CHAPTER 5FINDING COMMON GROUNDSocializing and Appealing to Relationship

It would be difficult to write about influence without mentioning Dale Carnegie’s How to Win Friends and Influence People, which first appeared in 1936 and is still being published. In this book, Carnegie identified thirty principles for handling people, being a leader, making people like you, and persuading them to think as you do. Among his principles are “give honest and sincere appreciation,” “be a good listener,” “let the other person save face,” and “make the other person feel important.”1 Although there is more to influence than being friendly and making others feel important, it is hard to argue with Carnegie’s advice. What he advocates amounts to exercising good ...

Get Elements of Influence now with the O’Reilly learning platform.

O’Reilly members experience books, live events, courses curated by job role, and more from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers.