TIPS TO RAISE YOUR SALARY
(CONVERSATION OF HILL AND THE CARNEGIE )
HILL : WHAT ABOUT THE MAN WHOSE LACK OF EDUCATION FORCES HIM TO ACCEPT ONLY SUCH OPPORTUNITIES AS ARE AVAILABLE TO COMMON LABORERS WHO WORK WITH THEIR HANDS? WOULD YOU SAY THAT THIS MAN HA EQUAL OPPORTUNITY WITH THOSE WHO HAVE EDUCATED THEMSELVES ?
CARNEGIE : I'M VERY GLAD YOU ASKED THAT QUESTION, BECAUSE I WISH TO SET YOU RIGHT ON A COMMON MISTAKE THAT PEOPLE MAKE IN CONNECTION WITH THIS QUESTION OF EDUCATION.
FIRST, LET ME EXPLAIN THAT THE WORD, "EDUCATE" MEANS SOMETHING ENTIRELY DIFFERENT FRON THAT WHICH MANY BELIEVE IT TO MEAN. AN EDUCATED MAN IS ONE WHO HAS TAKEN POSSESSION OF HIS OWN MIND AND HAS SO DEVELPED IT, THROUGH ORGANIZED THOUGHT, THAT IT AIDS HIM EFFICIENTLY IN THE SOLUTION OF HIS DAILLY PROBLEMS IN THE BUSINESS OF LIVING.
SOME PEOPLE BELIEVE THAT EDUCATION CONSISTS OF THE ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE, BUT IN A TRUER SENSE IT MEANS THAT ONE HAS LEARNED HOW TO USE KNOWLEDGE.
I KNOW MANY MEN WHO ARE WALKING ENCYCLOPEDIAS OF KNOWLEDGE. BUT MAKE SUCH POOR USE OF IT THAT THEY CANNOT EARN A LIVING.
ANOTHER MISTAKE THAT MANY PEOPLE MAKE IT THAT OF BELIEVING THAT SCHOOLING AND EDUCATION ARE SYNONYMOUS TERMS. SCHOOLING MAY ENABLE A MAN TO ACQUIRE MUCH KNOWLEDGE AND ASSEMBLE MANY USEFUL FACTS, BUT SCHOOLING ALONE DOES NOT NECESSARILY MAKE A MAN EDUCATED. EDUCATION IS SELF-ACQUIRED, AND IT COMES THROUGH DEVELOPMENT AND USE OF THE MIND, AND IN NO OTHER WAY.
TAKE THOMAS A EDISON, FOR EXAMPLE. HIS ENTIRE SCHOOLING WAS A LITTLE MORE THAN THREE MONTHS, AND IT WAS NOT THE MOST EFFICIENT OF SCHOOLING AT THAT. HIS REAL "SCHOOLING" CAME FROM THE GREAT SCHOOL OF EXPERIENCE, FROM WHICH HE LEARNED HOW TAKE POSSESSION OF HIS OWN MIND AND TO USE IT. THROUGH THIS USE HE BECAME ONE OF THE BEST EDUCATED MEN OF OUR TIMES.
SUCH TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE AS HE NEEDED IN THE BUSINESS OF INVENTING HE ACQUIRED FROM OTHER MEN, THROUGH APPLICATION OF THE MASTER MIND PRINCIPLE. IN THIS WORK HE REQUIRES KNOWLEDGE OF CHEMISTRY, PHYSICS, MATHEMATICS, ADN A GREAT VARIETY OF OTHER SCIENTIFIC SUNJECTS, NONE OF WHICH HE PERSONALLY UNDERSTANDS. BUT SINCE HE IS EDUCATED, HE KNOWS HOW AND WHERE TO PROCURE KNOWLEDGE ON THESE AND ALL OTHER SUBJECTS WHICH IS ESSENTIAL IN HIS WORK.
