How to Win Friends and Influence People: Part 4, Chapter 5 Summary & Analysis

Years ago, the General Electric company had to remove Charles Steinmetz from the head of a department. Instead of firing him, they gave him a new title for work he was already doing and let someone else head up the department. Everyone was happy, particularly Steinmetz, because they considered his feelings and let him save face.

Being fired disappoints people, and they retain no love for the company that lets them go. One manager at an accounting firm, Marshall Granger, discusses letting their seasonal workers go. He compliments them and says the firm is proud of them. As a result, they don’t feel let down, and they know that if the firm had work for them, it would keep them on.

Fred Clark told of one incident in which a vice president was asking pointed and embarrassing questions of one of the production supervisors, which made the supervisor evasive. This, in turn, made the vice president angry—and a few months later, the supervisor left the firm to work for a competitor.

Anna Mazzone’s case illustrates how it is better to let people save face. Once, she made a mistake in test marketing a product, and the entire test had to be done over again. When she was called in to give a report, she was very upset, but her boss didn’t blow up. He thanked her for her work and told her he had faith in her—and that her lack of experience, not ability, was the reason for the failure. She left the meeting with her head high, determined never to let him down again. Real leaders will let people save face.