How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie - Book Report/Review Example

How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie: 1934 Introduction Modern social development concepts are based on networking, and cooperation, with dramatic corporate trends illustrating teamwork as the new trick to turn around performance. Creating networks meaningful for social and economic relations is theme of modern world, which makes the topic of winning friends as well as managing such relations relevant for any setting involving people. From experiences of the sociocultural past that the world remembers today, many mistakes made could have been avoided only if the appropriate friendships were created and relevant management employed. A similar observation in the corporate scene illustrates the possibility of a richer world supported by exploitation of the opportunity that teamwork and cooperation presents to the organization. Masterly of winning friends and influencing their relations as discussed in the book could trigger the optimization of desired performance outcomes that the human society can achieve (Carnegie 5). Brief Overview The book highlights various friendship winning techniques from different perspectives in distinct parts with specific approaches to achieve the identified outcomes. Part 1 is devoted for the techniques that any group manager would require in order to achieve perfect handling of people’s needs (Carnegie 21). The emotional nature of individual human beings as well as the entire group form the basis for the steps needed to handle people. Part 2 includes six unique propositions of handling personal portrayal in order to strike the correct perception from people. First impression and presentation defines the confidence that the individual possesses before people as well as the trust that people can attach to the impression (Carnegie 55). Part 3 presents the techniques that are necessary in negotiation, analyzing and understanding others. Perhaps one of the most important interaction variables includes how discussions are perceived, without imposing own values on others and attracting a liking from other people. This definition continues in Part 4 that dedicate nine subtopics on how to avoid confrontation and resentment during interactions with other people. This part highlights motivation techniques that target avoidance of magnifying others weaknesses, giving orders, punishment and biasness. Part 5 highlights case studies for the techniques in contest, where famous experiences of letters written achieved tremendous results in the communication outcomes. Highlighting the success parts that the letters attained facilitate the presentation of the author’s observation that appropriate non-verbal communication could make an impact in influencing audience (Burton and Dalley 16). The final part describes the most basic social interaction skills that a person in need of influencing people must attain, since the family is the basic social establishment. Seven simple rules illustrate how family life can be made easier and happier, ranging from respect to finer details of dos and don’ts in family life (Carnegie 186). To sum up Carnegie’s work, masterly of influencing people originates from personal understanding, a supportive family environment since infancy, understanding other people beyond the family, appropriate communication and respect for personal and social values. The presentation of life accounts where marriage relationships failed due to unfulfilled desires and nagging wives illustrates the importance of influencing the correct people in the most admissible way. These themes emerge in one form in a chapter and in another form in the next chapter, showing the depth of the author’s passion to communicate the importance of influencing other people. Application to Organizational Behavior Concepts/ Theories Today’s organization is built on tight relations of workers, indicating the importance of social definitions of work in the modern corporate and institutional life. Human resource management continually shifts from the old man-management version of personnel management to the welfare conscious model that aims at facilitating motivation and commitment in the workplace (Farnham and Smith 52). In the modern organization, influencing employees’ interests in performance is the most effective approach when compared to the scientific approach that perceived human performance from a machine perspective. Despite the magnitude of social burden illustrating social models to be expensive, diverse and unpredictable, investment in such models always justifies the cost benefit analysis. In terms of the relevance of the influence perspective in bringing out the expected performance from individuals, avoidance of conflicts and misunderstandings presents the organization with intangible assets and resources that outcompete any tangible resources. Human resource management theories indicate that the most effective way to turn performance is through efficient communication, appreciation, motivation and commitment. To achieve these and other important practices within the organization, teamwork plays a major role in the optimization of influence among employees. Division of labor advocated in the scientific management models isolated individuals to specific tasks and it became difficult to manage discouragement arising from inherent lack of potential since every person has weaknesses as much as they have talents and potential ((Farnham and Smith 100). In the modern teamwork system, friendships and interactions enable the management to come closer to the employees and encourage them to continue performing without fear of isolation. Making influence a central theme in modern organizational approaches support the observations made by the author during a time when teamwork was not as established as it is today. Practical Impact: Workplace & Life Perhaps the most important theme in the book is the focus on the personal presentation in dignity and respect for others. Personal perception to life stretches beyond personal values to include the environment in which people are brought up (Borg 22). To define the relevance of personal attitude, Carnegie succeeds in painting individual strengths as the most definitive factors in relations. If everybody acted in decorum and appreciated the diversity that others possess, it would perhaps be a recreation of the work that Carnegie devoted his efforts to put together in different perspectives and illustrations. Influencing other people cannot successfully take place if people fail to understand their values, principles and motivations. Throughout the book, Carnegie paints the individual as the determinant of the magnitude of impacts that events around them bring in life. Resilience for instance appears severally, to illustrate the significance of dealing with internal pressure before making an influence on other people. Presenting oneself as an admirable individual augurs well in defining the magnitude of influence that can be transferred on other people. In terms of life and workplace impacts, embracing accurate interactions among groups and communities enables the individual to understand their role in the society and enhance the corporate culture. Establishing work-life balance as modern human resource management themes illustrate must always begin with dealing with personal attitudes towards life. Locating oneself in the larger community facilitates the development of appropriate relations with other people. In order to understand other people’s roles in life, owning their perspective on the contested issues facilitates entering into their lives and making changes (Gutscher and Kaufmann-Hayoz 11). In political scenes, winning favor from other people perhaps illustrates the importance of leadership demands of understanding the plight of other people’s emotions and perceptions. Socioeconomic decisions today rely on understanding the actual perceptions that people have about life, which must be appreciated in making the appropriate changes. Political scenes since antiquity demand that influencing people is part of the ingredients to establish a winning formula. In many instances throughout the book, political leaders with a perfect sense of influence and winning friends assist the author in driving the point close in defining influence. Conclusion The management of the human society depends on the cooperation of individuals to determine their fate. Leadership must always remain in touch with the needs of the people, which imply that the leader must know how to influence and win people’s favor. In the book, various illustrations are given to demonstrate the extent to which influence affects relations and shows the effectiveness of a conscious individual in terms of influence in bringing about desirable changes to the human society. Issues contained in the book range from personal life, family life, public presentation and communication among many other topics. The modern corporate scenes increasingly exploit influence and friendships in defining their sustainability paths. Socioeconomic and political leadership also require perfect understanding of influence, in order to attract the appropriate resources to make an impact in the society. Works Cited Borg, James. Persuasion: The art of influencing people. FT Press, 2008. Print. Burton, Lous., & Dalley, Deborah., Developing your influencing skills to influence people by increasing your credibility, trustworthiness and communication skills. New York: UoLearn, 2010. Print. Carnegie, Dale. How to win friends and influence people. 1934. Web. (http://erudition.mohit.tripod.com/_Influence_People.pdf) Farnham, David., & Smith, Paul. People management & development. London, UK: CIPD Publishing, 2005. Print. Gutscher, Heiz., & Kaufmann-Hayoz, Ruth. Changing things—moving people: Strategies for promoting sustainable development at the local level. Basel: Birkhauser Verlag, 2001. Print. Read More