The greatest business book ever
Just a quick straw pole around our offices came to the conclusion
that we had read close to 1,000 business books between us;
and yet one book stood out as the greatest influence on our
lives – and it is not really regarded as a business book.
How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie
stands head and shoulders above any other business book you
will ever read. For over 50 years the rock-solid, time-tested
advice in this book has carried thousands of now famous people
up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives.
Now this phenomenal book has been revised and updated to
help readers achieve their maximum potential in the complex
and competitive 90s!
This grandfather of all people-skills books was first published
in 1937. It was an overnight hit, eventually selling 15 million
copies. How to Win Friends and Influence People is just as
useful today as it was when it was first published, because
Dale Carnegie had an understanding of human nature that will
never be outdated.
Financial success, Carnegie believed, is due 15 percent to
professional knowledge and 85 percent to "the ability
to express ideas, to assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm
among people." He teaches these skills through underlying
principles of dealing with people so that they feel important
and appreciated. He also emphasizes fundamental techniques
for handling people without making them feel manipulated.
Carnegie says you can make someone want to do what you want
them to by seeing the situation from the other person's point
of view and "arousing in the other person an eager want." You
learn how to make people like you, win people over to your
way of thinking, and change people without causing offense
or arousing resentment. For instance, "let the other person
feel that the idea is his or hers," and "talk about
your own mistakes before criticizing the other person." Carnegie
illustrates his points with anecdotes of historical figures,
leaders of the business world, and everyday folks and does
it in a way that has you repeating to yourself – “if
only I did that!”
The greatest business book ever? Well read it and see.
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