Dale Carnegie

tauringhuang.

Aug 22nd 2008
From Economist.com

Unlike many of the gurus profiled, Dale Carnegie (1888-1955) did not emerge from an urban immigrant background and/or a brilliant academic career. He was born into a poor farming family and struggled through college in Warrensburg, Missouri. But he had one exceptional skill—he was an extraordinary public speaker and he first established a reputation as a teacher of public speaking at night school in New York’s YMCAs. So successful were his courses that he turned them into a popular textbook and went on to found the Dale Carnegie Institute of Effective Speaking and Human Relations.

Carnegie’s first lesson was “Don’t Criticise”, and he quoted examples of famous folk, such as Abraham Lincoln, Clark Gable and Marconi, who he claimed took care not to criticise others. His second lesson was, always try to see the issue from the other person’s point of view. Why, for example, would that particular person want to do a particular task for you? He recognised that a key motivator for many people is the desire to feel important, the nourishment of their self-esteem.

Carnegie was one of the first to provide what he called “in a nutshell” summaries of the different chapters of his books, a practice that is now almost universal in management writing.

“Don’t criticise, condemn or complain; give honest and sincere appreciation; and arouse in the other person an eager want.”Although the first edition of “How to Win Friends” ran to only 5,000 copies, since then more than 15m copies have been sold. Carnegie’s books have been reprinted many times over the years. In 1997, over 40 years after his death, “How to Win Friends and Influence People” was still on the bestseller lists in Germany.

Notable publications
“Public Speaking: A Practical Course for Businessmen”, Association Press, 1926

“How to Win Friends and Influence People, The World’s Work”, Kingswood, Surrey, 1913; new edited edn, Vermilion, 2007

More management gurus
This profile is adapted from “The Economist Guide to Management Ideas and Gurus”, by Tim Hindle (Profile Books; 322 pages; £20). The guide has the low-down on more than 50 of the world’s most influential management thinkers past and present and over 100 of the most influential business-management ideas. To buy this book, please visit our online shop.