By Ace Starry
Lessons from the Wealthy and Powerful
At one time in my career I had the pleasure of being a security
guard for a very wealthy and powerful group of home owners. Person's
who belonged to this association included various heads of state,
movie moguls and rock stars. Among the owners in this group of homes
hidden away in the heart of downtown Los Angeles, was none other
than, Mohammed Ali, the famous pugilist. (Your new word for the
day.)
I learned a lot from my experiences as his security guard. As the
gate keeper, it was my responsibility to keep unwanted guests out
and to let wanted guests in. One of the most valuable lessons that I
learned when I was guarding the gate was that most of the persons
who had power and money also seemed to have the most amenable
personalities. For example, Ali was polite to any fan with a sincere
interest in just meeting and talking to him. I remember a time when
he invited a group of four young kids to his mansion for lunch just
because they wanted to meet the famous boxer. (There now you don't
have to look up "pugilist.") They had no hidden agendas,
no get rich quick schemes. They just wanted to meet their hero. Ali
spent the entire afternoon drinking lemonade and playing in the back
yard with these kids.
The fact that most of the persons at the penthouse level are the
most considerate could be thought as either an end or a means.
Either they became nice, since being rich and powerful, they now
don't worry about being rude. Or they simply made it to where they
are because they were considerate and polite. The latter is the
theory that I like.
I think that there is a link to success and being a likeable
person. Doesn't that sound logical? Throughout my travels I've found
very successful people to be extremely nice. This doesn't seem to
make sense to some people. I have had managers who thought that they
did best when they yelled and screamed and talked down to employees.
Funny thing is that when I think of those managers that got
promoted, they were the ones that were always very helpful and
pleasant to be around. There are of course exceptions to every rule,
the Frank Lorenzos of the world.
Remembering Their Name
According to Dale Carnegie, author of How to Win Friends and
Influence People, the most beautiful sound in the world to any
person is the sound of his or her own name. (In my case this isn't
true, hence, I go by Ace.) But, learning to remember names can be
your key to the executive washroom. A trick which might help you is
whenever you meet someone; immediately repeat that person's name
back to them. Next, creat a picture in your mind in which you see
the person doing something that relates to his or her hame.
Something silly or sexual will usually do the trick for me.
Once you have done that, then try to use the person's name in a
question to them. If this doesn't engrave the image of the person's
name in letters of fire on the gray matter between your ears then
you have to resort to my last technique. The the next time you see
them secretly ask another person what their name is. without them
hearing you. If no one knows their name then you have to fake it.
You know the drill. The big ol' smile and say, "How have you
been, it's so good to see you." Then hope and pray that the
next person who you see has the presence of mind to introduce
themselves and not rely upon you to make the introduction.
Keep climbing.
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