SO, DISABUSE YOUR MIND OF THE BELIEF THAT KNOWLEDGE, OF ITSELF, IS EDUCATED! THE MAN WHO KNOWS WHERE AND HOW TO PROCURE THE KNOWLEDGE HE NEEDS, WHEN HE NEEDS IT, MUCH MORE A MAN OF EDUCATION THAT THE MAN WHO HAS THE KNOWLEDGE BUT DOES NOT KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH IT.
NOW, THER IS ANOTHER ANGLE IN CONNECTION WITH THIS OLD, TIME WORN ALIBI THROUGH WHICH MEN EXPLAIN AWAY THEIR FAILURE BY CLAIMING THEY HAVE HAD NO OPPORTUNITY TO ACQUIRE EDUCATION. IT IS THE FACT THAT SCHOOLING IS FREE IN THIS COUNTRY, AND IT IS SO ABUNDANTLY PROVIDED THAT ANY MAN CAN GO TO SCHOOL AT NIGHT IF HE REALLY WISHES TO DO SO. WE ALSO HAVE CORRESPONDENCE SCHOOLS THROUGH WHICH MEN MAY ACQUIRE KNOWLEDGE ON ALMOST ANY SUBJECT, AND FOR A VERY SMALL PRICE.
I HAVE BUT LITTLE PATIENCE WITH THOSE WHO CLAIM THAT THEY HAVE NOT SUCCEEDED BECAUSE THEY LACKED SCHOOLING, BECAUSE I KNOW THAT ANY MAN WHO REALLY WANTS SCHOOLING CAN ACQUIRE IT. THE FALLACY OF THIS "NO SCHOOLING" ALIBI, IN MOST INSTANCE, IS THAT IT IS USED AS AN APOLOGY FOR PLAIN LAZINESS OR LACK OF AMBITION.
I HAD BUT LITTLE SCHOOLING, AND I BEGAN MY CAREER ON EXACTLY THE SAME BASIS THAT ANY "RICH UNCLE" TO HELP ME ALONG, AND NO ONE TO INSPIRE ME TO PROMOTE MYSELF INTO A MORE FAVORABLE ECONOMIC STATUS IN LIFE. THE IDEA OS DOING SO WAS ENTIRELY MY OWN. MOREOVER, I FOUND THE TASK TO BE COMPARATIVELY EASY. IT CONSISTED, MAINLY, OF MY TAKING POSSESSION OF MY OWN MIND USING IT WITH DEFINITENESS OF PURPOSE.
I DID NOT LIKE POVERTY, THEREFORE I REFUSED TO REMAIN UNDER IT. MY OWN MENTAL ATTITUDE ON THIS SUBJECT WAS THE DETERMINING FACTOR THAT HELPED ME TO FORCE POVERTY TO GIVE PLACE TO RICHES. I CAN TRUTHFULLY TELL YOU THAT OF ALL THE THOUSANDS OF WORKING MEN WHO HAVE BEEN EMPLOYED BY ME, I DO NOT KNOW OF ONE PERSON WHO COULD NOT HAVE QUALED, IT NOT EXCELLED, ME IF HE HAD WANTED TO DO SO.
HILL : YOUR ANALYSIS OF THE SUJECT OF EDUCATION IS BOTH INTERESTING AND REVEALING, MR. CARNEGIE, AND YOU MAY REST ASSURED I WILL INCLUDE IT IN THE PHILOSOPHY OF ACHIEVEMENT, BECAUSE I FEEL SURE THERE ARE MANY OTHERS WHO HAVE THE WRONG CONCEPTION OF THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN "SCHOOLING" AND "EDUCATION". IF I UNDERSTAND YOU CORRECTLY, YOU BELIEVE THAT BETTER PART OF ONE'S EDUCATIOAL COMES YOU CORRECTLY, YOU BELIEVE THE BETTER PART OF ONE'S EDUCATION'. IF I UNDERSTAND YOU CORRECTLY, YOU BELIEVE THE BETTER PART ONE'S EDUCATION COMES FROM DOING AND NOT MERELY FROM THE ACQUISITION OF KNOWLEDGE.
