Nice Guys Finish First Dave Kerpen on the Power of People Skills

Nice Guys Finish First Dave Kerpen on the Power of People Skills Conjure in your mind the image of an archetypal businessperson. Theyre probably kind of a jerk, right? The kind of person who would do anything and stab anyone in the back to get ahead?Contrary to ourreceived wisdom, being a heartless sleazebag isnt going to get you very far in life. Thats according to Dave Kerpen, the CEO of Likeable Localand the author ofThe species of People 11 Simple People Skills That Will Get You Everything You Want.In fact, Kerpen believes that if you want to be successful in business today and life in general you need to cultivate great people skills.Kerpen first realized this after writing his first two books,Likeable Social MediaandLikeable Business.I realized that the principles I wrote about in those books things like listening and authenticity they dont just apply to social media and business. They apply to all career and life skills when it comes to g etting what you want, Kerpen says. So I wroteThe Art of Peopleto help people get what they want out of life.The book is divided into 11 categories of skills, and across those categories it presents 53 tips on how to put these skills into practice.Back in April, I had the chance to speak with Kerpen about his book. What follows is a brief transcript of that conversation, minimally edited for style and clarity.Recruiter.comIf I were to ask you, What is this book about?, how would you answer?David Kerpen Id sayIts about how to get better at your people skills, communicate better with others, and get what you want out of life based on getting people to do things for you.RCOne of the major ideas in the book is that the people who win in life are the people who have the best people skills not the cutthroat competitivetypes. How did you reach this conclusion?DKIts based on my own experiences and having the privilege of knowing some very successful entrepreneurs. I believe that nice guys r eally do finish first, and by treating people well, thats how you end up on top. Countless people have demonstrated that, and I write about some of those people in the book.RCIs this a recent development, something that is specific to our cultural moment? Or has it always been this way?DK I think its always been this way, but the importance of people skills hasbeen magnified recently because the Internet and social media in particular has rendered the world smaller and mora connected than ever before.It used to be that you could get away with treating people less kindly or building a culture at your company that isnt worth raving about. Now, people talk. People are more connected than ever before. People havealways talked, but now, when you post something onLinkedInor Facebook, word spreads a lot faster and a lot wider. Thats why people skills are more important now than ever before.RCThe book explores a number of critical people skills. Can you give us an example of one or two?DK Well, it has some wider skills, like listening, but also some very practical tips, like Always take the water when youre offered water at an interview or meeting.RCInteresting why is that? Why should you always take the water?DKYou want to put the other people at ease. Sometimes, you refuse to take the water because you dont want to put people out, but if someone came over to your house and you offered them water, you would want them to say Yes. It would make you feel like a better host if they said Yes.For that same reason, you should always say Yes when people offer you water or coffee when you meet them in a professional setting.RCFor job seekers who might pick up this book, whats the major takeaway?DKIts not about you. Its about the other person. In a job-seeking scenario, its less about selling yourself and more about understanding the other person interviewing you what they want to accomplish and how you can help them accomplish that.RCWould you say that the same kind of thi nking applies to recruiters?DKYes. Recruiters should think less about themselves and how awesome they are, and more about the business theyre working with. What are the businesss needs and how can they help?