How to Win Friends and Influence People Author
October 22nd, 2009
In Roman Polanski’s “The Ninth Gate,” one of the characters is seen reading the famous book, “How to Win Friends and Influence People. After watching the movie on SyFy the other night, I decided to look more into the history of the book. I had seen it referenced in other films, but my curiosity finally got the better of me.
It was written by a man whose name is Dale Carnegie. He had a lot of influence on the business world, from corporate team building to sales management. It also turned out to not be the scheming book I thought it was going to be. From the title, I assumed it was going to be another guide on how to climb the corporate ladder, but it was better than that.
Carnegie was actually all about sincerity. The people you work with or are friends with are not just there for your use. That facet of the book was something got stressed quite a bit. I guess from its placement in the film with a character that was quite manipulative, I thought the book was going to be a Machiavellian guide to modern day manipulation. His book is taking from the point of view of edifying yourself about social skills. The book has been so popular and for so long, it has about sixteen million copies sold since it was initially published in 1936. I also had no idea the book was that old. It seems sort of timeless from all the references that get made to it in popular culture.
One of the things the book stressed was to make social situations not about you. Being a good listener was accentuated many times, and Carnegie did mean listening, not just hearing the other person talk while you pretend to listen. He also again and again wrote that criticizing other people or complaining does nothing. It may seem like such an obvious observation but more people could employ these simple little tips more and more in the work place. Our training seminars at work would go a lot easier if other employees, and myself too, would be better listeners.
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