Human Relations Principle #29 to Be a Leader

Human Relations Principle #29: Use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.

 

 

(This is the twenty-ninth in a series of articles where I will encapsulate each of Dale Carnegie’s timeless, life-changing principles for dealing with people. (Adapted from How to Win Friends and Influence People.))*

Tell your child, your spouse, or your employee that he or she is stupid or dumb at a certain thing, has no gift for it, and is doing it all wrong, and you have destroyed almost every incentive to try to improve. But use the opposite technique…

• be liberal with your encouragement,
• make the thing seem easy to do,
• let the other person know that you have faith in his or her ability to do it, that he or she has an undeveloped flair for it,

and he or she will practice until the dawn comes in the window in order to excel.

Don’t be the leader or teacher who discourages others by emphasizing their mistakes. Do the opposite. Keep praising the things they do right and minimizing dwelling on the errors. Let them see the innate strengths they possess. Encourage them. Don’t discourage them. Give them hope. Then, deep in their heart, they will eventually begin believing it.

Make them want to improve. Let them discover that learning a new way of doing something can be easy and fun. This revelation can change their whole life.

If you want to help others to improve, use encouragement. Make the fault seem easy to correct.

Much success and fulfillment with mastering human relations,

Ray

 

* The best guide on effective human relations that I have ever encountered is How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, published in 1936. Prior to writing the book, Carnegie spent 20 years researching the habits of successful people. The book has sold over 30 million copies and is still listed on Amazon’s top 100 best selling books.

Other articles within this series you may enjoy:

3 Fundamental Techniques in Handling People

• Human Relations Principle #1: Don’t criticize, condemn or complain.
• Human Relations Principle #2: Give honest and sincere appreciation.
• Human Relations Principle #3: Arouse in the other person an eager want.

6 Ways to Make People Like You

• Human Relations Principle #4: Become genuinely interested in other people.
• Human Relations Principle #5: Smile.
• Human Relations Principle #6: Remember that a person’s name is to him or her the sweetest and most important sound in any language.
• Human Relations Principle #7: Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves.
• Human Relations Principle #8: Talk in terms of the other person’s interests.
• Human Relations Principle #9: Make the other person feel important—and do it sincerely.

12 Ways to Win People to Your Way of Thinking

• Human Relations Principle #10: The only way to get the best of an argument is to avoid it.
• Human Relations Principle #11: Show respect for the other person’s opinions. Never say, “You’re wrong.”
• Human Relations Principle #12: If your are wrong, admit it quickly and emphatically.
• Human Relations Principle #13: Begin in a friendly way.
• Human Relations Principle #14: Get the other person saying “yes, yes” immediately.
• Human Relations Principle #15: Let the other person do a great deal of the talking.
• Human Relations Principle #16: Let the other person feel that the idea is his or hers.
• Human Relations Principle #17: Try honestly to see things from the other person’s point of view.
• Human Relations Principle #18: Be sympathetic with the other person’s ideas and desires.
• Human Relations Principle #19: Appeal to the nobler motives.
• Human Relations Principle #20: Dramatize your ideas.
• Human Relations Principle #21: Throw down a challenge.

9 Ways to Be a Leader:

How to Change People Without Giving Offense or Arousing Resentment

• Human Relations Principle #22: Begin with praise and honest appreciation.
• Human Relations Principle #23: Call attention to people’s mistakes indirectly.
• Human Relations Principle #24: Talk about your own mistakes before criticizing the other person.
• Human Relations Principle #25: Ask questions instead of giving direct orders.
• Human Relations Principle #26: Let the other person save face.
• Human Relations Principle #27: Praise the slightest improvement and praise every improvement. Be “hearty in your approbation and lavish in your praise.”
• Human Relations Principle #28: Give the other person a fine reputation to live up to.