How to Win Friends & Influence People
by Dale Carnegie
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Mass Market Paperback (15 February, 1990)
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Editorial Review

This grandfather of all people-skills books was first published in 1937. It was an overnight hit, eventually selling 15 million copies. How to Win Friends and Influence People is just as useful today as it was when it was first published, because Dale Carnegie had an understanding of human nature that will never be outdated. Financial success, Carnegie believed, is due 15 percent to professional knowledge and 85 percent to "the ability to express ideas, to assume leadership, and to arouse enthusiasm among people." He teaches these skills through underlying principles of dealing with people so that they feel important and appreciated. He also emphasizes fundamental techniques for handling people without making them feel manipulated. Carnegie says you can make someone want to do what you want them to by seeing the situation from the other person's point of view and "arousing in the other person an eager want." You learn how to make people like you, win people over to your way of thinking, and change people without causing offense or arousing resentment. For instance, "let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers," and "talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person." Carnegie illustrates his points with anecdotes of historical figures, leaders of the business world, and everyday folks. --Joan Price ... Read more

Reviews (371)

Buy friends and coerce people
This is a very funny book. It's not meant to be, but the ideas it tries to put across are machiavelian, childish and short sighted. The underlying theme is that one should do favours for others in order to receive the same from them: hardly a theme to build friendships on.

If you are currently paying people cash to be your "friend", you might find significant financial savings from the ideas in this book: you could be paying them in plenty of other ways.

It makes a great gag gift: you will find yourself passing this around to read out loud at parties.

A Charter Member of My Self-Help Collection
here are a number of KEY books that helped me to develop
the best aspects of myself as a man and as a person. This
book is one of those cornerstones of who I am. It is timeless,
universal, and comprehensive in its coverage of the subject
material.

Other books and self-help products which are on par with this book are:

NEW SEX NOW: Life's Ultimate Pleasure DVD
Giant Steps
Think & Grow Rich
Self Matters
7 Spiritual Laws of Success
Ageless Mind, Timeless Body
THE 4 AGREEMENTS
The Power of Concentration
GODDESS WORSHIP dvd

I believe that anyone who wants to be a great person would do well to study all of the above very sincerely.

It won me over.
Just a joy to read, this book is truly a classic. With its timeless stories the author uses to illustrate the principles of getting along with others, this book should be requires reading for all human beings. Other self-help books I liked include "The No-Beach, No-Zone, No-Nonsense Weight Loss Plan, A Pocket Guide To What Works."


... Read more

Isbn: 0671723650
Subjects:  1. Business & Economics    2. Business Communication - General    3. Business/Economics    4. Careers - General    5. Interpersonal Relations    6. Personal Growth - Success    7. Psychology    8. Psychology, Applied    9. Success    10. Self-Help & Practical Interests    11. Self-Help / General   

Harvard Business Review
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Magazine
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"Process is God" might well be the motto of this management resource. The Harvard Business Review is all about best practices and better practices and being front and center with the latest and greatest ideas about how to run anything from a railroad to a recovering dotcom. Although the magazine's eagerness to adopt buzzwords makes it a target for jargon watchers, it is at heart conservative and cautious. What is the key to success, according to the Harvard Business Review? Lead, motivate, innovate! And then use the performance measurement tool of the month to make sure that the leading, motivating, and innovating worked, you know, just to be on the safe side. --Edith Sorenson ... Read more

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Reviews (15)

Not Cutting Edge
This is my third year as a subscriber - sometimes I wonder what I have missed before that. HBR is not about being the first to print the latest management trends or techniques. The majority of the articles involve a ton load of research spanning years and in some cases decades. The research covers numerous companies so that there is a justifiable amount of truth to what is being written. It would be tomfoolery to adopt these techniques and assume that they will automatically apply to your company or department without some sort of additional or complimentary technique. However HBR covers many of the different management styles with practical examples. Then occasionally they revisit an article that they printed eons ago, giving you a fresh insight on how accurate or even inaccurate they were in their research. Each month there is a fictional Case Study that tries to mimic the real world. At the end of each Case Study authorities in the case study field give their professional views on what should be done. Occasionally these fictional studies do reflect your own corporate trials and tribulations. There is the `HBR at Large' section and `Best Practice' covers real world practices and their thoughts on them. HBR will teach you a lot. You should know that you probably wouldn't read every article every month. You're looking at 125-175 pages per month and about 100+ pages of content per month - fine print!. Why Buy: Quite possibly the most impressive magazine to have on your desk when anyone steps into your office. It's inevitable, almost everything involves money and business - HBR greatly improves your odds with the business part. As a gift for the business minded person (corporate or entrepreneur) in your life - male, female, romantic, non-romantic.

