Self Reflection on How to Win Friends & Influence People

Dale Carnegie's book, How to Win Friends & Influence People, provides extreme leadership development opportunities for those who have read it. Dale does an excellent job at not only explaining his points of view but also giving successful examples with ordinary people that have used his techniques.

Being a successful leader requires numerous responsibilities and constant development. An effective leader must be genuine in his interest, responses, and approaches to their employees. If a leader is not genuine, the employee will notice and have an adverse affect to what the leader is trying to portray or accomplish.

If a leader wants to motive or change a behavior of an individual, they must make the individual feel as though the idea for change is their idea and it is in their best interest. Appeal to their motives will use the change as a challenge to better themselves or their performance.

A leader must never forget to praise improvement and constantly give positive feedback. Showing respect in a positive manor will feed off from you to your entire team. Having a positive team leads to positive results and positive customer service. Positivity, just like negativity, is contagious in any company.

Carnegie gave me many self-reflections from this book but they all can be summarized, a leader must be able to think outside of oneself and be able to address their audience's behaviors in order to produce the most effect response.

I have already taken some of the positivity approaches to change management and coaching into my team, which I currently have ten members. The 'yes, yes' approach has been proven successful so far in its use. When coaching I acknowledge my employee's strengths and lead them to notice their area of opportunity by asking yes questions. This has lead them to their own root cause which, in turn, has lead to a collaborative effort to make the opportunity into a strength.

Overall, Carnegie provided me with vital leadership development. I intend to watch my own posture, expressions, and other people's behaviors in order to produce the most effective and excited team.