Winning with People: Discover the People Principles That Work for You Every Time

As usual, Dr. Maxwell is one of the best leadership "guru's" in the market place today. Winning with People Workbook was a good team building exercise which allows you to focus on the everyday issues of dealing internal/external people.

Like all John Maxwell books, this book is full of some not-so-common common sense that will improve your relationships and leadership skills if you take the author's advice to heart. This book is simple and straightforward, making it easy to read and understand. The principles described in this book focus specifically on communicating, working with, learning from, and investing in others. What may be the most helpful aspect of the book is the series of questions Maxwell poses to at the end of each chapter to help the reader ponder and reflect where they stand on a particular attribute or skill. The ideas are not necessarily new, but they are wise. Stories and quotes from other people's lives are sprinkled throughout Maxwell's own thoughts and experiences, creating a well-rounded narrative as to how to improve yourself. The bottom line is this: No matter what we do or why we do it, life is about people, and this book will help you do whatever you do better.

According to John C. Maxwell, author of WINNING WITH PEOPLE "Our ability to build and maintain human relationships is the single most important factor in how we get along--in every area of our life." Maxwell shows how this can be done in this book in this, his latest book, provided that you use the 25 people principles that he clearly presents. In reading it, I felt like I had in front of me an updated version HOW TO WIN FRIENDS AND INFLUENCE PEOPLE--the Dale Carnegie classic . . . what makes WINNING so valuable was the fact that it has many examples that can be applied to any aspect of our work lives; e.g., this one: The best way to keep from stepping on other people's toes is to put yourself in their shoes. In the 1930's, American Airways, which later became American Airlines, had a tremendous problem with complaints from passengers about lost luggage. LaMotte Cohn, general manager of the airline at that time, tired to get his station managers to overcome this issue, but he saw little progress. Finally he came upon an idea to help the airline's personnel to see things from their customers' points of view. Cohn asked all of the station managers from across the country to fly to company headquarters for a meeting. Then he made sure that every manager's luggage was lost in transit. Afterward, the airline suddenly made a huge leap of efficiency in that area. I also liked how Maxwell used humor to make other points, such as in the case with this story: A middle-aged man entered a cocktail lounge and walked directly to the bar. "Do you have anything that will cure hiccups?" he asked the bartender. Without a word, the bartender reached down under the bar, picked up a wet bar rag, and slapped the man across the face with it. "Hey! What's the idea?" the astonished man said. The bartender smiled. "Well, you don't have hiccups anymore, do you?" he asked. "I never did," the man replied. "I wanted something to cure my wife. She's out in the car." Do you come to conclusions long before the problem has been laid out before you? That is a common occurrence for most of us who have strong personalities. That's why I have trained myself to follow a process to keep me from hammering people with answers before they've finished asking the question. When someone is sharing his point of view with me, I try to . . . listen, ask questions, listen again, ask more questions, listen some more, then respond. Lastly, WINNING WITH PEOPLE taught me much about how to improve how to improve communication with loved ones . . . here's still another idea that I picked up from reading this excellent book: Several years after Margaret and I were married, I realized that when I got home to see her, there was no excitement in our communication. She'd ask about what had happened during the day, and I wasn't very enthusiastic about what had happened during the day, and I wasn't very enthusiastic about discussing it. Then I figured out why:

This was the first book I've read by John Maxwell and I must say I was very impressed with this book. "Winning With People" identifies several strategies that you can use to help improve all of your relationships including business, marriage, and friendships. Each chapter starts out with a story that illustrates the point for the chapter, which is then followed with a point-by-point description of each principle. John Maxwell also includes a variety of personal experiences he has had (including several failures and hard lessons) which makes it easy to identify with him. I honestly could not find anything bad to say about this book. The organization, delivery, and style is flawless. Full of quotes, references to other books, and just plain good advice, I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to improve their relationships. 5 out of 5 stars.

The author begins with asking the reader to do a self examination to determine "what is happening within us". Often, this is a key to what motivates us and the rationale behind our actions and choices. Next, he espouses the value of selecting win/win options or scenarios in order to gain greater consent. The author advises us to hire fewer people with greater potential and capacity for sustained work/ contribution to the enterprise. Service is espoused as an important value because it is the hallmark for attracting and retaining valued customers. Relationships are "cultivated" over longer time periods rather than the short term. The notion of cultivation implies a steady but certain incremental development of clients and employees which will make permanency more probable. It is important to understand and have empathy with people in order to cultivate relationships for the longer term. Lastly, the author asks that we "raise the bar" of our own personal standards both qualitatively and quantitatively. The work provides us with the basics, as well as the fine nuances with regard to winning with people. This book is a bit more structured than the Andrew Carnegie works; however, the themes and ultimate objectives have substantial congruency.