The HBR Equity - Coffee Table or Boardroom?
HBR is a good read there is no question.It has a history of ground breaking articles published, granted.I thoroughly enjoy it, when I can get it in Poland. Every graduate from a reputable management school should receive a free year's subscription.Most of these readers would renew at the regular price, IMHO.

That acknowledged, I am a public relations practitioner and I have a gripe with HBR.There is not a whole lot representing my profession besides culture change and some interesting HR cases, which I could audit at any university if I so wanted. This makes HBR a soft read for my needs.

I teach public relations to 5th year students at the state university, link MBO and financial results with PR management same as any department would be required.In my capacity as an instructor, I encourage my students to offer counsel and read through P&L's.I encourage them to look at problems with detailed financials and prepare their proposed programs with an understanding of the corporate audience.I encourage research, not only polling publics outside the company but also to take a pulse of the company itself: much like a professional doctor would do with a patient when diagnosing a problem before beginning a procedure.

Granted, there are very few case studies I can use to promote sound PR management thinking rather than the over-predominant "technical" thinking of PR as an extension of a creative communications artform.(O, how I wish for a case with figures like something in Marketing Logistics or Financial Management!) For my money, in PR, there is nothing but artistry and the name of the HBR.I concur with another reviewer, mnetzley, who suggests that the level of presentation between the covers has fallen to the level of a Harlequin romance for business managers: dumbed-down anecdotes, and stories masquerading as case studies, IMO.

For illustration, there was a communications case a couple of years ago dealing with Crisis and the corporate need for good communication.One of the reviewers assessed it right in the post mortem: trouble began before the problem arrived.But this begs two questions: Why wasn't the problem identified before the crisis appeared; and why wasn't THAT tool presented for learning rather than the case itself?It was a nice case as far as it went but it was for the coffee table and not the boardroom.

And that seems to be the level of the HBR these days. Of course, I expect more from the HBR so your mileage may vary.But isn't the cachet of HBR the avant-garde?For me to rate it higher than a three at this stage, I feel I would be doing a disservice to the old magazine that published ground-breaking articles while humouring a brand equity that has lost its vision to its own magnificence.

Great Gift Idea
I'm buying this for my son for Christmas, but I should have been a better businessman.The Harvard Review web site is selling subscriptions for [...], so I paid [...] more than I should have.
[...] ... Read more

Asin: B00005U5EB
Subjects:  1. Business   

How to Develop Self-Confidence And Influence People By Public Speaking
by Dale Carnegie
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Paperback (31 May, 1991)
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Reviews (8)

Timeless guide to public speaking
I regularly give public talks, and am always looking for ways to improve my speaking and organizational abilities. On a lark, I picked this up from a friend's bookshelf, and simply couldn't put it down, eventually buying my own copy. It isn't only that the author offers highly useful, practical information regarding poise, confidence, and organization, but also writes with a level of skill that is truly rare. I recommend this book not only to burgeoning and expert public speakers alike, but also to writers interested in reading truly masterful prose.

Very good book
I was asked to speak to out local church group recently. With little to no public speaking experience, I went out and got this book rather than decline to speak (a thought that had crossed my mind)

My presentation went over in a big way. It was very successful. The tips and advice really worked. In fact, they worked so well that I have since joined toastmasters and have bought other books on public speaking.

From zero to above average public speaker. Thank you Mr. Carnegie!

Pretty good (but what do I know?)
Let there be no pretenses -- I'm a loser.

Always have been, always will be.That's just the type of person I am, and nothing is going to change that.So when the guy sitting next to me at work recommended that I read, "How to Develop Self-Confidence and Influence People", I was skeptical.

First of all, I don't even think this guy likes me.He probably thinks I'm a dork because I've never had a girlfriend.It's not like I can help it -- girls don't like guys like me.They want someone that drives a fast car and can drink lots of beer.Sorry, but I'll never be cool like that.

Well, I did what he said, and read the book.It's good -- I guess -- but I don't see how it's going to help me.It's not like girls are going to start talking to me now that I've read this book.No matter what I do, they're always going to think that I'm a loser.

