How To Turn Executives Into Wizards

Dale Carnegie’s book “How to Win Friends and Influence People” was first published in 1936 and over 30 million copies have been sold worldwide to date. Since then, thousands of self-help books have been published and there are hundreds of coaching classes on that subject and other related topics. Priests, monks, and other wise persons have also been giving sermons on ‘love thy neighbour’ and ‘know thyself.  And yet, various surveys by reputable organizations reveal that millions of people find themselves to be strangers not only to people that they know but even to themselves. What could be the reason for such a colossal failure in such an important aspect of life, career and happiness? The key reason appears to be ‘psychological distance’. The APA Dictionary of Psychology defines psychological distance as “the degree of a person’s detachment or disengagement from emotional involvement with one or more other people”. One more definition of psychological distance is “a cognitive sep...

Abstract: Some may be surprised by the claim that ‘negotiating power is the sine-qua-non for everyone for success in life and career’ because in popular parlance the scope of negotiating has been narrowed down as a necessary skill only for diplomatic and commercial functions. In reality, though, people of all ages and types negotiate all the time. This is obvious from the definition of negotiating in the  Longmans dictionary: "to talk with another person or group in order to come to an agreement". The following facts reveal that life and career are a series of negotiations and their consequences. Though (i) all people negotiate all the time, and (ii)success in life and career depends on honing the skills, this vital subject is not included in the curricula of most educational institutions; a few offer it as an ‘elective’ subject. Given it’s decisive impact on success,  it is high time to make negotiation skills a compulsory subject in schools and colleges. Here are some facts...