Chapter 13 Make employees happy to accept your suggestions

Here, I will tell you a few stories to let you understand a few skills. As a manager, how can you better let employees accept your suggestions, and only in this way can your management work be smoother. In 1915, Americans were in a panic.In just one year, European countries killed each other on a scale never before seen in the history of human bloody battles.Can peace be achieved?Nobody knows.But President Woodrow Wilson was determined to give it a try.He sent a personal representative as a peace envoy to consult with the European powers. Secretary of State William Bryan, an advocate for peace, was keen to do this.He thinks this is a great opportunity to make a name for himself.But Wilson sent someone else—his dear friend and adviser, Colonel Howes.For Hoss, this was a hassle, because he had to tell Brian the bad news without making him unhappy.

"Bryan was extremely disappointed when he heard that I was going to Europe as peace envoy," Colonel Howth wrote in his diary, "and said he had long intended to mediate in person. . . . "I replied that the President didn't think it appropriate for anyone to deal with this in an official capacity. If he was sent, it would attract a lot of attention and people would wonder why Brian was there..." Do you see the inner meaning?Hawes actually told Bryan that he was too important for that job - so Bryan was satisfied.Colonel Hawes is worldly and has followed an important rule of human relations--always make others happy to do what you suggest.

President Wilson used the same strategy when he asked McAdoo to serve in his cabinet.It would be an honor for anyone to work with the president, but Wilson's approach made one feel doubly important.Here is McAdoo's own account of what happened: "He (Wilson) said he was forming a cabinet and he would be very happy if I could accept a position in the cabinet as Treasury secretary. I have the impression that if I accept the honor, I will be doing him a huge favor." Unfortunately, Wilson doesn't use this technique consistently.If he can do that, history may have to be rewritten.

For example, Wilson did not satisfy the Senate and the Republican Party when the United States joined the League of Nations.Because Wilson refused to bring prominent Republican leaders such as Rhodes, Hughes, or Lodge to the peace conference with him, instead he brought only unknowns from his own party.He dismissed the Republicans as saying that joining the League of Nations was not their idea but his own, and kept them out of it.As a result of this rough handling of relationships, Wilson ruined his political career, damaged his health, shortened his life, and changed world history by keeping America out of the League of Nations.

I know a man who had to turn down many invitations to speak, invitations from friends, and invitations from people who were too gracious to refuse, but he did it subtly to the satisfaction of the other party.How did he do it?Did he say he was too busy, too this or that? No, he would, after refusing the invitation, thanking and apologizing for it, propose someone in his place.In other words, he will not make the other party unhappy with his refusal.He will immediately let the other party think that you can invite others to give a speech. He'd say, "Why don't you ask my friend Rutgers? He's the editor of the Brooklyn Eagle and he can speak for you." Or suggest, "Maybe you've thought about asking Haycock. He lived in Paris for fifteen years, and the correspondent in Europe has a lot to tell. Why don't you ask Longfellow? He's got a lot of fantastic footage of hunting in India."

The famous Double Day Publishing House in the United States has always followed this rule and made the other party happy to do what it proposed.The publishing house is so good at it that, says novelist Henry, Doubleday could reject one of his stories, but they would tell him in a gentle, appreciative way that made him feel doubleday. It was even more pleasant for a Japanese press to reject one of his stories than for another to accept his novel. Gunter Smit gave our class in West Germany and told how an employee in a food store he managed often mislabeled the price tags and the merchandise on display.This caused confusion and complaints from customers.Reminding, blaming, confronting, nothing works.Finally, Mr. Smit called her into his office and told her that he was going to make her the overseer of price tags for the entire store, and that she had to keep all the items on the shelves accurately priced.This new job and title completely changed her attitude and she has been very fulfilling in her work ever since.

Is it childish?probably is.But Napoleon was also said to be childish when he created the Legion of Honor and awarded 15,000 of them to his soldiers, promoted 18 of his generals to be "Marshals of France" and called his troops "Continental Army".Others criticized Napoleon for giving "toys" to those warriors who had experienced battle, but Napoleon replied: "People are dominated by toys." This method of giving people fame and titles worked for Napoleon as it does for you.For example, a friend of mine, Mrs. Kinder of Scarsdale, New York, was troubled by her children running around and destroying her lawn.Neither her criticism nor coaxing worked.She then tries to give the worst of these kids a title that gives him a sense of authority.She makes him her "detective," tending her lawn and keeping it from being trampled on.So, everything was settled, and her "detective" built a fire in the backyard, burned the iron rod red-hot, and threatened that anyone who would trample on the grass would be burned with the iron rod.

As a good leader, if you want to change the attitude or behavior of others, you should keep the following outline in mind: (1) Treat people with sincerity.Don't promise what you can't do, forget your own self-interest, and concentrate on the interests of others. (2) Know exactly what you want others to do. (3) Compassionate.Ask yourself what the other person really needs. (4) Think about what others will get if they do what you suggest. (5) Align those interests with people's needs. (6) When you make your request, let the other person feel that he will benefit from it.

We could say something like, "John, we're going to have customers tomorrow, and I want the warehouse to be clean. So, please, clean it up, put the goods on the shelves, and wipe down the counters." Or we could do something else Way, let him know the benefits from it: "John, we have one thing that must be done immediately. If we do it now, we don't have to do it later. I will bring some guests to visit our equipment tomorrow, and I want to bring them Take a tour of the warehouse, but it's a mess, if you can clean it up, put the goods on the shelves, and wipe down the counters, we'll look efficient and you'll do your part for the good image of the company. "

Will John do what you suggest?Maybe he won't be very happy; but if you don't talk about his interests, he will be even more unhappy.If you knew that John took pride in the cleanliness of the warehouse and cared about the company's image, he would be more willing to cooperate.This also lets John know that this job must be done, and if he does it now, he won't have to do it in the future. You'd be ignorant if you thought you'd get a happy response with any of these methods.But the experience of most people shows that attitudes can be changed more with this method than without it.If you only increase your success by 10%, then you lead 10% more effectively than you would otherwise—and that's to your benefit.

People are more likely to do what you want them to do if you use this approach. So, in my opinion, as a manager, if you want to influence and change employees, please pay attention to using this rule: make employees willing to do what you suggest.