Granger， a certified public accountant.） “Our business is mostlyseasonal. Therefore we have to let a lot of people go after theincome tax rush is over.It’s a byword in our profession that no oneenjoys wielding the ax. Consequently， the custom has developed ofgetting it over as soon as possible， and usually in the following way：‘sit down， Mr. Smith. The season’s over， and we don’t seem to seeany more assignments for you. Of course， you understood you wereonly employed for the busy season anyhow， etc.， etc.’
“The effect on these people is one of disappointment and afeeling of being ‘let down.’ Most of them are in the accountingfield for life， and they retain no particular love for the firm thatdrops them so casually.
“I recently decided to let our seasonal personnel go with alittle more tact and consideration. So I call each one in only aftercarefully thinking over his or her work during the winter. AndI’ve said something like this： ‘Mr. Smith， you’ve done a fine job（if he has）。 That time we sent you to Newark， you had a toughassignment. You were on the spot， but you came through withflying colors， and we want you to know the firm is proud of you.
You’ve got the stuff—you’re going a long way， wherever you’reworking. This firm believes in you， and is rooting for you， and wedon’t want you to forget it.’
“Effect? The people go away feeling a lot better about beingfired. They don’t feel ‘let down.’ They know if we had work forthem， we’d keep them on. And when we need them again， theycome to us with a keen personal affection.”
At one session of our course， two class members discussedthe negative effects of faultfinding versus the positive effects ofletting the other person save face.
Fred Clark of Harrisburg， Pennsylvania， told of an incidentthat occurred in his company：“At one of our production meetings， a vice president wasasking very pointed questions of one of our production supervisorsregarding a production process. His tone of voice was aggressiveand aimed at pointing out faulty performance on the part of thesupervisor. Not wanting to be embarrassed in front of his peers，the supervisor was evasive in his responses. This caused the vicepresident to lose his temper， berate the supervisor and accusehim of lying.
“Any working relationship that might have existed prior to thisencounter was destroyed in a few brief moments. This supervisor，who was basically a good worker， was useless to our companyfrom that time on. A few months later he left our firm and went towork for a competitor， where I understand he is doing a fine job.”
Another class member， Anna Mazzone， related how a similarincident had occurred at her job—but what a difference inapproach and results！ Ms. Mazzone， a marketing specialist fora food packer， was given her first major assignment—the testmarketing of a new product. She told the class： “When the resultsof the test came in， I was devastated. I had made a serious error inmy planning， and the entire test had to be done all over again. Tomake this worse， I had no time to discuss it with my boss beforethe meeting in which I was to make my report on the project.
“When I was called on to give the report， I was shaking withfright. I had all I could do to keep from breaking down， but Iresolved I would not cry and have all those men make remarksabout women not being able to handle a management job becausethey are too emotional. I made my report briefly and stated thatdue to an error I would repeat the study before the next meeting.
I sat down， expecting my boss to blow up.
“Instead， he thanked me for my work and remarked that it wasnot unusual for a person to make an error on a new project and that he had confidence that the repeat survey would be accurateand meaningful to the company. He assured me， in front of allmy colleagues， that he had faith in me and I knew I had done mybest， and that my lack of experience， not my lack of ability， wasthe reason for the failure.
“I left that meeting with my head in the air and with thedetermination that I would never let that boss of mine downagain.”
Even if we are right and the other person is definitely wrong，we only destroy ego by causing someone to lose face.
A real leader will always follow …
PRINCIPLE 5：
Let the other person save face.
Chapter 27
How to Spur People on to Success
Pete Barlow was an old friend of mine. He had a dog-andpony act and spent his life traveling with circuses and vaudevilleshows. I loved to watch Pete train new dogs for his act. I noticedthat the moment a dog showed the slightest improvement， Petepatted and praised him and gave him meat and made a great todo about it.
That’s nothing new. Animal trainers have been using thatsame technique for centuries.
Why， I wonder， don’t we use the same common sense whentrying to change people that we use when trying to change dogs?
Why don’t we use meat instead of a whip? Why don’t we usepraise instead of condemnation? Let us praise even the slightestimprovement. That inspires the other person to keep on improving.
In his book I Ain’t Much， Baby—But I’m All I Got， the psychologistJess Lair comments： “Praise is like sunlight to the warm humanspirit; we cannot flower and grow without it. And yet， whilemost of us are only too ready to apply to others the cold wind ofcriticism， we are somehow reluctant to give our fellow the warmsunshine of praise.”
I can look back at my own life and see where a few wordsof praise have sharply changed my entire future. Can’t you saythe same thing about your life? History is replete with strikingillustrations of the sheer witchery praise.
For example， many years ago a boy of ten was working in afactory in Naples， He longed to be a singer， but his first teacher discouraged him. “You can’t sing，” he said. “You haven’t any voiceat all. It sounds like the wind in the shutters.”