CARNEGIE : THAT IS EXACTLY CORRECT! I HAVE MEN WORKING FOR MEN WHO HAVE COLLEGE DEGREES, BUT MANY OF THEM FIND THEIR COLLEGE TRAINING ONLY INCIDENTAL TO THEIR SUCCESS. THOSE WHO COMBINE COLLEGE TRAINING WITH PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE SOON BECOME EDUCATED IN A PRACTICAL SENSE, PROVIDED THEY DO NOT TOO HEAVILY UPON THEIR ACADEMIC DEGREES AS A MEANS OF MINIMIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF PRACTICAL EXPERIENCE.
RIGHT HERE IS AN APPROPRIAT PLACE TO TELL YOU THAT COLLEGE GRADUATES WHOM I HAVE EMPLOYED, WHO DEVELLOP THE HABIT OF RENDERING MORE SERVICE THAN THEY ARE PAID FOR, USUALLY ADVANCE THEMSELVES TO MORE RESPONSIBLE AND BETTER-PAIYING POSITIONS VERY QUICKLY, WHILE THOSE WHO NEGLECT OR REFUSE TO ADOPT THIS PRINCIPLE MAKE NO MORE PROGRESS THAN THE AVERAGE MAN WITHOUT COLLEGE TRAINING.
HILL : DO YOU MEAN THAT COLLEGE TRAININGIS WORTH RELATIVELY LESS THAN THE HABIT OF DOING MORE THAN ONE IS PAID FOR?
CARNEGIE : YES, YOU MIGHT PUT IT THAY WAY, BUT I HAVE OBSERVED THAT MEN WITH COLLEGE TRAINING WHO FOLLOW THE HABIT OF DOING MORE THAN THEY ARE PAID FOR, COMBINING THEIR COLLEGE TRAINING WITH THE ADVANTAGES THEY GAIN FROM THIS HABIT, GET AHEAD MUCH MORE RAPIDLY THAN MEN WHO DO MORE THAN THEY ARE PAID FOR BUT HAVE NO COLLEGE TRAINING. FROM THIS I HAVE REACHED THE CONCLUSTION THAT THERE IS A CERTAIN AMOUNT OF THOUGHT DISCIPLINE THAT A MAN G3ETS FROM COLLEGE TRAINING WHICH MEN WITHOUT THIS TRAINING DO NOT GENERALLY POSSESS.
HILL : ARE A MAJORIY OF THE MEMBERS OF YOUR MASTE RMIND GROUP MEN WITH COLLEGE TRAINING MR. CARNEGIE?
CARNEGIE : ABOUT TWO-THIRDS OF THEM ARE WITHOUT COLLEGE TRAINING, AND I MIGHT ADD THAT THE ONE WHO HAS BEEN OF GREATEST SERVICE TOP ME, WEIGHING EVERYTHING THEY HAVE ALL DONE, DID NOT FINISH THAT HIS VALUNTARY HABIT OF RENDERING MORE SERVICE THAN HE WAS PAID FOR WAS THE QUALITY WHICH MADE HIM OF GREATEST VALUE TO ME.
I SAY THIS BECAUSE HIS EXAMPLE SEEMED TO SET THE PACE FOR OTHER MEMBERS OF MY MASTER MIND GROUP. MOREOVER, HIS ATTITUDE ON THIS SUBJECT SPREAD TO THE RANK AND FILE OF OUR WORKERS, MANY OF WHOM CAUGHT HIS SPIRIT, PRACTICED IT, AND THEREBY PROMOTED THEMSELVES INTO BETTER-PAYING AND MORE RESPONSIBLE POSITIONS WITH THE COMPANY.
