The title argument here is based on the fact that people usually like to associate and cooperate with people who have a natural connection with. This is why Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People has sold more than 30 million copies and has been localised into 36 languages. Since 1937, it’s still the first and finest book of its kind. Its author, Dale Carnegie has helped a myriad of people to connect and prosper in both business and private lives. In fact, there is no authentic realisation in this life if one doesn’t try to accomplish both.
The fact of the matter is that Carnegie’s guidance has remained relevant through drastic social change and various generations till today. This is because he challenges timeless issues about the psychology and communications art of remaining open and aligning yourself with other people. In turn, wining empathy and sympathy that is the bed stone of human connection. This helps to persuade people to see more of your side of the story and remain open to ideas. And of course, the mission is to be an honest human and speak truthfully without giving offense.
The ability to understand others and gracefully navigate social situations in life and work is critically important to those who want to lead, expand their network or simply maintain healthy overall relationships. In fact, the core principles have been penned as a practical handbook on human relations. And one of the fundamentals of wining people is to maintain a positive approach that instinctively makes people like you and want to align with your motives. This philosophy inspires quality, productivity and high morale.
In essence, the art of living a good life and being truly prosperous primarily depends on one’s ability to communicate effectively within any type of relationship. This is why Dale stated that Financial Success is 15% professional knowledge and 85% the ability to express ideas, assume leadership and to arouse enthusiasm among other people. So, as long as there are humans living on this planet, building good relationships is the key to both professional and personal lives. To help break it down, the highpoints are summarized in the bullet points below:
- Smile
- Listen
- Be Kind
- Be Genuine
- Avoid Judgment
- Be Gracefully Honest
- Ask the right Questions
- Remain Open & Curious
While these ideas were written long before the digital age, the principles can serve us well today. We can now reach large audiences with incredible speed and with minimal cost. These can be amazing influencing tools, if we use them efficiently. However, comments under many posts or articles release anger from (seemingly) opposing ideas throwing mud at each other. Carnegie never condemned, never criticized and never complained because he understood it is a useless exercise. By polarizing instead of empathising, we reinforce defences because humans perceive it as an attack. If we genuinely want to win partnerships, co-workers, friends and loved ones we need to learn to be open and liquid with both ideas and our communication.