridge for future leaders.
How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: Available on Amazon.
