DC Chapter 1 - The Insatiable 3C's

I was advised to read several books as part of my development plan in handling people. It's not just to read, I have to note down the learnings by each chapter and try to apply to my two identified individuals whom I planned to apply the lessons. Tough eh...the first challenge is to try to find the time to read. The best thing about reading a newspaper is that you just read at one glance and that was it. You don't have to infer, trying to imagine, etc. Reading a book on the other hand, requires full concentration. If not, it won't stick on your head. Hence, after reading chapter 1, I have to record my completion date and try to reflect how to apply on these 2 persona. Quite tricky actually. I was advised to read at least 15 minutes a day.

 

There are 4 books which I have to cover in 6 months, they are:

1. Dale Carnegie - How to Win Friends and Influence People
2. Florence Littaeur - Personality Plus
3. Allan Pease - People Skills for Life
4. "Something Holiday" - Coaching vs. Mentoring (I seem to not be able to find a book by that author, so I replace it with a book in the Harvard Business Essentials series - Coaching and Mentoring.

To kick start the challenge, I grabbed the very famous evergreen by Mr. Dale Carnegie. I read it once, courtesy of a borrowed copy from Mr. Akmal, some years back. None of the lessons actually stick in my brain. Now I had to get it, read it and note down on how to apply all the lessons. Come to think of it, not bad....not bad at all. At least I can remember the lessons, and insya Allah will try to apply that in my daily life.

 

This is what Chapter 1 says - "If you want to gather honey, don't kick over the beehive". Do not criticize, condemn or complain.

Lessons:

1. It is foolish to scold people, since God has not seen fit to distribute evenly the gift of intelligence.
2. Criticism is futile because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself. Criticism is dangerous since it wounds a person's precious pride, hurts his sense of importance and arouses resentment.
3. Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain - and most fools do. But it takes character and self-control to be understanding and forgiving.
4. Instead of condemning people, let's try to understand them, why they do what they do.

4 major lessons, there you go. Now try to imagine the 2 persona's faces, and try to not condemn or criticize. Bear with them. Patience is truly a gem here.