There are a couple of things in this book that might help me increase my self-confidence and my ability to influence people, but I doubt it. ... Read more

Isbn: 0671746073
Sales Rank: 8001
Subjects:  1. General    2. Personal Growth - Self-Esteem    3. Psychology    4. Public speaking    5. Self-Help / General   

The Leader in You
by Dale Carnegie
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Paperback (May, 1995)
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Editorial Review

Despite the wealth of technical advances in the 1990s workplace, managing, motivating, and communicating remains a challenge. The Leader in You adapts the simple, time-tested management theories of Dale Carnegie to this high-tech environment with refreshing results. Read in an engaging but direct tone, the tape's pace is varied with excerpts from recent management studies and anecdotes from contemporary business leaders. It's a sound introduction to leadership skills for anyone working in the public, private, or nonprofit sector. (Running time: 1.5 hours, one cassette) --Sharon Griggins ... Read more

Reviews (13)

Dale Carnegie contradicts Machiavelli in "The Leader in You"
"The Leader in You" is one of the valuable books, written by Dale Carnegie, but I believe that "How to win Friends and Influence people" is much more important to read, because it leads the reader to find the leader in him, in different social relations, and not only on the business terms. "The Leader in You", in my opinion, is considered a review of "How to Win Friends and Influence People". So if you are interested in reading "The Leader in You", don't buy it, but buy "How to Win Friends and Influence People", as it will attract your attention more. In the "Leader in You" you get introduced to the best ways that you should use in order to be a successful leader.
After reading the two books, I believe that they carry on the same themes, which are to be nice, moderate, and to praise people in order to get what you want. Through these ways and through many other ways, Dale Carnegie gets the reader to deal with people in a very successful way, so that they can make other people want what they (the leaders) want, and by that way they can be successful leaders, as they will always get what they want and they will always have people helping them, not because they fear them but because they love dealing with them, with their leaders. It is a book that helps any person to be a leader, not through power and evil means but by nice and precise attitudes towards others.

When I first read that book, I got the impression that it is contradicting the Machiavellian way of thinking. Machiavelli, in "The Prince" argues that a successful leader should always try to be feared and loved by people, and if the leader failed to be loved and feared, then he would better focus on one character, which is to be feared.
On the other hand, today, the perspective of being a successful leader is totally different, and that is obvious when you get introduced to Carnegie's perspective, as his argument proves that in order to be a successful leader, you have to be loved but not feared. Also, through his two books, which I mentioned above, you can learn how people think and how you can deal with them to get what you aim for.

Finally, I got very impressed by "The Leader in You", but because I read "How to Win Friends and Influence People", I found how they are very much typical, and I found that "The Leader in You" is considered a great book, but "How to Win Friends and Influence People" is much organized, and is better written than "The Leader in You". That is why I would recommend that you would better buy "How to Win Friends and Influence People".

Great book for me ..
I have read this book for 2 times. This book is like a mirror for me, my working lifestype and the people around me. I learned to see things in others view. I would suggest this book to young manager that suspicious about their leadership skills.

EQ

Success in a Changing World
The Leader in You: How to Win Friends, Influence People and Succeed in a Changing World by Stuart R. Levine and Michael A. Crom is, by all considerations, an excellent book.Following in the fashion of Dale Carnegie, Levine and Crom tell readers in a concise, straight-to-the-point manner the truth about leadership.This truth is that good leadership truly equals good communication.
Some of the key aspects to valuable communication skills resulting in effective and successful leadership are motivating people, expressing genuine interest in others, listening to learn, and respecting the dignity of others.In each chapter, Crom and Levine make extensive use of examples, usually coming by way of business success stories, or even excerpts from anecdotes of the lives of well-known individuals or important CEOs such as Denis Potvin of the New York Islanders hockey team, or Sam Walton, founder of Wal-Mart.Personally, I found these examples extremely helpful and motivating throughout the course of reading The Leader in You, for through them Crom and Levine show how the principles they tell the reader are effective, and truly are.
Furthermore, The Leader in You is a valuable read to anyone who seeks success both in his or her professional and personal lives, not just the business executive or the worker climbing his way up the corporate ladder.I found this to be the case because the tenets Levine and Crom give the reader really concern fostering lasting and trusting relationships with others, not just shortcuts to getting ahead in the company.I have learned valuable information and lessons about talking a walk in the other person's shoes, the importance of being personally happy before I can ever hope to be professionally successful, and what it truly means to be a good listener. This is a book that will have a lasting effect on many aspects of my life, and I would without a doubt recommend it to anyone, for there will undoubtedly be a takeaway for everyone in any walk of life. ... Read more

