Bootstrap Leadership Blog

30 million people worldwide have read it.  Your father or grandfather probably had a copy of it on their shelf.  It was published in 1936, and yet, when released as an iPhone app in February, it immediately became the top-selling paid business app in the iTunes store.  A new edition (only the second since the original publication) will hit stores next year.  What is it?  How to Win Friends and Influence People, by Dale Carnegie.  Carnegie’s brainstorm of business advice has been translated into 47 languages, and is the most successful business book in history (by far).  In 2009 alone, it sold 300,000 copies – this for a book that is 74 years old! 

So who was this guy, and how did he tap into the mother lode of business counseling?  Born in 1888, Carnegie had virtually no business background when he wrote the book.  He was raised on a pig farm in Missouri, and moved east to become an actor in his early twenties.  He didn’t make it as an actor, so he tried selling trucks and writing western novels (neither of those ventures worked, either).  What did seem to stick was a class in effective business speaking that he began to teach at a Harlem YMCA in 1912 – a class that would form the basis for the book.

Carnegie knew a thing or two about marketing, for sure – in 1919 he changed the spelling of his name from Carnagey to Carnegie… probably to match the spelling of another pretty famous entrepreneur at the time.  Carnegie just intuitively “got” the relationship between public speaking and business success (these days, we’d call that connection “executive presence”).  Lots of prominent business people seem to have benefited from the connection.  Warren Buffett, for one, says that the course “changed my life.” 

The core elements of How to Win Friends and Influence People are Carnegie’s 30 principles of success, which are as applicable in one’s private life as they are in the business world.   Essentially, it’s a book about self-confidence, and how self-assuredness and poise makes us effective as people.  The 30 principles are all pretty basic themes: “let the other person do most of the talking” or “the only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.”   But actually, that’s what makes the book so charming (and yes, so effective). 

Sometimes the best advice really is the basic stuff.  Carnegie himself used to tell audiences – “I’ve never claimed to have a new idea.  I present the obvious – because the obvious is what people need to be told.”  Sounds like good coaching to me (clearly, Carnegie would be an executive coach today – or maybe Dr. Phil). 

Everyone who has ever written a business advice book owes a debt of gratitude to Dale Carnegie.  Now, if they could only out-sell him!  This tells you something about the power of his simple ideas… sound, basic advice never goes out of style – something we might all remember as we look for ways to influence in our own lives.     

In reverse order, these are my selections for the best books on influencing others:

# 5 – The Speed of Trust (Covey, 2008)

Trust is so integral to our relationships that we often take it for granted, yet in these crazy times, we need to nurture and value trust more than ever. Drawing on anecdotes and business cases from his years as CEO of the Covey Leadership Center, the author effectively reminds us that there's plenty of room for improvement on this most essential of all traits.  Covey outlines 13 behaviors of trust-inspiring leaders, such as demonstrating respect, creating transparency, righting wrongs, delivering results and practicing accountability.  In my mind, this is a perfect primer for influencing others – after all, getting people to do what you want them to do is pretty hard without trust.  

# 4 – Influencing Others (Silberman & Hansburg, 2000)

This is probably the most “how-to” of the books on this list.  The authors have written numerous books on a variety of business relationship-oriented subjects.  This book provides practical advice for managers and leaders who have to influence up, down and across the organization. 

# 3 – Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion (Cialdini, 2006)

Don’t be too fooled by the “psychology” term here – this is a practical book with great advice for anyone in business.  Cialdini introduces you to six principles of ethical persuasion: reciprocity, scarcity, liking, authority, social proof, and commitment/consistency. Each principle is backed by social scientific testing, and is filled with examples and anecdotes that you’ll recognize.  Influencing really is persuading, when you get right down to it, and this book paints a broad picture of how to effectively persuade others.   

# 2 – Crucial Conversations (Patterson, et al 2002)

Crucial conversations are interpersonal exchanges at work or at home that we dread having but know we cannot avoid.  This popular book offers a seven-point strategy for achieving productive conversations that inevitably arise in our professional and personal lives.  The techniques in this book are geared toward getting people to lower their defenses, create mutual respect and understanding, increase emotional safety, and encourage freedom of expression. Among other things, readers also learn about the four main factors that characterize crucial conversations; I include it here because I think influencing others starts with getting your own foundation firmly set, and this book helps you work through any high impact situation with confidence.

# 1 – How to Win Friends & Influence People (Carnegie, 1998)

This is the grand-daddy of all self-help books, first published in 1937. It was an overnight hit, eventually selling 15 million copies, and is just as relevant today (this is an updated version of the original) as it was over 70 years ago.  Carnegie believed success was 85% due to "the ability to express ideas, to assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among people."  He teaches underlying principles of appreciation and influence and offers lessons that could have been written today such as “seeing the situation from the other person's point of view.”  As fascinating as it is to read for its timeless advice, it’s also just a really sensible book on the subject.  

There you go – that’s the list.  Let me know if I missed one!

While leadership is often associated with vision, strategy, and rallying the troops, the fact is that leadership always boils down to one thing – getting things done.  No leader lasts long if they can’t make things happen.  The best leaders move the needle and get results – in short, they are relentlessly focused on execution.

Recently, I re-read Execution – The Discipline of Getting Things Done (2002) by Larry Bossidy and Ram Charan, and marveled at its simple brilliance.  Bossidy is the former CEO of Honeywell and Allied Signal, and spent much of his career at General Electric.  Charan is an accomplished management consultant who advises CEOs at some of the world’s leading companies.  Together, they lay out the basics of how and why business leaders at all levels need to be involved with execution.

Bossidy had a reputation as a no-nonsense leader, and it’s easy to see why from this book.  His passion for execution comes through on every page, and the authors do a good job of selling the steak of results rather than the sizzle of vision.  Building a high-performing culture isn’t easy; we all know companies that were touted as having grand visions and strategies but couldn’t make them work.  Execution is the difference between being successful and finishing in the second division. 

Bossidy and Charan cite three core processes that must be managed closely: strategy (the why and the what), operations (the how) and people (the who).   Paying close attention to what needs to get done is only the beginning.  After that, the leader needs to put the right people on the task, and ensure the right resources and processes are being applied to the work.  If you’re not paying attention to how the work is getting done, how it’s landing with customers and partners, you’re not leading effectively.  You don’t have to micro-manage your people to ensure great execution – but you do have to get in the game with them and understand how works gets done.

Here’s a few simple execution questions to ask yourself if you’re leading a team:

Are you tracking key performance metrics, and do you use them to manage the work?

• Do you know what everyone does (really) - how everyone supports the mission?
• Are you setting clear goals and objectives for achieving results?
• Are you holding a high bar for performance? 
• Are you giving equal time to strategy, people, and operations?

The next time you think about leadership, take note of what pops into your mind.  Chances are, it’s one of the sexier competencies like vision, strategy or presence.  That’s fine, those are important – just don’t forget their lunch pail, sleeves-rolled-up colleague, execution – the leadership quality that makes everything else possible.