HILL : HAVE YOU ANY DEFINITE METHOD BY WHICH YOU ENDEAVOR TO INFORM ALL YOUR MEN OF THE ADVANTAGES THEY MAY GAIN BY RENDERING MORE SERVICE THAN THEY ARE PAID FOR?
CARNEGIE : WE HAVE NO DIRECT METHOD OF DOING THIS, ALTHOUGH THE NEWS HAS BEEN PASSED ALONG, BY THE "GRAPE-VINE" ROUTE, THAT THE MEN WHO PROMOTE THEMSELVES TO BETTER POSITIONS FOLLOW THE HABIT OF DOING MORE THAN THEY ARE PAID FOR. I HAVE OFTEN THOUGHT WE SHOULD HAVE GONE MUCH FURTHER BY SOME FORM OF MORE DIRECT APPROACH BY WHICH OUR MEN WOULD HAVE BEEN TAUGHT THE BENEFITS OF RENDERING THIS SORT OF SERVICE, AND WE WOULD HAVE DONE SO HAD WE NOT FEARED OUR EFFORTS WOULD HAVE BEEN MISCONSTRUED AS AN ATTEMPT ON OUR PART TO GET MORE WORK FROM OUR MEN WITHOUT PAYING FOR IT.
YOU SEE, MORE WORKING MEN ARE SKEPTICAL ANS SUSPICIOUS OF ALL EFFORTS ON THE PAR OF AN EMPLOYER TO INFLUENCE THEM TO IMPROVE THEMSELVES. PERHAPS SOME SMARTER MAN THAN I WILL FIND A WAY THROUGH WHICH EMPOYERS MAY GAIN THE CONFIDENCE OF THEIR EMPLOYEES AND CONVINE THEM OF THE BENEFITS, TO EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEE ALIKE, OF THE HABIT OF RENDERING MORE SERVICE THAN THE WAGE SCALE CALLS FOR.
OF COURSE THE RULE MUST WORK BOTH WAYS, AND IT WILL WHERE AN EMPLOYEE UNDERSTANDS THIS PRINCIPLE AND APPLIES IT DELIBERATELY. THE MATTER IS IN THE HANDS OF THE EMPLOYEE ENTIRELY. THIS IS SOMETHING HE CAN DO ON HIS OWN INITIATIVE, WITHOUT CONSULTING THE EMPLOYER. THE WISER EMPLOYEES DISCOVER AND APPLY THIS PRINCIPLE VALUNTAIRY!
THERE IS NOT A MAN IN MY MASTER MIND GROUP WHO DID NOT VOLUNTARILY PROMOTE HIMSELF TO THAT POSITION THROUGH THE HABIT OF DOING MORE THAN WAS EXPECTED OF HIM. I TELL YOU FRANKLY THAT THE MEN WHO FOLLOWS THIS HABIT VOLUNTARILY SOON MAKES HIMSELF INDISPENSABLE AND THEREBY SETS HIS OWN WAGES AD CHOOSES HIS OWN JOB. THERE IS NOTHING AN EMPLOYER CAN DO BUT COOPERATE WITH A MAN WHO HAS THE SOUND JUDGMENT TO DO MORE THAN HE IS PAID FOR.
HILL : BUT, AREN'T THERE SOME EMPLOYERS WHO SELFISHLY REFUSE TO RECONNIZE AND REWARD AN EMPLOYEE FOR THE HABIT OF DOING MORE THAN HE IS PAID FOR?
CARNEGIE : UNDOUBTEDTLY THERE ARE SOME EMPLOYERS WHO ARE SHORTSIGHTED ENOUGH TO WITHHOLD REWARD FROM A MAN OF THIS TYPE, BUT YOU MUST REMEMBER THAT THE MAN WHO HABITUALLY DOES MORE THAN HE IS PAID FOR IS SO RATE, THAT THERE IS KEEN COMPETITION AMONG EMPLOYERS FOR HIS SERVICES.
