Making their mark: Dale Carnegie

By Mark Lane Submitted to Corner Post

Occasionally, we learn something about a neighbor, friend, co-worker or acquaintance that reminds us that there’s much about people around us we don’t know. Qualities we fail to recognize, or achievements we are not aware of, abound in individuals in our midst on a regular basis. The revelation often alters our perception of (or respect for) the person and may even leave us astonished.

In this brief article, and others to follow, I will introduce you to someone from our area who you may know of but may not know well. No doubt, many of their neighbors, friends, co-workers and acquaintances had no idea the mark that they would make in the world.

— Mark Lane

By age 26, Dale was earning the equivalent of more than $15,000 a week, by today’s standards! Lest you think he inherited his fortune or came to it in some dubious manner, I assure you he did not. His parents were poor farmers near the tiny community of Bedison, about eight miles southeast of Maryville, Missouri. And Dale was a hard worker, even waking hours before dawn to feed pigs and milk cows before walking to classes in a one-room schoolhouse.

But Dale had a keen sense of observation, a love for learning and an ability to motivate himself and others. After completing his high school education, he attended State Teachers College in Warrensburg, Missouri. He went to work for Armour & Company, one of the nation’s largest meat-packing firms. Before long, he was the company’s top-selling representative.

Despite his immense success, he quit sales to launch a new career giving informative and entertaining speeches. Soon afterward, however, with no steady work and living in a New York City YMCA, Dale decided to teach a public speaking class. He arranged to use space at the YMCA where he was sleeping. Problems arose at the outset, but his skills of observation, improvisation and motivation turned a fiasco into something fabulous.

He had something others wanted and were willing to pay for. Dale was happy to share it and he was extremely effective in conveying it. Young or old, modest or courageous, people of all walks of life were eager to learn skills to help them be more successful in their personal and professional lives. Through his books, booklets and speeches, millions of individuals around the world have been inspired and prepared to be better versions of themselves.

Among his most famous works are the books How to Win Friends and Influence People (1936) and How to Stop Worrying and Start Living (1948), and the self-improvement courses that bear his name. As new generations tap into what this poor farm boy from northwest Missouri had to teach, his legacy lives on.

The boy in the story above is not Dale Carnegie. Does that surprise you? His name was Dale Carnagey. But when he was around 30 years old, he began using the more common spelling of his surname (Carnegie) to be more recognizable? Look into his writings to learn what he may be able to teach you!