Dale Carnegie

Take a chance! All life is a chance. The man who goes the furthest is
generally the one who is willing to do and dare.
Dale Carnegie
American consultant and author 18881955

Breakthrough ideas
Salesmanship, communication and motivation

Key book
How to Win Friends and Influence People
The Ultimate Business Guru Book 28

In 1987, a Taiwanese consulting company brought Dale Carnegies training
programs to the country for the first time. Within eight years, 7000 students were
graduating each year and the business was generating annual profits of $4 million.
In
1997, over forty years after his death, Dale Carnegie (18881955) was still
featuring
on the bestseller lists in Germany. These two examples are testament to the
enduring
popularity of Carnegies work and the truism, first noted by Robert Louis
Stevenson,
that everyone lives by selling something.
Carnegie was the first superstar of the self-help genre. Go forth with a smile on
your face and a song in your heart and sell, sell, sell. His successors whether they
be Anthony Robbins or Stephen Covey should occasionally doff their caps in
Carnegies direction. It is surely no coincidence that Covey studied American
success literature, of which Carnegie is a prime example, before coming up with
The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Carnegie did much the same 50 years
before and his principles have a similar homely ring to those of Covey.
First. Carnegie presented the fundamental techniques in handling people
dont criticize, condemn or complain; give honest and sincere appreciation; and
arouse in the other person an eager want. To these he added six ways to make
people like you become genuinely interested in other people; smile; remember
that
a persons name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any
language; be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves; talk in
terms of the other persons interests; make the other person feel important and do
it sincerely. (It is not known whether Groucho Marx was a fan of Carnegies, but
he
provided similar advice: Sincerity is the key to success. If you can fake that,
youve
got it made.)
Dale Carnegie mastered sincerity early on. Born on a Missouri farm, Carnegie
(originally Carnegey) began his working life selling bacon, soap and lard for
Armour & Company in south Omaha. He turned his sales territory into the
companys national leader, but then went to New York to study at the American
Academy of Dramatic Arts he toured the country as Dr Harley in Polly of the
Circus. Realizing the limits of his acting potential, Carnegie returned to
salesmanship selling Packard automobiles. It was then that Carnegie persuaded
Dale Carnegie 29
the YMCA schools in New York to allow him to conduct courses in public
speaking.
Carnegies talks became highly successful. So successful, in fact, that he turned
them into a string of books Public Speaking and Influencing Men in Business;
How to Stop Worrying and Start Living, How to Enjoy Your Life and Your Job;
How
to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People by Public Speaking; and his
perennial bestseller, How to Win Friends and Influence People, which has sold
over
15 million copies.
Carnegie was a salesman extraordinaire. In his books, names were dropped,
promises made. Upbeat and laden with sentiment, How to Win Friends and
Influence People was a simple selling document The rules we have set down
here
are not mere theories or guesswork. They work like magic. Incredible as it sounds,
I
have seen the application of these principles literally revolutionize the lives of
many
people.
It is easy to sneer at Carnegies work in the same way as Covey can be
dismissed. It is homespun wisdom adorned with commercial know-how. Like any
great salesman, Carnegie knew which levers to pull and when. Appearances can be
deceptive. It is difficult to sneer at the enduring popularity of Carnegies books and
his companys training programs. They continue to strike a chord with managers
and
aspiring managers, because they deal with the universal challenge of face-to-face
communication. Carnegie was also notable in being the first to create a credible
long-term business out of his ideas. In creating a flourishing business, Carnegie
ensured that his name and ideas should continue to live on and make money
after
his death.