IF A MAN HAS THE SOUND JUDGEMENT TO UNDERSTAND THE ADVANTAGES OF DOING MORE THAN HE IS PAID FOR, HE GENERALLY HAS SENSE ENOUGH, ALSO, TO KNOW THAT ALL EMPLOYERS ARE SEEKING THIS SORT OF HELP, AND EVEN THOSE WHO DO NOT KNOW THIS WILL, SOONER OR LATTER, COME TO THE ATTENTION OF AN EMPLOYERS WHO IS LOOKING FOR THE SORT OF SERVICE, EVEN THOUGH THEY DO NOT DELIBERATELY ENDEAVOR TO PROMOTE THEMSELVES.
EVERY MAN GRAVITATES TO WHERE HE BELOGS IN LIFE, AS SURELY AS WATER SEEKS AND FINDS ITS LEVE!
CHARLIE SCHWAB, FOR EXAMPLE, DID NOT SEEK ME OUT (AS FAR AS I KNOW) AND SAY, " SEE HERE, I AM DOING MORE THAN I AM PAID FOR ". I MADE THE DISCOVERY IN MY OWN BECAUSE I WAS SEARCHING FOR THAT SORT OF MENTAL ATTITUDE.
NO EMPLOYER CAN SUCCESSFULLY CONDUCT AN INDUSTRY OF THE SIZE, OF OURS WITHOUT THE AID OF A LARGE NUMBER OF MEN WHO PUT HERE, SOUL AND ALL THE ABILITY THEY HAVE INTO THEIR JOBS. THEREFORE, I KEEP A CLOSE LOOKOUT AT ALL TIMES FOR THIS TYPE OF MAN, AND WHEN I FIND ONE I SINGLE HIM OUT FOR CLOSE OBSERVATION, TO MAKE SURE THAT THE FOLLOWS THE HABIT CONSISTENTLY. THE TRUTH IS THAT ALL SUCCESSFUL EMPLOYERS DO THE SAME THING. THAT IS ONE REASON WHY THEY ARE SUCCESSFUL.
WHETHER A MAN OCCUPIES THE POSITION OF EMPLOYER TO EMPLOYEE, THE SPACE HE OCCUPIES IN THE WORLD IS MEASURED PRECISELY BY THE QUALITY AND QUANTITY OF THE SERVICE HE RENDERS, PLUS THE MENTAL ATTITUDE IN WHICH HE RELATIVES HIMSELF TO OTHER PEOPLE.
EMERSON SAID, " DO THE THING AND YOU SHALL HAVE THE POWER". HE NEVER EXPRESSED A MORE TRUTHFUL THOUGHT THAN THIS. MOREOVER, IT APPLIES TO EVERY CALLING, AND TO EVERY HUMAN RELATIONSHIP. MEN WHO GAIN AND HOLD POWER DO SO BY MAKING THEMSELVES USEFUL TO OTHERS. ALL THIS TALK ABOUT MEN HOLDING FAT JOBS THROUGH. "PULL" IS NONSENSE. A MAN MAY PROCRE A GOOD JOB THROUGH PULL, BUT TAKE MY WORD FOR IT WHEN I TELL YOU THAT IF HE REMAINS IN THE JOB HE WILL DO SO THOUGH "PUSH", AND THE MORE OF IT PUTS INTO THE JOB, THE HIGHER HE WILL RISE.
I HAVE KNOWN OF A FEW YOUNG MEN WHO WERE PLACED IN POSITIONS BEYOND THEIR EARNED MERITS AND ABILITY, THROUGH THE INFLENCE OF RELATIVES OR OTHERS, BUT SELDOM HAVE I KNOWN OF ONE OF THEM MAKING THE FULLEST USE OF THIS UNEARNED ADVANTAGE, ADN SUCH EXCEPTIONS AS I HAVE KNOWN WERE DUE TO THEIR HAVING ACQUIRED THE HABIT OF PUTTING INOT THEIR JOBS MORE THAN THEY TRIED TO TAKE OUT.
👀👀👀
