How to Win Friends and Influence People by John Maxwell

John C. Maxwell has a very inspirational story for you about how to win friends and influence people.

You can be sure that influence has much to do with leadership. And there is no one more experienced in the subject of leadership than John Maxwell. He is a great leader, appreciated all over the world. But Maxwell is not only the person who has a great deal of knowledge. He is also the best teacher you could imagine and he has his own methods available to share the wide knowledge with you.

It is him who you should listen to if you really want to know how to win friends and influence people.
John Maxwell, on his Leadership Wired Blog, tells you a wonderful story of Jackie Robinson. He is the first African-American to play Major League Baseball. The great story of the player, who wasn’t afraid to break the color barrier in baseball, is the main plot of the Harrison Ford movie “42″.

You see, the life of Jackie Robinson offers valuable insights on the nature of influence. You may be pretty influential when you know how to participate in something great and important. Maxwell tries to prove the idea that leadership starts with the possibility of participating. Harry A. Overstreet said it this way:

“The very essence of all power to influence lies in getting the other person to participate”

Leadership is extremely gratifying, but it’s also incredibly burdensome to feel the weight of responsibility. Can you just imagine how much pressure Jackie Robinson must have felt to perform well on behalf of everyone hoping that his success would promote the cause of racial equality in America? Jackie knew he would have to know how to win friends and influence people in order to become successful. He was aware of the taste of responsibility.

When it comes to the subject of influence in leadership, you must remember all the time that influence with others is either positive or negative. And if you really want to know how to win friends and influence people, you ought to choose the positive side of being influential.

You know, the marvelous player Robinson had no doubt he should have been focused on adding value to others.

It is the only effective way to be in the know of how to win friends and influence people in your life.
The feeling of being influential always starts in your heart and head. It grows inside you and afterwards you are ready to take this feeling into the outside world. When you desire to be sure of how to win friends and influence people, you must decide who you are and what you stand for. Then it’s far easier to have positive influence.

I am sure that Booker T. Washington learned his lesson on how to win friends and influence people having said these words:

“There is no power on earth that can neutralize the influence of a high, simple and useful life”