The other day I was informed about a seminar which was to be conducted at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. My friend gave me the number of the seminar co ordinator so that I could get myself registered for the seminar. I called Dr Sehrish Haider for the purpose of registration. I did not know this person at all. I just had to call her for my registration. So I called her but she did not recieve my call..Anyways I went back to my work..Half an hour later I recieved a call from Dr Sehrish who said ,"Did someone call me from this number a while ago?".I told her that it was me and I wanted to know the registration process for the seminar..She explained me the whole procedure. It was a bit later after the phone call that I had this feeling. This person, Dr Sehrish did not know me at all and neither did I know her. Yet she called back at my place from the number I called her before when she was not able to reply. I was impressed by her sense of responsibility and realized maybe this was the quality for which she was made the seminar co coordinator. Not just this..her call back to my place (when she did not know me at all) made me feel important and so I developed a positive feeling for her..The deepest urge inside a human nature is to be important for others and the co coordinator made me feel that I was important for her..i was impressed and this short and maybe unimportant event reminded me of what Dale Carnegie had said in one of his books which i had read few days back..according to him if you make the other person feel as if he is very important for you, that other person will do whatever favour you want even without you asking him for a favour.Through examples of different people, the author explains how taking interest in the interests of other people and giving priority to their priorities can make them happy and satisfied and can create a positive impression of you in front of them.Here is the exact piece of writing from the book:
The genial William Lyon Phelps, essayist and professor of literature at Yale learned this lesson early in his life.He says:
"When I was eight years old and was spending a weekend visiting my aunt Libby Linsley at her home in Stratford, a middle aged man called one evening and after a polite skirmish with my aunt, he devoted his attention to me. At that time, I happened to be excited about boats and the visitor discussed the subject in a way that seemed particularly interesting. After he left, I spoke of him with enthusiasm. What a man! My aunt informed me that he was a New York lawyer and that he cared nothing about boats, that he took not the slightest interest in the subject. I wondered why did he talk to me about boats so much?
"Because he is a gentleman", said my aunt. "He saw that you were interested in boats and he talked about the things he knew would interest you and please you. He made himself agreeable"
And William Lyon added: "I never forgot my aunt's remark"
hmm....this is a very nice example you gave...but sometimes people never understand other people's devotion to them just because they are selfish themselves...and you can't educate selfish people on how to be unselfish...You yourself has a good heart that is why you readily capture the caller's devotion to her work and her contacts.
ReplyDeleteAnyhow...keep going..and keep learning...and keep sharing...good luck!
i believe it can be both blessing and curse to be felt important in someone's life. you already mentioned the blessing part but it can be a curse because sometimes people flatter others for selfish gains and such a strategy can work on wisest of people.
ReplyDelete@ Thinking: yes true but the world can never be empty of selfish people because afterall its the world and not the heaven.
ReplyDelete@ Farhan:Yes there are two things:flattery and appreciation and both can make a difference.flattery no doubt makes a fool of even the cleverest person but it does not work everytime but appreciation (sincere and true appreciation) does melt a person's heart.
Do you know Queen Victoria was susceptible of flattery!!