Isbn: 0671519980
Subjects:  1. Careers / Job Opportunities    2. General    3. Leadership    4. Mystery & Detective - General    5. Self-Help / General   

SmartMoney
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Magazine
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Reviews (10)

Ideas on investing at a nice price.
Put away some cash in mutual funds for retirement.
Ideas on current investment thinking (even if it's
often good to be contrarian and do the opposite
of what they recommend).

Better than I had imagined!
I purchased a value-package of this magazine and Kiplinger's, and I've been thrilled with both. About 20% of the articles and info are over my head, but the balance is understandable, helpful, and easily applied to my average money management skills.I've since ordered a SmartMoney subscription for three friends and relatives!

Good magazine, very poor customer service
I have subscriptions to Forbes, Smart Money, Money and Fortune. Out of all 4, i like Forbes and Fortune the most, because they seem to give details also on the backgrounds of the companies they are presenting as good buys. Even if Smart Money is not as good as these magazines, it is still well worth the money and provides a cheaper alternative to the beginner investor.

My main problem with Smart Money was not their writing, but their way of doing business. I made a one year subscription through Amazon and i was supposed to get the March issue as the first issue (in February). Well, i received this issue, but with it i was also sent the January and February issues (published in December of last year and January of this year). The complaints i made to their customer service department - for this cheap method they used to shorten my one year subscription by 2 months - were left with no answer. I know many magazines take advantage of their readers by sending them an older issue with the new one, but Smart Money takes the crown, sending me issues published last year!

Overall, if you can go past this, this magazine can be worth getting, especially for beginner investors. Otherwise, get Forbes or Fortune.

An update: I also e-mailed Amazon about this problem and - to their merit - they solved it immediately. While Smart Money still hasn't replied to my original e-mail, once Amazon contacted them, they added 2 more issues to my subscription. Big thanks goes again to the exceptional customer service from Amazon! ... Read more

Asin: B00005N7SS
Sales Rank: 30
Subjects:  1. Business    2. Finance    3. Personal Finance   

The Economist
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Magazine
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Reviews (126)

No other weekly like it
This is, plainly put, the best news periodical out there.Sure, others can "report" what's happening in the world, but The Economist includes analysis and puts events in proper perspective to provide the much sought after "why?".Upon hearing of the magazine, the title seemed to suggest a dry, tough read about finance and economics.Not so at all.It's sort of like an international, intelligent version of Time or Newsweek, with a more objective and rational feel.It's a surprisingly easy read as well, with a great informal British style, infused with wit throughout yet always smart and informative.Well worth the price.

If you're going to read only one news periodical . . .
The Economist should be it.It is the most thorough single news periodical out there, period.Enjoy.

It Really Is That Good
Read one Economist article, and you'll know why it's considered in a league of its own, and why everyone from business leaders to Prime Ministers to regular people like you and me love it so much.

One of the best attributes the Economist possesses is its ability to present news and analysis on an unsurpassed intellectual level, while at the same time being very much down to earth, at times even getting comical commentary in. I have never once read an article where I sensed bias. I'm very good at detecting bias, and even when it perhaps is bias I'm inclined with, it ruins the legitimacy for me. You'll notice they do not attribute articles to specific authors. This is because the magazine wants each article to represent the Economist as a whole, and not a particular person. It's a refreshing formula, in an age where some writers feel the need to be long winded and rush to grab individual attention at every turn.

The Economist has been around for 150+ years for good reason. It holds incredible integrity, and it doesn't cater to anyone.

For international news and perspective in particular, I have yet to find a weekly publication on the Economist's level for the mere reason there are none. I'm a student in International Affairs, and the insight and rationality found in the pages devoted to the world, 1/3 of each issue in fact, is the crowning jewel of the magazine. That's in addition to its coverage on business, finance, technology, arts and books. It's truly a complete package.

You probably couldn't do anything better to improve your mind and worldview with a little over $100 than to buy an Economist subscription. ... Read more

Asin: B00005NIP1
Sales Rank: 39
Subjects:  1. News & Politics    2. Business    3. International    4. Business News